What started as sort of a warm-up act for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa women’s basketball team quickly turned into a beat-down as the Iowa men crushed Florida A&M 88-52 on Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The game was part of the Hy-Vee Hawkeye Showcase as the fourth-ranked Iowa women were set to face Cleveland State in the second game.

The Iowa men entered Saturday’s game with a three-game losing streak, but it became obvious right away that the losing streak would not grow to four games.

Iowa shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half and led 43-20 at the break.

The Hawkeyes also had six steals in the first half and held Florida A&M to just nine made field goals.

Florida A&M did not attempt a free throw in the first half.

The lead grew to 43 points in the second half and the 52 points scored by Florida A&M were the fewest that Iowa has allowed in a game this season.

Iowa improved to 6-5 overall and will face Maryland-Baltimore County in its next game on Wednesday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Fran McCaffery is now just five wins from becoming the all-time winningest men’s basketball coach in program history.

Tom Davis currently holds the record with 271 career wins.

McCaffery’s current had struggled on both ends of the floor in its previous three losses to Purdue, Iowa State and Michigan, all of which came by double figures.

But there was very little that Iowa struggled with in Saturday’s game.

Freshman forward Owen Freeman made his second career start and recorded his first double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Freeman was among four Iowa players that scored in double figures in Saturday’s game. The others were Payton Sandfort (13), Tony Perkins (12) and freshman point guard Brock Harding with a career-high 10 points.

“Once he has been healthy he has been spectacular,” Fran McCaffery said of the 6-foot-10 Freeman. “He’s such g a winning player. He’s such a high character guy he wants to execute the game plan to perfection. As we all know sometimes you just have to play basketball and just run around and play and impact the game with your athletic ability, your size and your strength.

“He missed a dunk and he was really doubting himself. Next play. Just do what you do and he settled down and boy he had a spectacular day.

Iowa had nine players that scored at least five points in Saturday’s game.

“We knew we wanted to come out with a lot of energy,” Brock Harding said. “We felt like that was a big problem in the last couple games. We kind of got hit first, and then we’re  playing behind the rest of the game. So made  a big emphasis to come out with a lot of energy and I felt like our team did a great job of that. Guys were ready to go on attack and you just gotta keep that mentality going.”

For Payton Sandfort, Saturday’s game was a chance to play on the same court that he and his younger brother and current Iowa teammate, Pryce Sandfort, won a state title for Waukee High School in 2021.

“I think this is a really special thing just being from the area and being able to see all the Hawk fans from Des Moines,” Payton Sandfort said on the Big Ten Network post-game interview. “I won state championships here, had  great team. I played so many games here. It’s such a special environment.

“And I’m happy to be back and happy with the support we got. We needed this win.”

Florida A&M only had one player that scored in double figures and shot just 30.2 percent from the field.

Iowa had 22 assists on its 34 baskets.

“Our game plan was to really work on our motion offense, which has been a little bit stagnant,” Fran McCaffery said. “We moved it side to side and got people involved. But that is always going to be a function of your defense. Our defense was really good at the start of the game. They’ve got a bunch of drivers and they’ve got a really good big man.  So we were locked into not giving him any easy buckets inside and getting out in transition.”