Five Takeaways: Michigan Defeats Iowa To Start Big Ten Play
Michigan had gotten off to a great start against some really good teams and wanted to keep it rolling against Iowa as the Big Ten season tips. Luka Garza went off for Iowa scoring 44 points but the rest of the Hawkeyes were kept in check scoring just 47 combined. That allowed Michigan to win 103-91 and start conference play unblemished. Here are five things that stuck out in the win over the Hawkeyes.
1. Different vibe at home
Shocker, right? Home-court advantage is obviously very real in college basketball but Michigan looked so much more comfortable at home than it did on the road against Louisville earlier in the week they were almost unrecognizable. Teams are always going to be better at home but the Wolverines put up 50 points in the first half against Iowa after scoring just 43 for the entire game in Louisville. The play of sophomore Brandon Johns proves the point in a big way. He came alive scoring 12 points with two three pointers, a couple of dunks and even some isolation ball after scoring just two points against the Cardinals.
2. Juwan Howard attempted to protect Jon Teske
There was a pretty obvious attempt at keeping the big man out of foul trouble as evidenced by early minutes from Colin Castleton and even Austin Davis, who hasn't seen the floor much. It was clear that U-M was going to let Luka Garza get his while keeping everyone else contained, which obviously led to a ton of one-on-one defense for Teske. Garza proved to be a lot to handle resulting in Teske picking up foul No. 4 with 11:15 remaining in the game. Spelling him in the first half with Castleton and Davis was the right move, it just didn't really work for Teske personally. Iowa literally went to Garza on every possession and Teske just couldn't stay clean. At the end of the day it didn't matter, even with Garza getting 44, because U-M sent the Hawkeyes back to Iowa City with a 12-point loss.
3. Franz Wagner is getting comfortable
The lanky freshman had his best offensive performance of the year scoring 18 points on 4-for-10 shooting in 28 minutes of play. The 6-9 wing looked very calm while shooting from the outside and took it to the basket more than he has in his first four games of action. He also continues to make heady plays, like tapping contested rebounds to wide open teammates, in an effort to impact the game on both ends. He also had a few nice defensive plays even though a couple of them were called for fouls.
4. Brandon Johns is carving out a role
As a sophomore, Johns is starting to feel it a bit and play to his strengths, which involves being an elite athlete at 6-8, 235, playing strong defense in the paint and on the perimeter, making hustle plays and crashing the boards. He'll always be able to do those things so when you sprinkle in a couple threes, some dunks and making bigs guard him as he drives, he becomes a real problem for the opposition. Johns finished the night with 12 points and eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
5. Give Austin Davis his props
As a senior, Davis has not been very involved this year, but he deserves so much credit for staying ready for games like tonight's. The 6-10, 250-pounder gave the Wolverines 10 productive minutes with Jon Teske on the bench, and it wasn't the first time this season. At one point late in the second half, Davis went layup-dunk-dunk on three consecutive possessions and threw an offensive rebound in there as well. He held his own against Garza on defense and made sure to earn his personal fouls too. Davis finished the night with eight points and three rebounds and proved that he can be counted in spurts if necessary.
What stuck out to you? Would you have done anything different? Comment below!!!
