By Hawk Fanatic

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team has a chance to start 2-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

But in order to do it, the Hawkeyes will have to win at Michigan on Saturday.

The Wolverines, who are ranked 23rd in the coaches’ poll and receiving votes in the AP poll under first-year head coach Dusty May, will bring a 7-1 record into Saturday’s game at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Michigan defeated No. 11 Wisconsin, 67-64, on Tuesday in Madison, Wisconsin, while Iowa edged Northwestern 80-79 in its Big Ten opener on the same day.

Josh Dix’s catch-and-shoot game-winning 3-pointer from 33 feet with 0.8 seconds remaining was the difference against Northwestern, which had erased a 17-point deficit.

Dix led all scorers with 22 points in the game, making 9-of-16 field goals and three 3s.

Iowa had lost eight straight Big Ten games in December prior to Dix’s game-winning basket, which was the No. 1 play of the day on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays for Dec. 3.

Iowa sophomore Owen Freeman has posted two double-doubles and is averaging a team-best 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, while shooting 65 percent from the floor. He is second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage.

Iowa has had at least one player (five different players) score 20 or more points in seven of the team’s eight games.

Michigan has won six straight games since suffering its lone defeat against Wake Forest (72-70) on Nov. 10 in the second game of the season.

The Wolverines have Power 5 victories over TCU, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Wisconsin this season and are 4-0 at the Crisler Center..

All five Michigan starters average at least 9.8 points per game and four are in double figures. The Wolverines’ top four scorers are all transfers.

Yale transfer Danny Wolf leads the team, averaging 12 points and 9.5 rebounds (second in B1G) with three double-doubles.

Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle, Jr., averages 11.6 points, Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson averages 11.4 points and has a team-high 31 assists
and FAU transfer Vladislav Goldin averages 11 points and has 16 blocks

Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said Friday morning on a zoom call with the media that sophomore forward Seydou Traore will not play against Michigan due to an ankle injury. Traore also missed the Big Ten opener against Northwestern.

Iowa (7-1) vs. Michigan (7-1)

When: Saturday, 1 p.m.

Where: Ann Arbor, Michigan, Crisler Arena (13,751)

TV: FS1

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday’s game is the 169th meeting in the all-time the all-time series that began in 1921. Michigan leads the series, 99-68.
• Iowa has won three of the last four meetings in the series with the lone loss coming in Iowa City last December.
• The Hawkeyes have won the last two matchups in Ann Arbor — a first for the program since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
• The last time Iowa won three straight in Ann Arbor came in 2005-08.

hawkeyesports.com contributed to this report