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benjamin-schuff@uiowa.edu
Maybe Fran McCaffery’s chair-slamming episode at Michigan State lit a fire under the Hawkeyes after all.
Iowa looked like a different team on Saturday against Michigan than the one that lost by 34 points in East Lansing on Jan. 10, and upset the No. 13 Wolverines, 75-59.
The Hawkeyes led nearly all 40 minutes of play, thanks in large part to a much-improved defensive effort that limited Michigan in a number of ways. Iowa held the Wolverines to 38 percent shooting from the field, and only 25 percent from the 3-point line on 8-of-31 attempts. The Hawkeyes also neutralized Michigan’s leading scorer, Tim Hardaway Jr., to the tune of 9 points on 2-of-13 shooting. Hardaway Jr. went 0-for-8 from the perimeter.
This defensive performance came only five days after allowing No. 7 Michigan State to shoot 55 percent from beyond the 3-point line, and 62 percent overall.
“We really made it a point of emphasis in practice the last two, three days to really get at it on defense,” guard Devyn Marble said. “I think we did that here today.”
Michigan head coach John Beilein was quick to give Iowa’s defense credit for victory, saying, “We didn’t play one of our better games, and Iowa was the reason for that.”
“Sometimes they induced us into taking ill-advised shots,” he said. “When the other team is changing defenses like they do, you really have to be on target with how you’re executing. We didn’t do that enough today.”
Matt Gatens led Iowa’s offensive attack with 19 points. The senior guard connected on 4-of-7 3-pointers, including three in the second half that brought a crowd of 12,366 to its feet. Gatens’ last 3-pointer came immediately after Zach McCabe dove to the floor near midcourt for a loose ball, and the shot proved to be a dagger as it pushed Iowa’s lead to 63-48 with just over four minutes to play.
McCabe got things going early by scoring the game’s first 6 points before Michigan got on the scoreboard. The sophomore forward was one of four Hawkeyes with double-figure points, as he scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.
“They were doubling Melsahn [Basabe] and weren’t paying too much attention to me, so I was trying to make plays,” McCabe said. “I just wanted to get into a flow.”
Michigan cut Iowa’s lead to five with just over a minute to go before halftime, but the Hawkeyes scored the final five points of the first half to take a 10-point lead at the break.
Fresh off the bench, forward Devon Archie collected a missed Eric May jumper and extended Iowa’s possession that ended with a 3-point play by Gatens. Archie then harassed Hardaway Jr. into missing a contested 3-pointer on Michigan’s ensuing possession, and Marble sent Iowa to the locker room up 33-23 by nailing a jumper from the right wing at the first-half buzzer.
“That was a huge, huge play by Archie,” McCaffery said. “He gets the offensive rebound, kicks it out [to Gatens], then he contested [Hardaway Jr.’s shot], and then Marble goes and scores at the buzzer. That was huge for us.”
Marble and Aaron White were the remaining Iowa players who scored more than 10 points; Marble had 13 and White posted 12. Marble had yet another solid all-around game, recording 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
As a team, Iowa assisted on 18 of its 25 field goals.
“I think that’s one of the things that would make any coach most proud,” McCaffery said. “We are an unselfish group and put winning ahead of any personal achievement and I think that’s the kind character we have in that locker room.”
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UPDATE Sunday 12:50 p.m.
