2023-24 iowa #2
Returning home after a humiliating road loss to Purdue, the Michigan Wolverines were unable to reverse the momentum of their season during today's meeting with Iowa. Michigan failed to slow down the dominant Iowa offense at any point during the game, while a once-equally-effective Wolverine attack went cold over the game's final quarter. The Hawkeyes hung 88 at Crisler on 53% shooting, firing at a sizzling 1.27 PPP clip, the fourth time this season Michigan has allowed an opponent to hit 1.15+ PPP on their home floor. Michigan is now 2-7 in conference play, last in the B1G.
The first half was completely defense optional for both teams, as you'd expect for the worst defensive Michigan team in decades against an Iowa team that is perennially poor on defense. The teams combined for 86 points in the first half, both scoring at >1.20 PPP and maintaining a 55%+ eFG% clip. Both Michigan and Iowa ran their offenses, generated lots of open looks and penetration, and both hit those shots, unlike the first meeting between the teams in Iowa City, when the Hawkeyes bricked a number of those makable looks.
It was a back-and-forth half for the first twelve or so minutes, trading makes while the score hovered around even before Michigan began to pull ahead. A 10-0 Wolverine run pushed the score from 27-26 Iowa to 36-27 Michigan, getting a fast-break layup and a corner three from Nimari Burnett before a flagrant foul by Ladji Dembele for bearhugging Tarris Reed Jr. created another three point Michigan possession. Iowa finally snapped out of their offensive funk but the two teams were alternating scores to maintain a solid Michigan advantage until a late Hawkeye surge narrowed the gap before halftime. After Michigan led 42-34 with 2:38 remaining, Iowa closed on an 8-2 run. Tony Perkins hit a jumper, Josh Dix got an easy layup after driving to the lane himself, and Dix eventually made a pair of free throws to make it a one possession game. Michigan led 44-42 to the break.
[Click the JUMP for more and the box score]
THE ESSENTIALS
| WHAT | #81 Michigan (7-12) vs #49 Iowa (11-8) |
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| WHERE | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI |
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| WHEN | 5:00 PM | |
| THE LINE | Kenpom: Iowa-1 Torvik: Iowa-2 |
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| TELEVISION | FS1 (link) |
THE OVERVIEW
I guarantee that all of Crisler Center will be on their feet for this one, at least for the few minutes they bring new football head coach Sherrone Moore on the court. Hopefully the fans will also give the basketball team a cheer. They're in need of some support, after Game 2 of Dug's academic road suspension turned out to be exactly the execution predicted.
It's hard to look at that Purdue game and come away with positives unless you were one of the few who actually bothered to tune into Peacock. Then you saw Tarris Reed actually doing a good job on Zach Edey until fouling out on a string of Paul Szelc specials. Terrance Williams played one of the most inspired games of his career. In order to have any chance at an upset Michigan needed to get some shots to fall and some rebounds to ricochet the right way. Purdue got the blowout, but they had to shoot 67% on contested jumpers and get 90% of the bounces to make up for Edey scoring just 16. Would Michigan have won with even luck? Nope. But if we are projecting, the actual how of their recent demolition tells a much more positive story than the final score, which is all that most fans saw.
Michigan's more inspiring road performance was their December visit to tonight's opponent. Reed punished Iowa's lack of size down low and made 5/7 free throws to pull off a 90-80 upset, easily Michigan's biggest conference win in the last two dismal seasons. Iowa's changed things up a bit since then, moving SG Josh Dix and Big Owen Freeman into the starting lineup as neither young PG has been able to nail down the job, and Patrick McCaffery has been coming back from injury. Iowa too got hamblasted recently by Purdue, with Edey scoring 30 points on them in as many minutes in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes took yet another tough loss at home on Wednesday, allowing Maryland to come back from a 6-point deficit to win in regulation on some crazy Jahmir Young heroics.
These Wolverines aren't going to the Tournament, but it would be nice (if just because I bet on them to do so) to get another win or two before the postseason questions have to get answered. Kenpom doesn't take the Dug thing into account, but says this and a visit from Rutgers next week are their best shots, and that feels spiritually correct. It would also be nice not to undo the one of just two nice moments from an otherwise forgettable season, and start the Moore Era off on a high note.
THE US
My graphic [click to embiggen]:
I'm keeping the red on Llewellyn—if you saw him trying to cut and falling down vs Purdue you'd agree. Jace looked back. No word on Tray Jackson.
THE LINEUP CARD
My graphic [click for big]:
We actually caught Dix in his second game starting. He's taken on more usage since. They're playing two bigs a lot now as well, and are mostly an 8-man rotation unless Freeman's extra minutes are getting him in foul trouble. Minutes for the bench last game were Harding 15, Bowen 10, McCaffery 10, emergency big Evan Brauns 7, Pryce 5.
[After THE JUMP: Iowa.]
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