IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Morgan State's long road trip got off to a inauspicious start last night with a 126-79 loss to Iowa before a crowd of 14,238 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
As has been their custom lately, the Bears will play most of the early season away from home. Eleven of their first 12 games are on the road.
In last night's season opener, sophomore guard Scott Deas led Morgan State with 19 points.
"All I can say is 'Ouch,' " said Morgan State's first-year coach, Lynn Ramage. "I don't want to come back under these circumstances. I don't know what to think now. My head is still spinning.
"Our kids are bitter because they know they can do better," said Ramage, who spent the past four seasons as an assistant at Morgan before accepting the job as interim head coach this year.
Morgan State shot 39 percent from the field during the first half, but improved to 51 percent in the second half.
"It's a tough loss, but we're still young and we're still learning," said Deas, who was 7-for-12 from the field in 23 minutes off the bench. "We'll get better when we learn to play as a team."
Senior center Brandon Battle and senior guard Terrence Wright each had 12 points for the Bears. Battle also had seven rebounds. Iowa held the advantage on the boards, 60-32, and Morgan State had 28 turnovers.
Iowa sophomore Jess Settles, Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 1993-94, had a game-high 26 points.
"I was a little surprised by the final score because I didn't think we were playing that much up-tempo early," said Iowa coach Tom Davis. "But we got playing better and better and then as Morgan State got tired, the game got out of hand."
Iowa set an arena record for the most points scored and tied a school scoring record set against Oral Roberts on Dec. 30, 1987.
"Iowa rebounded well," Ramage said. "They executed. They did everything that I wanted my guys to do. They played a great team game."
MORGAN STATE -- Hunter 1-9 2-2 4, James 4-8 0-0 8, Battle 4-12 2-2 12, Grant 5-10 0-1 10, Wright 6-8 0-0 12, Smith 0-2 0-1 0, Deas 7-12 4-5 19, Rucker 4-4 0-0 11, Zellous 1-5 1-2 3, McCarthy 0-0 0-0 0, Thomas 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 32-70 9-14 79.
IOWA -- Murray 2-9 4-7 8, Settles 8-15 9-10 26, Bowen 5-8 0-0 10, Woolridge 5-8 7-8 17, Bartels 5-10 1-2 12, Carter 3-5 2-6 8, Kingsbury 5-14 3-4 15, Skillett 3-5 2-3 9, Glasper 5-9 2-3 9, Koch 2-2 1-2 5, Fritzel 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 44-86 31-45 126.
Halftime--Iowa, 56-33. 3-point goals--MS 6-19 (Rucker 3-3, Battle 2-6, Deas 1-1, Grant 0-1, Wright 0-1, Hunter 0-2, James 0-2, Zellous 0-3); I 7-25 (Kingsbury 2-9, Fritzel 1-2, Skillett 1-2, Bartels 1-3, Glasper 1-3, Settles 1-3, Woolridge 0-1, Murray 0-2.) Fouled out--Zellous. Rebounds--MS 32 (Battle 7); I 60 (Bartels 12.) Assists--MS 17 (Rucker 4); I 31 (Glasper 7). Total fouls--MS 33, I 17. Technicals--Morgan State bench. A--14,238.