With Iowa displaying considerable offensive firepower lately, Michigan will need a superior defensive effort Thursday to collect a much-needed victory in Iowa City.
After the Hawkeyes began their current three-game winning streak with a 71-59 victory over Minnesota, Jordan Bohannon set a school record with 10 3-pointers in a 110-87 romp at Maryland on Feb. 10.
Keegan Murray also scored 30 points in that game and followed up with a career-high 37 points while playing just 29 minutes in a 98-75 thumping of Nebraska on Sunday.
“I don’t think there’s anything magical,” coach Fran McCaffrey said of the explosive offensive performances, which have Iowa leading the Big Ten in scoring (84 points per game). “We’ve played the way we always play. We moved the ball, we shared the ball, tried to be aggressive.
“Obviously, we’ve shot it well from 3 and that sets up a lot of opportunities for driving, for post feeds, etc.”
The victories have lifted Iowa (17-7, 7-6 Big Ten) above .500 in conference games. Murray (23.4 points, 8.4 rebounds) leads the Big Ten in scoring and ranks third in rebounding.
The Wolverines (13-10, 7-6) are tied with Iowa in the conference standings but still have work to do to secure an NCAA Tournament berth. During a rugged five-day stretch, they defeated Penn State and No. 3 Purdue, then lost at home to Ohio State 68-57 on Saturday.
“They had a pretty tough schedule early and then they had some COVID stuff hit them,” McCaffrey said. “That got them a little sideways. Since they’ve gotten healthy, they’ve been really good.”
Michigan looked like a tired team against the Buckeyes, as Ohio State outscored the Wolverines 35-27 in the second half.
“That was a postponement that we had to play on Thursday, and we had a short turnaround to prep for Ohio State,” coach Juwan Howard said. “But it’s similar to how you’re going to face in the Big Ten Tournament as well as in the NCAA Tournament.
“So, not making any excuses, but it would’ve been nice to have a day or two to have time to hit the reset button and spend a little bit more time diving into Ohio State, how they play on the offensive end, as well as what they do on the defensive end.”
Iowa and Michigan will match up again in Ann Arbor on March 3 in the last week of the regular season.
–Field Level Media
