IOWA CITY - Matt Gatens insists he wasn't feeling any pressure.

"Eventually, I knew the shots would start to fall," Gatens said, referring to his 19-percent shooting in the Iowa basketball team's first two games.

Those shots began to fall sooner rather than later Friday for Gatens and the rest of the Iowa basketball team, which shook off its early-season shooting struggles to handle Bowling Green 68-46 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Gatens helped pry the lid off of the basket for a Hawkeyes team that shot just 32.7 percent during a pair of season-opening losses.

He knocked down the first of Iowa's 12 3-point baskets in the game, one more than the Hawkeyes had managed in their first two games combined.

The effort was part of a 47.1-percent touch from the field.

"We were able to work the ball around, get it to the open guy and knock down the shots we know we can make," Gatens said. "We settled in, got the jitters out of the way and started to play the game. It was exactly what we needed."

It was exactly what Falcons coach Louis Orr feared.

"We must have been just what the doctor ordered. They were 12-of-25 from 3," Orr said.

Five Hawkeyes collected 3-pointers in the game, an effort led by Eric May's 4-for-4 touch off the bench that led the freshman to a 16-point performance.

Gatens finished with 14 points and Anthony Tucker added 13 to go with nine assists.

"I probably left three or four more assists out there," Tucker said. "Things came together for us on offense. Nobody panicked after two games, we kept it together and things worked out."

The Hawkeyes started slowly, hitting just one of their first eight shots, but Iowa connected on 12 of its final 22 attempts in the opening half to take a 33-20 lead at the break.

Consecutive 3-point baskets by Devan Bawinkel and Jarryd Cole - the first of the junior's career - sparked a 21-4 run that left Iowa ahead 24-11 with 6 minutes to play in the opening half.

"I thought we defended again for the third time in a row. The difference this time was that we were able to make shots," Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. "This is a very unselfish team. They pass it. We played much better because we were fairly poised and had good spacing. Obviously, we shot closer to the way I expect us to shoot it this year."

Iowa made Bowling Green (1-2) the third straight team to shoot under 40 percent against the Hawkeyes, limiting the Falcons to 39.2 percent from the field. Marc Larson led the Mid-American Conference team with 12 points.

Iowa items

- Brennan Cougill made his first start for the Hawkeyes, opening along with Jarryd Cole to counter two 6-foot-9 starters in the Bowling Green lineup. The freshman finished with eight points and eight rebounds in 30 minutes.

- Forward Aaron Fuller sprained an ankle during Friday's game, limiting him to 3 minutes.

- Friday's win allowed Iowa to avoid its first 0-3 start since the 1919-20 season.

- The Hawkeyes return to action Monday, facing third-ranked Texas in an 8:45 p.m. game in the CBE Classic at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.