By Dallas Jones

IOWA CITY, IOWA – The Iowa Hawkeyes came into Thursday night’s matchup against Michigan as one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten.

Iowa has looked like a completely new team of late, with a huge comeback win against Indiana last Thursday and a road victory over Rutgers Sunday, Juwan Howard and company came to play though.

A career high from Jett Howard made it seem as if the Wolverines would come away with the win in this high scoring affair, but Payton Sandfort played the half of his life (and OT). which ended up being difference in Iowa’s 93-84 victory. Check out my five takeaways here:

The pros shined: While Hunter Dickinson is no doubt the leader of this Michigan team, it was the coaches son and possible future pro Jett Howard who shined tonight. Setting his career high in just the first half with 21 points.

He was not the lone star as Kris Murray showed why he should be considered a lottery pick this June, putting up 15 in the first half.

The duo battled in the first half, combining to make their first ten attempts and finishing the half shooting an astonishing 14-25 (64%) from the field and 8-13 (61%) from three.

The duo continued their scoring display in the second half and overtime. Howard finished the game with a career high 34 points and shot over 50% from three. Carrying most of the load for the Wolverines as the next highest scorer on the team was 12 points.

Murray finished with 27, many coming early in the second half. Another strong performance from the presumed All-American.

Fran Mccaffery’s bunch is never out of a game: With just two minutes left to play, Michigan had the ball up 77-70 as some Hawkeye fans started to file out of the arena.

After a Michigan turnover, Filip Rebraca made a layup to cut the lead to five.

Then it happened. Payton Sandfort went on a 7-2 run by himself, including a four-point play with 20.7 seconds left to tie the game and eventually send it to overtime.

He added seven more points in overtime, bringing his total to 26 on the night. Second only to Kris Murray’s 27. The Hawkeyes needed this game to extend their win streak and get back to .500 in Big Ten play.

Sandfort’s elevation in the absence of Patrick McCaffery cannot be understated and him playing at this level unlocks a whole new trajectory for this team going forward.

They will look to continue this hot streak Sunday afternoon as they take on the Maryland Terrapins at 3:30pm.

Freshman guards continue to grow: Fran McCaffery has been vocal about getting his young guards more playing time and tonight against Michigan, they proved him right once again.

Dasonte Bowen and Josh Dix both checked in early for the Hawks and while Bowen was subbed out due to a couple of fouls, they both made immediate impacts.

Bowen finished a tough transition layup in the first half and Dix knocked down two big threes to keep the game close.

Dix also got to the line, putting up eight points in just eight minutes of play in the first half. Dix ended up playing a season high 31 minutes tonight and was apart of the closing lineup at the point position.

He finished the game with ten points and five assists with only one turnover. He was also a team high +17 on the court.

Coach McCaffery has said he needed to boost Dix’s minutes and tonight he showed why.

Lack of big depth hurting Hawks: This Iowa Hoops team was well aware in the summer that they were undersized. While Kris Murray and Filip Rebraca have been playing great basketball in spite of that, once foul trouble becomes a factor it makes things very difficult for the Hawkeyes.

Especially when faced against one of the biggest teams in the conference. Michigan has one of the best true centers in the country in Hunter Dickinson, standing 7’1″ tall and 260 pounds, as well as freshman Tarris Reed Jr. Who is 6’10” 260 pounds on his own right.

They looked that situation right in the eyes tonight when Filip Rebraca got his second foul with a few minutes left in the first half.

Riley Mulvey held his own though, posting four points, two rebounds and battling down low in his 13 minutes of play. Similarly to the Indiana game, it looked like Iowa would suffer from that lack of depth, but they found a way to win anyway.

It may not be the long term answer, but all that matters is you find a way to win.

You have to get stops: While the offense was fast, fun and efficient. The other end was not as pretty. Jett Howard’s 21 points were just a portion of Michigan’s 43 first half points.

As a team they shot 52.9% from the field and 53.8% from three with just three turnovers.

The Hawkeyes tried to start the second half in a zone to slow the Wolverines down, but after a couple rotational lapses, Fran McCaffery called a timeout and pulled starters Tony Perkins and Ahron Ulis.

Iowa’s defense did not seem to turn that side of the game around until the final minutes as Michigan shot 56% from the field and 58.3% from three in the second half, posting 79 points in regulation.

It was finally in the overtime period that the stops came as Iowa held the Wolverines to 1-8 shooting in that stretch. Better late than never many would say, but look for this to be a key focus for the Hawkeyes moving forward.

Find postgame comments from Head Coach Fran McCaffery and players here: