By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY — Moping wasn’t an option for Iowa guard Dasonte Bowen last season.

Bowen played in just 26 of the Hawkeyes’ 33 games as a freshman, playing just 243 minutes — only 40 minutes in the final 11 games he played — while only getting one start.

That can certainly frustrate a player, but Bowen knew he couldn’t be that way.

“Everyone is constantly watching — watching on the bench, watching in the huddles,” Bowen said on Monday as the Hawkeyes get ready for Tuesday’s season opener against North Dakota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. “Even though we’re in college, you have to have a professional approach to the game. You have to understand the situation you’re in. Once you’ve figured that out, it’s not easy, but it was easier to maintain the situation.

Bowen knew the Hawkeyes had plenty of experienced depth in the backcourt, but he also knew he had struggled earlier in the season — he had 25 turnovers against 26 assists.

The offseason work he put in has paid off. Bowen started Iowa’s exhibition game against Quincy University last Monday night, and he’s expected to be in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s game.

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said at media day last month that Bowen was caught in the numbers game that comes late in the season.

“I think last year for Dasonte, it was a good year in a lot of ways, but as the season went on, as you saw, we shortened the bench a little bit,” McCaffery said. “In all honesty, I probably should have played him more. I said that before.”

That kind of trust from McCaffery, Bowen said, was helpful in his development.

“I think that was a big part of how I responded last year,” he said. “Obviously I wanted to play more throughout the season, and I expected to. Any other person in that situation could have acted way worse than I did — body language, not being a good teammate, or not supporting your team when you’re on the bench while they’re playing. I think the way I responded was a big key to the change going into this season.”

Bowen got the fifth starting spot this season while competing with fellow sophomore Josh Dix, who is Bowen’s roommate. McCaffery met with both of them before last week’s exhibition game to let them know both would get plenty of playing time.

“He told us this is one of the closest races he’s had before on finding a fifth starter,” Bowen said. “It never really mattered to us who started, who played. We knew both of us would play the same amount, regardless of the position. I think both of us are looking at coming in and being productive, whether we start or come off the bench, whatever it may be.”

Bowen had six points, six rebounds, and three assists in last Monday’s game. He also had four turnovers, and he knows how important it is to take care of the ball.

“As you go up in levels in basketball, that’s one of the key focuses,” he said. “In high school, it wasn’t as keyed upon. As you move up levels, that’s one of the main focuses — how you value possessions.”

“I think the growth part of his game is he’s moving the ball,” McCaffery said. “He’s getting rid of the ball more to our shooters, to our guys in the post, on the break, and he’s been really good. So I’ve been impressed with him.”

Bowen made 3-of-6 shots in the game. He was a 47.5 percent shooter last season, but his goal is to be more of a consistent shooter.

“It’s just reps, to be honest,” Bowen said of his offseason work. “I didn’t change much. It’s just spending more time on it. It’s just multiple reps. I lose track. I try to be in the 500-600 range, but as the season gets closer, it’s hard to maintain that with travel and practices and all that. I try to get 200 makes as the season starts, just to stay consistent.”

Bowen understands that his role isn’t score-first.

“All five of us out there can score, and even the next unit that comes in for us can score,” he said. “It’s just looking to get guys into good positions to be the best they can be.

“Through high school, I think I was recruited as a scoring guard. But with the type of talent we have, you have to take a step back as a point guard. My main part is to facilitate, and then when necessary be a scoring guard.”

Bowen also got stronger — he said he added 10 pounds in the offseason to deal with the physicality of the game. But there was also the mental growth that has allowed him to get into the starting lineup.

“Just the experience,” he said. “Experience comes with growth. Just learning when to do certain things out there, and adjusting to college. Last year was mainly an adjustment, just to get used to it. I think I’m there now.”

MORE SCRIMMAGES: Iowa’s offseason preparation also included a closed scrimmage against Wichita State. McCaffery said on Monday those can be more beneficial than a normal exhibition game.

“I like for us to be able to play more,” he said. “The great thing about it is we played more than 40 minutes. We played different combinations. I’ve said this before — you want to work on your zone, you play a zone in a game, they hit a couple shots, you’re getting out of it. Now (in a scrimmage) you stay in it, work on it, try to get better. You let your young guys figure it out, they’re in the wrong place.

“You’re not worried that we’re going to lose this game by three. You try to win the next segment. We zero the score at each segmens. Do situations, up one, down one, three minutes to go, you’re pressing, they’re pressing. Now, OK, we’re tied or we’re down one, we’re up one. Do we have a timeout, that kind of thing. You just get so much more out of it.”

Details of the scrimmages are supposed to be secret, but usually leak.

“Whoever started calling them secret scrimmages is idiotic,” McCaffery said. “There’s nothing secret about it on a Sunday afternoon. We’re not publicizing it because it’s a learning opportunity. ‘Hey, we won. Hey, we lost. So and so played great.’ You know what? We got better that day and they got better that day. That’s the whole purpose of it.”

ANOTHER OPENER: Monday’s opener will be McCaffery’s 14th as Iowa’s coach and 28th overall.

McCaffery said he takes a “business-like approach” to the game.

“We try to make sure that our guys understand the game plan based on who we’re playing but most importantly what we want to do in general, then maybe specifically for that opponent,” he said. “So if you start getting too hyped up, too high or too low, I don’t think that works.

“You better be locked into what’s coming next.  Let’s fix what needs to be fixed and let’s try to improve and let’s prepare, not get too down after a loss or too excited after a win. You see that a lot. Big win, OK, but we have to play again Tuesday, so… That’s kind of how I am in terms of that.”

Photo: Iowa’s Dasonte Bowen drives to the basket in a game against Rutgers last season. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)