​IOWA CITY — After Iowa’s season-opening win over Lipscomb, head coach Ben McCollum looks and sounds happy.In fact, McCollum might’ve been more upbeat than one might expect, considering how the game against the Bisons unfolded.Iowa ran into some trouble in the first half. The Hawkeyes were up by 12 points before Lipscomb went on a 13-0 run to take a one-point lead. But Iowa responded by scoring 12 of the first half’s final 14 points and firmly controlled the rest of the game.It was no masterpiece on the offensive end. While the Hawkeyes did shoot 47% from the field, they were also a brutal 24% from three and 50% from the free-throw line.“They haven’t understood that those are free,” McCollum joked after the game. “They’re not guarded.”Iowa won 76-54 in a comfortable, but not totally dominant, margin.And yet, McCollum seemed pleased with his team’s performance.Some of the first words out of McCollum’s mouth during his post-game press conference conveyed that.“I like this team,” McCollum said. “They’re a fun team.”He added later: “It was a great opening game for us.”McCollum is typically a straight shooter. Like after Iowa’s exhibition win over Illinois Springfield, he flat-out said, “We just didn’t play very well.” It’s probably wise to trust McCollum’s judgment. He is a four-time Division II national championship-winning head coach. He led Drake to 31 wins in his lone season with the Bulldogs. He took Iowa to its first Elite Eight since 1987. McCollum obviously has a good read on things.So why, after just one game, does he feel that way about his 2026-27 squad?Here’s how McCollum saw Iowa’s win over Lipscomb.Iowa’s defense was smothering against a team that McCollum said is “really hard team to guard” and “a horrible matchup for us.” Despite that, the Hawkeyes held the Bisons to just 36% from the field and 17% from deep. Lipscomb committed 17 turnovers, which Iowa converted into 33 points.Offensively, McCollum is counting on Iowa to shoot better than 6-of-25 from deep and 14-of-28 from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes still managed to win by 22 points despite those deficiencies. If Iowa had made a few more threes and free throws, it could’ve turned it into an even bigger blowout.“Every day’s a new adventure with this group,” McCollum said. “Meaning I thought we were going to struggle defensively tonight. I didn’t think our offense would struggle. But I don’t think our offense struggled. I thought our shot-making struggled, which is a big difference. So you’re looking at results versus process. Our process was good on the offensive end. On the defensive end, both were good, the result and the process.”The 2026-27 Hawkeyes feature a lot of different flavors, so to speak.Want an athletic, explosive, bouncy wing? There’s Jaidyn Coon, who had a team-high 12 points in his first college game. Want an electric, two-way, playmaking guard? There’s Ty’Reek Coleman, who stuff th