Michigan basketball scores big win in back-and-forth affair at Iowa, 84-79

Michigan Wolverines basketball improved to 14-10 overall and 8-6 in the Big Ten with an 84-79 win over Iowa Thursday evening.

The Maize and Blue were without sophomore forward Terrance Williams II, who wasn’t able to play with a sprained ankle. Williams plays just over 15 minutes per contest, and averages 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per night.

Here is a recap of how the game unfolded.

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First Half

Iowa sophomore forward Keegan Murray came out hot, getting to the rim on two occasions, including an and-one, with Michigan freshman forward Moussa Diabate committing the foul. He carried the Hawkeyes to a 5-2 lead.

In fact, both teams exploded offensively to start the game. Michigan made five of its first seven field goal attempts, highlighted by a fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks tripe to cut the Iowa lead to 14-13 at the 15:33 mark. Iowa hit six of its first seven shots. Within the first four and a half minutes, the game already had two ties and two lead changes.

Brooks’ three-pointer sparked an 11-0 run that forced Iowa head man Fran McCaffery to burn an early timeout. Diabate got a layup and a dunk, sophomore center Hunter Dickinson hit a jumper and freshman wing Caleb Houstan scored his third and fourth point on a run-out dunk as well. The Wolverines held a 21-14 lead with 13:47 remaining in the first half.

The Hawkeyes fought right back, ripping off a 7-0 run of their own. Murray drained a three-pointer to stop the scoring drought, then was fouled a minute later and made one of two free throws to give him nine points within the game’s first eight minutes. Michigan and Iowa were tied up at 21-21 with 11:25 to play.

Iowa redshirt sophomore wing Patrick McCaffery found Murray for a layup underneath to give the Hawkeyes a 27-23 lead with 8:18 remaining in the half. That marked a 13-2 Hawkeye run, and Michigan hadn’t scored in over two minutes at that point.

Michigan went on an 8-0 run of its own, with freshman guard Kobe Bufkin providing a lift off the bench. He made a layup in traffic and hit a semi-contested right corner three during the Wolverines’ flurry. Iowa sixth-year senior guard Jordan Bohannon stopped the bleeding by drawing a foul and making both free throws. The Hawkeyes tied it up at 31-31, and the two teams went back and forth from there. The 33-33 knotted-up score at the 3:06 mark was the seventh tie of the contest.

Dickinson picked up his second personal foul with just under three minutes to play, and sat the rest of the half.

Michigan head coach Juwan Howard was issued a technical foul at the 49-second mark, which put Bohannon at the line to make two free throws and provide the Hawkeyes with a 37-35 lead. Bufkin was fouled and hit two foul shots to tie the game with 40 seconds to go, but Murray received a long inbounds pass and made a mid-range jumper over Michigan fifth-year senior walk-on forward Jaron Faulds at the buzzer to take a 39-37 advantage at the break.

Both teams shot 47 percent from the field in the first half — the Wolverines were 1-of-12 from beyond the arc — while Michigan had six turnovers to Iowa’s seven. The Wolverines found success inside, with 26 points in the paint, and also had eight points in transition. Iowa — which averages 20.3 points per game in transition — only had two fast-break points.

Murray led all scorers with 13 points, while Diabate scored 12 despite sitting the last 1:27 with two fouls.

Second Half

Michigan began the second half with a bad miss from Houstan, who hit the side of the backboard with a corner three, and a run-out layup for Iowa sophomore guard Tony Perkins. Dickinson was fouled shooting a jumper and made both free throws to bring the deficit back down to two, 41-39, with 19:12 to play.

Dickinson committed his third personal foul, hacking Murray, but Howard — who touched the ball that was in play and was issued a Class B technical foul just moments before — left him in the game. The big man found Jones for a three, then got a dunk the next time down. Michigan led, 48-46, with 16:36 to go in the back-and-forth affair.

Iowa began missing some easy looks, with four-straight field goals that didn’t go down, and Michigan took advantage. Brooks hit a three to give Michigan a 53-50 lead with 14:23 to play, and Diabate scored four points during the 8-2 run, with Jones chipping in two. The Maize and Blue held a 59-53 advantage at the media timeout with 11:42 remaining.

Murray got an and-one to go and bring Iowa within three points, 59-56, at the 11:21 mark. But Michigan had an answer. Brooks hit a three, then Dickinson drained a one-handed jumper from the middle of the lane to extend the lead to 64-56 with 10:43 remaining.

The run continued from there. Brooks hit another three and got a layup, and Dickinson contributed with a jumper in transition. Diabate hit back-to-back jumpers to give Michigan a 70-60 edge with 7:52 to go. It was 70-62 when Howard called timeout with 7:41 remaining. At that point, the Wolverines were 12-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-5 from long range, in the second half.

Iowa went cold again, making one of eight field goals and not scoring for nearly three minutes. Michigan, meanwhile, continued to play with a lead. Even after a quick 4-0 Iowa run, Diabate and Bufkin cashed in with layups to get the lead right back up to 10, 76-66, with 4:06 to go. Diabate made two free throws with three and a half minutes to go, giving Michigan a 78-66 edge.

The game was trending in Michigan’s direction, before Iowa surged on a 9-0 run. The Wolverines, who went on a two-plus minute scoring drought, missed five-straight shot attempts. After four-straight Iowa layups, capped off by one from McCaffery, Michigan led only 78-75 with just over a minute to play.

Houstan hit two free throws to make it 80-75 with 1:06 to go, after he was fouled going up on a shot off an inbounds play.

After Jones turned it over while driving in for a layup, Iowa got a great look for Murray from deep on the pick-and-pop, but he missed it. The Michigan point guard corralled the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first free throw but made the second, giving the Wolverines an 81-77 edge with 6.1 seconds left.

Iowa guard Ahron Ulis made a layup with 6.1 seconds left. Jones got the inbounds pass off the made shot and was fouled with 4.9 seconds; he split the pair of free throws and gave Michigan a 82-79 lead. After Bohannon misfired on a long three (thinking he was fouled), Jones was hacked just before the buzzer sounded, with 0.3 seconds remaining, so he was awarded two free throws that he knocked down. Michigan won by a final score of 84-79.

Diabate led all scorers with 28 points, while Dickinson (14 points), Brooks (13), Jones (11) and Bufkin (10) also scored in double figures. Murray led the Hawkeyes with 23 points, but they came on 23 shots. He dealt with cramps in the second half. Michigan shot 15-of-28 from the field after halftime, hitting three triples.