IOWA CITY (AP) — Peter Jok scored 20 of his 27 points in the first half and Iowa cruised to a 95-67 win over Texas Rio Grande Valley on Sunday.
Tyler Cook scored 15 points and Isaiah Moss had a career-high 14 for the Hawkeyes (3-1), who shot 51 percent from the field and scored 41 points off 26 Vaqueros turnovers.
Iowa went on a 26-7 run in the middle of the game to pull away from UTRGV — including a faster start to the second half that coach Fran McCaffery has wanted from his young team.
McCaffery watched his Hawkeyes turn a two-point halftime lead into a 53-47 deficit in Thursday’s loss against Seton Hall — an eight-point swing in 4 ½ minutes. On Sunday, Iowa pushed a 46-33 lead at the break to 20 points in just a few minutes.
“I’m really proud of how aggressively our team came out during the second half and executed,” said forward Nicholas Baer, who had eight points and seven rebounds. “I think that’s something we’ve been struggling with.”
Jok, Iowa’s top scorer and lone returning starter from last season, left a few minutes into the second half after a knee-to-knee collision with a defender during a drive to the rim.
Jok — who 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 3-pointers, in 19 minutes — stayed in to shoot his two free throws but didn’t play after that as a precaution. Jok wanted to go back in the game to test his knee, but McCaffery wasn’t having it.
“The last thing I wanted to do was put him back in there and have something happen to him,” McCaffery said.
Antonio Green scored 17 points to lead UTRGV (0-4), which out-rebounded Iowa 43-38.
Iowa sophomore Brady Ellingson scored 11 points.