UL Lafayette @ Iowa preview

Luka Garza and Jack Nunge didn't need long to get adjusted to the college game for Iowa, which has ridden the two big men to a 3-0 start heading into Monday's game with Louisiana at the Cayman Islands Classic. Garza has averaged nearly a double-double and Nunge has been almost as good for the Hawkeyes, who will play the Ragin' Cajuns for the first time.

The pair of 6-11 freshmen forwards have combined to average 24.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, 4.0 blocks and 3.0 steals for Fran McCaffery's team, which has opened at 2-0 or better in each of the last six seasons but is 4-9 at in-season tournaments over that span. "They've been great since the minute they got here," McCaffery told the media about Garza and Nunge. "They both have really mature games, tremendous versatility with their length. They score and rebound and defend." Nunge, who had all 17 of his points in the second half of the Hawkeyes' recent win over Grambling, has also shown the ability to step out beyond the 3-point line, making 5-of-10 attempts. The Ragin' Cajuns don't have quite the size that Iowa does, but do have 6-8 junior forward JaKeenan Gant, who has 43 points, 23 rebounds and seven blocks in three games.

TV: Noon ET, No TV

ABOUT LOUISIANA (2-1): After opening their season with a 94-78 loss to Mississippi, the Ragin' Cajuns licked their wounds by scoring 113 and 115 points, respectively, in wins over Division III Louisiana College and Savannah State. Freshman guard Cedric Russell has hit the ground running, scoring 50 points and making 15-of-22 from deep for coach Bob Marlin, who after three difficult seasons in Lafayette has led the Ragin' Cajuns to 85 wins over the last four seasons. Senior forward Bryce Washington joined the 1,000-point club against Savannah State and senior guard Johnathan Stove, who has missed the last two games with an ankle injury, needs 196 points to become the 46th Ragin' Cajun to score 1,000 career points.

ABOUT IOWA (3-0): McCaffery is no stranger to relying on freshmen to win games as he did it last season with the likes of Tyler Cook, Jordan Bohannon, Cordell Pemsl, Maishe Dailey and Isaiah Moss. Those players have been productive this season, particularly Moss, Bohannon, Cook and Pemsl, but they have taken a back seat to the two big men, who were not the only highly sought-after recruits to commit to Iowa this season. Connor McCaffery, a freshman guard and son of the coach, missed the first two games because of an ankle injury before contacting mononucleosis, which is expected to keep him out until early December.

TIP-INS

1. Iowa has also been without junior F Nicholas Baer, who last season was the only player in Division I and the only Big Ten player in the last 25 years to amass at least 250 points, 40 blocked shots, 45 steals and 45 3-pointers.

2. Bohannon and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell (2015) are the only freshmen in the last 25 years to register 175 or more assists and 85 or more 3-pointers in a season.

3. The Hawkeyes have 68 assists through three games and four players have averaged two or more led by Bohannon (6.3) and Brady Ellingson (3.7).

PREDICTION: Iowa 84, Louisiana 75