Iowa’s struggles continue with 90-80 loss to Michigan in Big Ten home opener
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team first lost the tempo, then its head coach and finally the game as Michigan cruised to a 90-80 victory on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa continued to struggle from 3-point range, making just 5-of-20 attempts while losing its third game in a row. Three of Iowa’s 3-point baskets came late in the game when the outcome was all but decided.
Michigan entered Sunday’s game having lost three straight games, and five of its last six games. But it was hard to tell as the Wolverines controlled the tempo from start to finish and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.
Fran McCaffery’s frustration boiled over when he was called for a technical foul with 12 minutes, 31 seconds left in the second half.
Michigan made both free throws to build a 58-42 lead.
And then just seconds later, Fran McCaffery was called for his second technical foul with 12:25 remaining and was ejected from the game.
Michigan also made both of those free throws to take a 62-42 lead.
It marked the fifth time that Fran McCaffery has been ejected from a game as the Iowa head coach.
Long-time assistant coach Sherman Dillard became the acting head coach and was facing a 20-point deficit.
Michigan forward Tray Jackson was then called for a technical foul for “excessive talking” with 9:09 remaining and with Iowa forward Ben Krikke preparing to shoot two free throws after having drawn a shooting foul.
Payton Sandfort was picked to shoot the two technical free throws, but he surprisingly missed both attempts.
Krikke then made both of his free throw attempts, cutting the deficit to 66-52, but the Wolverines answered with a basket, pushing the lead back to 16 points.
Iowa cut the deficit to 10 points in the final minute against Michigan reserves, but it was too little and too late as Iowa fell to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
Iowa finished the week 0-3 with three double-digit losses to Purdue, Iowa State and the Wolverines.
Sunday’s loss to Michigan wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate as Iowa made a late run against Michigan reserves.
Iowa gave up an average of nearly 90 points per game in these last three losses as defensive shortcomings continue to fester under Fran McCaffery.
But then when the offense also struggles, Iowa becomes very beatable as shown on Sunday.
The Hawkeyes now enter finals weeks and don’t play again until next Saturday when they will face Florida A&M at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
Four of Iowa’s five starters scored in double figures in Sunday’s game, led by Krikke with 24 points.
But Iowa was outscored 21-12 in bench points.
Michigan also had a 41-32 advantage on the boards.
Iowa only made 1-of-7 shots from 3-point range in the first half and trailed 35-33 at the break.
Fran McCaffery switched his starting lineup for the second straight game as 6-foot-10 freshman forward Owen Freeman replaced 6-4 guard Josh Dix, who started against Iowa State this past Thursday.
It was Freeman’s first career start as a Hawkeye.
However, he picked up two fouls and only played seven minutes in the first half and didn’t score. He finished the game with five points and four rebounds.
Michigan controlled the tempo and pace in the first half as Iowa only scored five fast-break points.
Krikke led Iowa with 12 points in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting from the field. The Valparaiso transfer also led Iowa with five rebounds in the first half.
Fran McCaffery used 11 players in the first half, but five were held scoreless and two only scored two points.
And while Iowa trailed at halftime for the third consecutive game, the two-point deficit against Michigan was much different than the previous two games against Purdue and Iowa State when Iowa trailed by 21 and 18 points, respectively, at halftime.
But then Michigan scored 11 unanswered points early in the second half, causing Fran McCaffery to call a timeout with 16:37 left to play, and with Iowa trailing, 46-37.
Iowa scored the first four points of the second half to take a 37-35 lead, but it was all Michigan the rest of the way.