ANN ARBOR, Michigan – Earlier this week, questions arose about how Michigan’s third basketball team would fare against two top-10 opponents and two of the nation’s three best offensives.
They answered a series of questions in a victory at No. 4 Ohio State Sunday. Thursday night, there weren’t many other questions.
Taking Team of the Year player Luka Garza to one of his worst games in years, stifling Iowa’s 3-point opportunities and coming to life in the attack in the second half, Michigan continued what has been a special season out of ninth Hawkeyes place in a 79-57 victory.
The win moves the Wolverines (12-1 Big Ten, 17-1 overall) to two Big Ten title wins. If some other games fall in favor of Michigan, the Wolverines could win their first regular season Big Ten title since 2014, as early as Saturday.
Franz Wagner scored 13 of his 21 points in the second half, while Isaiah Livers and Hunter Dickinson added 16 and 14 points respectively. Luke Garza – who entered the game leading the country with 24.7 points per game – scored 16 points and hit just 6 out of 19 on the field. The Hawkeyes entered the 13th night in the country with 10.2 3s per game and in a national quarter with 40.4% of shots, but only hit 6 of 19 3s in the contest, including 2 of 9 in the second half.
While the game should be noted for Michigan’s defensive effort, the Wolverines overcame Iowa 47-28 in the second half, hitting 19 of 35 shots after starting the game just 9 on 29 of the field.
Since the initial tip, the game has filled with the intensity you expected from a top 10 match. Luka Garza and Hunter Dickinson took seconds to start shrinking, both teams headed for the track instead of shooting 3s and even their seats were vocal from the jump. Perhaps ironic for the offensive firepower on both teams, however, the game was ugly. Iowa missed his first five shots, while the Wolverines missed six of the first eight. Five minutes later, the game was over at seven.
Although the score technically increased, neither team looked remotely comfortable with their play on the offensive side. Michigan struggled with the selection of shots, and was inconsistent when running with a bunch of bench players to minimize foul problems. Even the normally normal tasks, such as putting back layups and avoiding press defenses and game delay violations, were sometimes laborious for the Wolverines against a hungry Hawkeye defense. Michigan opened the game with just 9 to 29 shots, including a 2 to 9 mark in the 3-point range.
Iowa, however, has seen its two main scoring methods thwarted by the Wolverines’ defense. Luka Garza, who scored 77 points against Michigan in two games last season, was contested in almost every shot. He put the Wolverines in trouble, but he also fought additional pressure. He ended the semester with just seven points from the 3 out of 11 shots. Iowa also entered the game in 13th place nationally, with 10.2 points out of 3 points per game, but was kept in four in the first half.
In the end, it was a tough half that didn’t see either team’s lead go beyond Michigan’s 5-0 lead at the start. The Wolverines, however, closed the half with a 5 to 6 shot, including a tip from Austin Davis on the buzzer to give Michigan a 32-29 lead.
After exhausting time for both teams, Michigan came back to life in the second half. It all started with Franz Wagner, who scored nine points in the first five minutes of the break. But then, as Garza’s frustration increased and the Wolverines’ shots increased – they hit 19 out of 35 shots in the second half and 5 out of 9 3s – Michigan started to pull away.
Perhaps the biggest sign that it was the Wolverines’ night came during a 12-3 period at the start of the second half. After Dickinson was eliminated with his third foul, with 17:30 to go, Davis played possibly his best straight in a Michigan uniform. Although Garza had an advantage in size, experience and skill, Davis remained on the defensive line and even scored another tray. In the meantime, Wagner’s streak helped Michigan turn what was a 36-36 draw when Davis came in with a 48-39 lead when he checked out.
From there, Michigan smelled blood. Pushing the pace and working the ball, the Wolverines scored 1.30 points for possession, including 13 from Wagner and 10 from Livers. Each time Michigan seemed to hit a lull, a different player introduced himself to the Wolverines.
It has become a common theme for the Wolverines this season, but against an opponent in the top 10 in a physical game, it was even more indicative of what Michigan can accomplish this season.