2018-19 iowa

2/1/2019 – Michigan 59, Iowa 74 – 20-2, 9-2 Big Ten

Some losses are hard to decipher. This was not one of them. Michigan played five different guys at center, one of them by choice, and there you go. Teske was +3 in 13 minutes; Michigan lost the other 27 by 18. Teske had 8 points and eight rebounds, four offensive, in his 13 minutes. Johns, Davis, Castleton, and Livers combined for three points and three rebounds.

Without the Big Sleep, Michigan had no one to attack the part of Iowa's defense that makes them real real bad: Garza. Non-Teske Cs attempted just two twos. Meanwhile Garza spent his time against Johns dunking after Johns tried to front him and found out that was a not good idea. Garza finished 7/9 from two.

Michigan has one bench guy, who is only a center in certain limited circumstances, and when foul trouble strikes Michigan can quickly morph from conqueror to baffled cheese merchant. We are back in the Oh No A Foul Zone of two years ago, when Moe Wagner was backed up by Mark Donnal. I loved last year, the year when Michigan's backup center was pretty kickass.

No more.

Let's talk about risk management. This whole thing started when Teske got a reach-in foul on a perimeter hedge 90 seconds into the game. Don't get me wrong: I love the perimeter hedge swipe. Teske's excellent at it, and this is maybe the third or fourth time this season he's fouled attempting it. But there is a time to avoid the risk, and that is 90 seconds into a game. Zero fouls with 15 minutes gone? Swipe away. Autobench beckoning? Just say no.

Let's talk about verticality. On the other hand, Teske's second was a massively wrong, incredibly consequential call where he did the exact thing you're supposed to: jump vertically to try to block the shot.

Tyler Cook barreled into him, the ball went wherever, and Michigan got hit with a horrible, game-deciding foul call. I've praised the NCAA's rule changes over the last few years, but you've got to actually adhere to them. Lewis Garrison did not.

In general this game was a terrible ref show with a zillion bad, game-changing calls in the first half and then inexplicably swallowed whistles in the second. I about lost my mind when Brazdeikis got hammered by Cook in transition in the second half and there was no call. After the ticky-tack first half that sent me down a Craig Ross spiral of conspiracy theories and recriminations.

And…

Lewis Garrison and DJ Carstensen both did the game in the Trohl Center. IT'S REAL.

[After THE JUMP: discussions of things other than Teske fouls]

This show is presented by UGP & The Bo Store, and if it wasn’t for Rishi and Ryan nobody would get our jokes. Our other sponsors are also key to all of this: HomeSure Lending, Peak Wealth Management, Ann Arbor Elder Law, the Residence Inn Ann Arbor Downtown, the University of Michigan Alumni Association, Michigan Law Grad, Human Element, and Lantana Hummus

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1. Iowa

starts at 00:58

We cede Brian 5 minutes to talk about autobenching and he uses most of it to talk about the ref show. How do you attack a zone with this team, because if you put Iggy in the middle of it you don't have enough shooters. Ready for Castleton to come in when there's a post who's 6'11".

2. Ohio State

starts at 25:43

X's big night is on a higher level than a normal triple-double because there were also no turnovers and a block on Kaleb Wesson that made the center's mom lose her shit. We come up with parenting advice for Mama Wesson, who is certainly lying about getting spat on and will have a hard argument with physics to explain why getting hit by a foam light hurt. Simpson is a cross between Isaiah Thomas (not THAT Isiah) and a center.

3. Indiana

starts at 44:46

They were angry in Bloomington. Whoever draftsa Langford their rival should draft Matthews.

Big Ten: The Tourney Situation, wsg Alex Cook

starts at 56:32

We recorded the IU part before last night obviously. Nebraska is scuffling, Palmer is disappointing. Iowa is in. Grad transfers in the Big Ten this year aren't getting much time on the floor. Purdue has made it past the toughest part of their schedule, have an equal chance to win the Big Ten despite the beginning of the season. Michigan-MSU is still the marquee.

MUSIC

• "Big Time"—Peter Gabriel
• "Gotta Get Mine"—MC Breed
• "Space Song"—Beach House
• “Across 110th Street”

THE USUAL LINKS

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I feel it's unfair that Boudreaux looks like a 60-year-old Frenchman

In the middle of a first half fraught with foul trouble, Iowa went on a huge run, and after Michigan managed to cut the lead to five in the second, the Hawkeyes’ 2-3 zone defense shut down the Wolverines and put the game away. Iowa forward Tyler Cook drew six fouls on his own in the early going and Michigan’s tight rotation was forced to expand. Michigan’s first two options at the five (Jon Teske and Isaiah Livers) picked up two first half fouls each and played a combined four minutes, and eventually John Beilein briefly turned to fifth-string center Colin Castleton against Iowa's deep rotation of big men.

