Iowa men’s basketball head coach Fran McCaffery is entering his 10th year at the helm of the Hawkeye program. This year more than any of the past nine, the McCaffery family’s presence is felt on the court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Freshman Patrick McCaffery joined his brother Connor McCaffery — a redshirt sophomore —  in the Hawkeyes’ lineup after a stellar high-school career at Iowa City West.

Both made an impact in Iowa’s 96-58 exhibition game win over Lindsey Wilson College on Monday, albeit in different ways.

Connor McCaffery started in the Iowa backcourt alongside C.J. Fredrick, while Patrick McCaffery contributed off the bench in the frontcourt.

Taking control of the offense, Connor McCaffery finished with 11 assists, providing Iowa with a floor general to distribute the ball to the many talented scorers on the team.

“He’s got a command of what we want to do,” Fran McCaffery said. “If C.J. is hot, we’re going to load him up. If Joe is hot, we’re going to load him up. If Luka [Garza] has got it going, we’ll throw it in. We’re not going to push the ball when we’ve got guys going like that, and he knows that.”

Sophomore forward Joe Wieskamp led the Hawkeyes with 19 points on an efficient 6-of-8 shooting. Fredrick and Garza finished just behind Wieskamp with 18 and 16 points, respectively. It was a very balanced offensive showing from Iowa, with Connor McCaffery getting the hot hand the ball.

“Connor had [11] assists — guys are sharing the ball,” Wieskamp said. “This team is very unselfish. If someone’s more open than you, the ball is going to go to them. That’s just our team mindset, and I think that’s going to happen all season long.”

Connor McCaffery made his one shot attempt, draining a three-pointer. Shooting the long ball has been a point of emphasis for the Iowa City native throughout the offseason, and seeing the ball go through the net for the first time this season was encouraging.

“I’ve been shooting it well in practice, and I was just trying to continue that,” Connor McCaffery said. “I feel good, my shot feels good. I don’t even think about it — just let it go. Luka made a nice kick to me. Maybe could have looked for a couple more shots, but I don’t really feel like I passed any up either.”

With Connor McCaffery leading the starting five for Iowa, the spark off of the bench for Iowa came from Patrick McCaffery.

The true freshman scored 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting in his first game at Carver in front of a live crowd.

He was most effective close to the basket, showing off his dynamic finishing ability near the hoop. Whether it’s finishing off an alley-oop or dunking off of a long outlet pass from Jordan Bohannon, Patrick McCaffery contributed a number of highlight-reel plays to get Hawkeye fans on their feet.

“He got his shooting touch from his mother, I know that,” Fran McCaffery said. “He’s always been explosive like that even when he was in middle school. He was a little nervous and a little jumpy at the beginning, but I’m proud of the way he kept fighting.”