Wolverines Slash the Hawkeyes in Ann Arbor

Story by Troy Weiman

Garza drops 22, but Iowa falls short vs. Michigan

IOWA CITY, Iowa – What started out as a potentially close battle between Iowa and Michigan turned into another lopsided loss for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa was no match for nationally-ranked Michigan on the road in Ann Arbor as the Wolverines took down the Hawkeyes 74-59. Michigan completed the season sweep of Iowa for the first time in seven years.

The season’s storyline didn’t have to change much for this Wednesday night game. Iowa was plagued yet again by a flurry of turnovers and poor team defense.

To start the game, Iowa made each of its first five field goal attempts. But in that span, the Hawkeyes also coughed up five turnovers and were unable to capitalize on an early 7-0 lead.

Michigan also had early turnover problems as the game moved a frantic pace in the first 10 minutes. Once settled in, Michigan took control.

The Hawkeyes never calmed all the way down and committed 16 turnovers in total. Only Jordan Bohannon and Tyler Cook finished the game without at least one credited to them.

On defense, the Hawkeyes failed yet again to recognize opposing playmakers. While he made just two three-pointers, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman had another impressive shooting night. The Wolverine’s star finished with 18 points and seven assists.

Duncan Robinson also came off the bench and tied Abdur-Rahkman with a team-high 18 points. Robinson got hot from behind the arc in the second half and finished the game 6-of-8 from three.

In total, Michigan was 12-of-33 from three. This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s still a big advantage compared to Iowa’s 2-of-10 mark.

With three-pointers not going down, Luka Garza was the man for Iowa. Garza scored Iowa’s first eight points of the second half and finished with 22, a Big Ten most for the freshman.

Garza did commit four turnovers, a mark that he acknowledged after the game was too high. Three of them came in the game’s first 10 minutes when the pace was utterly out of hand.

Isaiah Moss and Tyler Cook also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

# Player PTS FG 3FG FT REB A PF TO MIN
02* NUNGE 0 0-4 0-2 0-0 1 1 1 2 12
03* BOHANNON 7 3-5 1-3 0-0 4 5 1 0 34
04* MOSS 12 4-8 1-2 3-3 3 2 2 2 26
05* COOK 10 4-9 0-1 2-4 8 1 3 0 32
55* GARZA 22 10-16 0-2 2-2 6 0 4 4 30
01 DAILEY 2 1-3 0-0 0-0 5 1 1 1 21
15 KRIENER 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 2 6
24 ELLINGSON 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 1 7
35 PEMSL 2 1-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 2 2 18
51 BAER 2 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 2 0 1 14

There isn’t much else to be said about Wednesday’s night matchup in Ann Arbor. Michigan in nationally ranked and headed to a high NCAA Tournament seed, and Iowa would be playing on day one of the Big Ten Tournament if the season ended today.

Iowa (12-16, 3-12 Big Ten) needs to start collecting wins in order to avoid a Thursday game in New York. The Hawkeyes host Indiana (15-12, 8-7 Big Ten) on Saturday at 1:00pm CST at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Indiana beat Iowa 77-64 in Bloomington on December 4.

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