Ignas Brazdeikis carried the offense early for Michigan: he opened the scoring with a layup over a flopping Luka Garza, knocked down a couple threes, and had 12 quick points as Michigan built a slight lead. A single Iowa possession featured needless fouls from Teske and Jordan Poole (both exited the game for several minutes each). On the next possession, Cook drew a foul on Livers while establishing early post position; a couple possessions later, Livers fouled him again after an offensive rebound. Both teams accumulated plenty of fouls before halftime (Garza and Connor McCaffery in particular were limited), but Iowa was better able to withstand the attrition.

Iowa’s big run started with an easy Cook bucket on a post iso against Austin Davis, and backup big man Ryan Kriener knocked down a three to tie the game on a miscommunicated Iggy - Davis switch. The Hawkeyes have plenty of scoring options, and Kriener scored 11 first half points, finishing the game with an efficient double-double in just 22 minutes. Consecutive Joe Wieskamp buckets prompted a Beilein timeout with the Iowa lead at six; Wieskamp continued to score (the freshman had 12 points in the first half), while Michigan racked up more fouls and kept on missing jumpers, and the Hawkeyes entered halftime up 42-29. Reserve big men Brandon Johns, Davis, and Castleton combined for 16 minutes and consequently, the Wolverine defense was vulnerable inside.

[Barron]

Iowa’s quality offense scored efficiently in the first half (though they wound up having just an average game), but their normally poor defense had a great performance against Michigan. Other than Iggy’s early scoring, a spurt from Poole late in the first half, and a few nice plays from Teske and Zavier Simpson, Michigan’s offense really struggled. The Wolverines took over half of their shots from behind the arc against a defense that mixed a man defense that switched ball screens and their 2-3 zone. Eventually Iowa’s defense extended to contest threes (even deep threes), but Michigan was unable to unlock the zone, kept shooting, and finished 8-33 (24%) from three. Entering the game, the Hawkeyes had the worst defense in Big Ten play, but they held Michigan to 0.81 points per possession — which was almost exactly the same Wolverine output in their loss to Wisconsin.

Both teams started the second half clumsily, and Iowa extended their lead to 15 with a Jordan Bohannon three by the first TV timeout. Over about six minutes, Michigan went on a 16-6 run to get back into the game. That run started with a Kobe Assist from Charles Matthews (who had a rough game offensively, shooting 2-12 from the field) for a Teske dunk; Iggy hit a baseline jumper, Simpson was fouled and made both free throws, Poole found Teske for two in the pick-and-roll; a Teske tip-in from among multiple Hawkeyes trimmed the Iowa lead to 54-49 with just under ten minutes left in the game. The presence of Teske inside bolstered the Michigan defense, and Iowa — a team that loves to feed the post — struggled to score.

Last week, the Hawkeyes imploded in the second half at home against Michigan State after building a decent lead, but this week, they responded to a Michigan run and held on. On the possession following the Teske tip-in, Garza scored on Teske in the post; the next time down the floor, the big man knocked down a three. Wieskamp scored an and-one layup to give Teske his third foul, then Garza drew his fourth. Within four possessions after Michigan cut Iowa’s lead to five, the Hawkeyes pushed the margin back to 12 and sent Teske back to the bench with foul trouble. Garza was excellent in the second half and finished with a game-high 19 points. Michigan’s offense only scored ten more points over the rest of the game.

[Barron]

The Wolverines’ lack of depth was exposed by the tight whistle in this game. Teske, Livers, Poole, and Iggy each picked up two first half fouls, and Iowa’s offense feasted inside against the reserve bigs. Teske's absence was particularly significant — the Wolverines were +3 in the 13 minutes he was able to play before fouling out and -18 without him on the floor. The officiating was much less strict with physical play in the second half, but the damage had already been done: Michigan’s deficit at halftime was close to the final margin of defeat. The Hawkeyes can rely on their backups to contribute, and the Wolverines cannot. Iowa’s bench outscored Michigan’s 24-3.

For the second time this season, Michigan went on the road to an upper-half Big Ten team and left with a loss as the students rushed the floor. In both games, the Wolverine offense was woeful, but while Wisconsin has an elite defense, Iowa has a bad one. Between Michigan’s discombobulated rotation and poor shooting over the zone, this loss can probably be chalked up to the vagaries of life on the road in the Big Ten. Iowa’s a good team that played well, Michigan had a bad game offensively, and Michigan drops back to a half-game behind first place in the Big Ten. The Wolverines welcome Rutgers to Crisler [edit: travel to Rutger] on Tuesday.

[Box score after the JUMP]