ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan’s defense has passed its share of tests throughout the Big Ten season.
On Thursday night, the Wolverines faced their biggest one of all in a top-10 matchup against national player of the year candidate Luka Garza and Iowa’s high-scoring offense.
Once again, No. 3 Michigan rose to the occasion and made another statement in its quest for the regular-season conference crown by stifling No. 10 Iowa, 79-57, at Crisler Center.
Sophomore wing Franz Wagner finished with 21 points, senior forward Isaiah Livers had 16 points and six rebounds and freshman center Hunter Dickinson outplayed Garza to the tune of 14 points and eight rebounds for Michigan (17-1, 12-1 Big Ten), which reeled off its second consecutive top-10 win.
Garza finished with 16 points on 19 shots, Jordan Bohannon added 13 points and Joe Wieskamp scored 11. for Iowa (17-7, 11-6), which saw Jack Nunge and Connor McCaffery go down with injuries. The Hawkeyes shot a season-low 35.6% from the field (21-for-59) and were held below 65 points for the first time all season.
After a low-scoring first half where neither team led by more than five, Michigan’s defense continued to clamp down on Iowa as its offense started to kick into gear thanks to Wagner, who continually got to the rim.
He scored nine points less than four minutes into the second half and ignited a 26-9 run over a nine-minute stretch – most of which took place with Dickinson on the bench in foul trouble – that transformed a one-point deficit into a 16-point lead.
After Wagner scored on a driving layup and buried a 3-pointer, senior guard Eli Brooks drained a deep ball and Dickinson converted at the rim to give the Wolverines their first double-digit lead, 50-39, with 13:48 to play.
Michigan kept pushing as they continued to string together stops and shots kept falling. Livers threw down a fast-break dunk. Senior guard Chaundee Brown canned a 3-pointer. Junior forward Brandon Johns Jr. knocked down a jumper. By the time the run was over, Michigan was in total control, 62-46, with 8:14 to go.
From there, Michigan’s lead never dipped below 14 and grew to as much as 22 in the final minute as the Wolverines coasted to their sixth straight win.
Michigan’s defense set the tone from the start, with Dickinson opening the game by getting back-to-back stops against Garza and the Wolverines forcing the Hawkeyes to miss their first five shot attempts.
But after Dickinson picked up an early foul and checked out, Iowa’s offense started clicking with fifth-year senior center Austin Davis in the game. The Hawkeyes attacked the paint and made five shots in a row to take an 11-7 lead with 14:05 left in the first half.
With Dickinson out, the Wolverines also waded through a clunky offensive stretch where they struggled to convert their chances at the rim, particularly the backup bigs. That changed once Dickinson came back in, as he finished twice in the post to put Michigan up, 21-17, at the 6:46 mark.
Despite the offense scuffling at times and multiple reviews and stoppages disrupting the game flow, Dickinson and the Wolverines continued to lock down on Garza and the Hawkeyes, taking a 32-29 lead into the break on a last-second tip-in by Davis.
Michigan will have a short turnaround with a noon tip at Indiana on Saturday before it heads into the final week of the regular season.
