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IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa came out sluggish, lacking the fire that fueled the No.18 Hawkeyes in games earlier in the week against highly ranked Kentucky and Texas.
Then Jeff Horner provided the spark, hitting a long jumper that propelled Iowa to a 12-0 run late in the first half. His teammates and a swarming defense took over from there, leading Iowa to a 79-46 victory over Texas San Antonio on Saturday.
"We came out a little flat," said Adam Haluska, who led the Hawkeyes with 15 points and seven rebounds. "The coaches definitely saw it, and we saw it. We were just standing around waiting for something to happen. I think we learned we can't really play to the level of the competition."
The Hawkeyes (4-1) wasted no time putting the game away in the second half.
Alex Thompson's 3-pointer gave Iowa a 20-point lead with 13 minutes, 40 seconds left. Five minutes later, Carlton Reed stepped in front of a pass and drove the floor for a layup that extended Iowa's lead to 65-37 and sent the Hawkeyes starters to the bench.
The victory capped a week in which the Hawkeyes beat No.8 Kentucky and lost in the final minutes to second-ranked Texas in the title game of the Guardians Classic.
Horner, who struggled in the tournament, finally got on track by scoring 13. Greg Brunner had 14 and Alex Thompson came off the bench to add 11 for the Hawkeyes, who shot 53 percent in the second half.
Texas-San Antonio (2-1), starting two freshmen and a sophomore, was led by Andre Owens' 15 points. Gabe Bernard came off the bench to score 11.
But the Roadrunners struggled with their perimeter shooting and made too many mistakes. The Roadrunners shot 36 percent and committed 23 turnovers that led to 25 Iowa points.
Iowa "is too good of a ballclub to play passive and think you're going to have a shot in the ballgame," Texas San Antonio coach Tim Carter said. "This is probably the youngest team we've had in 11 years. We had that deer-in-the-headlight look in their eyes out there."
NO.2 TEXAS 90, LOUISIANA-MONROE 55: P.J. Tucker hit all nine of his shots, including his first career 3-pointer, to score 19 points for the host Longhorns.
After tough wins over West Virginia and Iowa, the Longhorns (5-0) coasted past the overmatched Indians. LaMarcus Aldridge had his fifth consecutive double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
NO.5 OKLAHOMA 81, BELMONT 59: Terrell Everett scored 17 points, tied a career-high with nine assists and also keyed a 14-0 second-half run as the host Sooners improved to 3-0.
Oklahoma's Taj Gray, the Big 12 preseason player of the year, scored 13 of his 15 in the second half and added 14 rebounds to notch his first double-double of the season.
NO.15 ILLINOIS 77, RUTGERS 55: James Augustine scored 18 and Brian Randle added 16 as the Illini rolled in the championship game of the South Padre Island (Texas) Invitational.
Augustine, who was named tournament MVP, was 7-of-9 from the field and had seven rebounds. Rich McBride scored 11 points and Dee Brown added 10 for Illinois (5-0).
NO.20 INDIANA 102, WESTERN ILLINOIS 79: Marco Killingsworth scored 17 of his 22 points in the first half as the visiting Hoosiers rolled.
The 6-foot-8, 270-pound Killingsworth shot 7-for-7 in the first half and helped the Hoosiers built a 53-32 halftime lead in their first road game of the season.
Robert Varden scored 18 points and Marshall Strickland added 17 for Indiana, which shot 16-for-25 from 3-point range.
NO.21 GEORGE WASHINGTON 80, NORFOLK STATE 69: J.R. Pinnock scored 14 of his 19 after halftime and Mike Hall added 18 for the host Colonials (2-0), playing their second game without suspended star Pops Mensah-Bonsu.
Montrell McDonald added 12 as George Washington trailed just once but didn't have the game comfortably in hand until the second half. That's largely because of guard Tony Murphy, who shot 6-for-9 on 3-pointers and scored 25 for Norfolk State (0-4).
Mensah-Bonsu, a senior forward, was suspended for the team's first three games for NCAA violations related to his early declaration for the NBA draft.
He'll also miss next Wednesday's game against St. Francis, Pa.