By JOHN BOHNENKAMP

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Brendan Hausen is one of the last players off the bench in Iowa’s first-half rotation and is averaging just 13.4 minutes per game since transferring to play for the Hawkeyes.

And he says he’s having what he described as one of the best times of his career.

It’s a reflection of the roster Ben McCollum has put together in his first season as Iowa’s coach.

It also helps the Hawkeyes are 4-0 after Tuesday’s 99-70 win over Southeast Missouri State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Hausen, who came to Iowa from Kansas State in the offseason with the reputation of being a long-range shooter, hit 3 of 5 3-pointers and finished with nine points in almost 20 minutes on the court.

And even though he didn’t come into the game until the 10:04 mark of the half, he was able to put together his best game of the young season.

“We have a great core of guys,” Hausen said. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing with these guys.”

Hausen is on his third school — he played two seasons at Villanova and then played last season at Kansas State. There is an adjustment, he said, with all of that moving around.

“Not just on the floor, but off the floor,” he said. “But at the end of the day, I mean, it’s college basketball.”

Hausen said he appreciates what he has gained from playing for McCollum.

“He’s just helped me be a better leader, be a better competitor, and he’s honest with us,” Hausen said. “And I just want to take the most pride in my role that I can and be a vocal leader. And if that’s coming off the bench, if that’s playing a certain amount of minutes, whatever it is, I’m here for it, and at the end of the day, I just want to win.”

Alvaro Folgueiras, another experienced player like Hausen, echoed what his teammate said as the two sat together in the post-game press conference. Folgueiras, who played two seasons at Robert Morris, has also come off the bench in every game this season, but is averaging 12 points and 5.8 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game.

“I just go there and play,” said Folgueiras, who led the Hawkeyes with 16 points. “It’s that easy. Coach makes me feel important, and I’m trying to answer to his confidence every time I’m on the court. I don’t care if I start the game or I’m on the bench or I’m at my house in Spain. If I play 25 minutes, I’m OK. If I play zero and the team wins, I’m happy.”

“I think it probably says something about the kids that we recruit,” McCollum said. “I think that we recruit great kids and from an outside perspective, it’s exciting, people can see that to a certain level. But inside, internally, it’s even better. It’s even better than you think. Guys enjoy seeing each other every day. Guys enjoy enjoying each other’s success.”

McCollum appreciated what Hausen said.

“That’s coming from a guy that played a lot of minutes at Kansas State played a lot of Villanova, and he’s not probably playing as much as he did last year, and he still has that same kind of attitude, which he reflects exactly the kind of kids that we have,” McCollum said.

McCollum has used a 10-man rotation through these four games, which is a little more than he usually has used.

“We had a team (at Northwest Missouri State) where we played 10, and I thought that team should have won a national championship,” McCollum said. “We’ve had teams that have played six to seven guys. I don’t have a specific rotation. Whoever is good plays.”

All 11 Hawkeyes who played in this game scored at least two points.

Bennett Stirtz had 15 points and nine assists against zero turnovers and even got a bit of a break, playing just 32:58 after playing all but five minutes in the first three games. Cam Manyawu had 12 points and Trevin Jirak added 10.

The Hawkeyes opened the game by hitting nine of their first 11 shots. They shot 61.2% for the game.

Photo: Iowa’s Brendan Hausen (right) acknowledges the assist after hitting a 3-pointer in Tuesday’s game. (Stephen Mally/hawkeyesports.com)