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Iowa Hawk eyes
57
Michigan wolverines
79
Michigan basketball did to Iowa what it did to many teams this season, which fled in the second half in another impressive victory.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Michigan basketball is the best team in the Big Ten and maybe even in the country after the Wolverines did what few teams have – stop Iowa.
And I don’t mean beating the Hawkeyes. Five other teams had done this this season ahead of Thursday night’s game at the Crisler Center.
But neither team dominated the Hawkeyes on the defensive end like Michigan did. It was as impressive a win as Michigan’s this season and here are our quick takeaways:
The defense was amazing
Iowa entered this game averaging 1.20 points per possession, which is really hard to do. And Michigan has kept Iowa well below. By the end of the second period, Iowa was under 0.9 which shows just how dominant this defense was.
The main reason was the defense of Luka Garza. Hunter Dickinson deserves some major props, despite some trouble Dickinson and Davis’s singles game plan against Garza worked perfectly.
Holding Garza 6 for 19 shots from the field was huge, but limiting Iowa as a team to the same number from the 3-point line, which is only 31 percent, was key to the game.
At the end of the day, Iowa just can’t compete with Michigan and that includes being in the middle position where I would take Dickinson every day of the week and twice Sunday on Garza.
Franz Wagner outing party
Defense was a huge reason for Michigan’s basketball victory, but the other reason was Franz Wagner, who might have had his best game as Wolverine.
With UM in the lead by just three at the half, Wagner scored eight points early in the second and helped Michigan extend their lead to double digits.
Wagner was 9 of 12 in the field, distributed four assists and went two of three deep. Iowa had no chance of keeping him and his ability to take over was one of the biggest differences between the two teams.
Joe Wieskamp is a very good player, but it’s not Franz Wagner who should be seriously considered Big Ten Player of the Year.
Michigan needs No.1 consideration
Gonzaga and Baylor are both very good teams and one of them could win the national title in April. The Zags beat Iowa after allowing them to score 88 points and although they have beaten a number of ranked teams, not a single road victory has come.
They also didn’t play against a ranked team during the conference because the West Coast Conference is a joke.
I don’t mean this as a slight. But compared to the Big Ten, it’s a joke. Gonzaga is not beating anyone as Michigan has won four straight games against teams that will play in the NCAA tournament, including two on the road.
Yes, Zags are a marvel in analytics. But they played as one team with a pulse in a month.
No team in college hoops has a better CV than Michigan and that’s why at this point the Wolverines should be ranked No.1.
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