By Pat Harty

CHICAGO – The Iowa men’s basketball team played two games in the Big Ten Tournament that were a microcosm of its up-and-down season.

Tenth-ranked Michigan shredded Iowa’s defense and rolled to a 74-53 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday at the United Center.

The Wolverines outscored Iowa 30-3 from 3-point range while improving to 27-5 on the season. One of Michigan’s five losses came against Iowa by a score of 74-59 on Feb. 1 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Friday’s beat-down came just 24 hours after Iowa had made 12-of-23 3-point baskets during an 83-62 victory over Illinois in the second round of the conference tournament.

Iowa had seven players who made at least one 3-pointer against Illinois and four players who scored in double figures.

In Friday’s game, however, Iowa missed all but one of its 16 shots from 3-point range and also struggled on defense.

That pattern has occurred throughout the season where Iowa’s success and failure often depends on how it shoots from 3-point range.

Iowa's lone 3-point basket in Friday's game was made by seldom-used walk-on Nicolas Hobbs late in the second half when the game was out of reach.

"It's difficult to kind of understand, we were executing and we had so much attention to detail last night," said Iowa sophomore center Luka Garza. "We just did a great on both ends the whole game. Not being able to do that is confusing a little bit. We obviously want to. We just have to do a better job of putting our foot down and doing it and being consistent with it every day.

"And that's something we're going to reflect on and make sure we do a better job in the NCAA Tournament."

The good news is that even with Friday’s drubbing, Iowa with a 22-11 record, still is considered a near lock to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three seasons.

That was not the case last season when Michigan defeated Iowa 77-71 in overtime in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. That loss ended a dismal season for the Hawkeyes, who finished 14-19 last season.

"Last year, when we lost to Michigan that was the end of our season," Garza said. "We were going home and getting ready for spring break.

"That isn't the case this year." 

Iowa entered Friday’s quarterfinal having won six of its last nine games against Michigan dating back to 2014. It was thought that Iowa matched up well against the Wolverines, but that was hardly the case on Friday as Michigan won its ninth consecutive game in the conference tournament.

The challenge now for the Iowa players is to flush Friday's loss, which was Iowa's  fifth loss in the last six games, and start preparing for what they assume will be a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

"The main thing is just realizing what we've done this season," said junior point guard Jordan Bohannon. "Not a lot of teams have won twenty-plus games and be able to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. So we realize that and we've just got to make the most of these next couple days because we've got to get better." 

Garza and junior forward Tyler Cook combined to score 20 of Iowa’s 27 points in the first half. But they only combined for eight points in the second half and finished with 14 points apiece.

Garza and Cook were the only players for Iowa to score in double figures in Friday's game.

Bohannon also was held scoreless for just the second time this season and he only attempted two shots, both of which came from 3-point range.

"I think we were just missing shots," Bohannon said. "I thought we were taking good shots for the most part. We had a bunch of open threes. It was just a weird night."

The Hawkeyes missed all eight of their shots from 3-point range in the first half, while Michigan made 7-of-16 treys in the first 20 minutes and led 40-27 at the break.

Iowa often struggles when its 3-point shots aren’t falling and that was certainly the case in the first half. The Hawkeyes had seven turnovers and just five assists in the first half, which was a drastic change from Thursday’s victory over Illinois when Iowa assisted on 25 of its 31 made field goals.

Michigan, on the other hand, assisted on 13 of its 15 made field goals in the first half. Michigan point guard Zavier Simpson had eight assists in the first half and made all three of his field-goal attempts.

The Wolverines also had six steals in the first half, while Iowa only had one.

The situation looked bleak for the Hawkeyes heading into the second half, and it would only get worse as the Wolverines continued to pour it on. Michigan finished with 24 assists and just seven turnovers in Friday's game. while Iowa had 10 assists and 11 turnovers.

"Honestly, I don't think it was our shots, I just think it was our defense," said junior guard Isaiah Moss. "On the defensive end, we weren't locked in the whole game."