Death, taxes and Fran McCaffery-coached teams putting points on the board.Iowa looks like better than the 16th-ranked team in one Big Ten preseason poll. The Hawkeyes will get a chance to show they are capable of outperforming that prediction, beginning with their season opener on Monday when Texas A&M-Commerce visits Iowa City.Coming off a 19-15 season and a second-round loss in the NIT, the Hawkeyes return three starters, including leading scorer Payton Sandfort. He went through offseason evaluation for the NBA draft before opting to return for his senior season.Last year, Sandfort pumped in 16.4 ppg and led the conference with 94 3-pointers, connecting on nearly 38 percent from distance. He also hauled in 6.6 rebounds and was second in the league in foul shooting percentage.”He’s also a leader, he also sets a great example in terms of work ethic and preparation,” McCaffery said of Sandfort. “He’s the guy who will take the young guys under his wing and say, ‘This is how we do it. This is what our culture is.'”Iowa also welcomes back Big Ten Freshman of the Year Owen Freeman, a 6-foot-10 forward who averaged 10.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. It’s not a stretch to see a scenario with Freeman ending his sophomore season as a first-round draft prospect himself.There’s also more expected from his longtime teammate — in high school and on the AAU circuit — as a tone-setting point guard. Sophomore Brock Harding, former Illinois Mr. Basketball at Moline, plays with pace and bravado, and now his shooting is closer to what McCaffrey wants from a lead guard or key rotation piece.”We feel really good about that position right now. We’ve got some depth back there,” McCaffery said.