Iowa-Michigan Basketball Takeaways

By John Bohnenkamp

BOX SCORE

Iowa had another last-second chance to win a game. This time the shot didn’t drop.

Pryce Sandfort’s missed 3-pointer at the buzzer was the final play in an up-and-down 85-83 loss at Michigan in Saturday’s Big Ten game at the Crisler Center.

Iowa (7-2 overall, 1-1 conference) opened conference play with Josh Dix hitting a game-winning 3-pointer in Tuesday’s 80-79 home win over Northwestern, and this one came down to the Hawkeyes with the final shot. But Sandfort’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.

The Wolverines’ winning shot didn’t even go through the net — basket interference was called on Roddy Gayle Jr.’s layup with three seconds left.

The Hawkeyes trailed by 16 points in the first half and were down 81-73 with 2:29 to play before rallying to tie the game on Payton Sandfort’s 3-pointers with 20 seconds left.

Payton Sandfort led Iowa with 19 points, 16 coming in the second half. Dix and Pryce Sandfort each had 16 points. Owen Freeman had 13 points and Drew Thelwell added 10.

Some takeaways from the game:

BIG BENCH

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery went 11 deep — in the first half.

Freeman picked up two fouls in the span of a second and sat the remaining 17:44. Brock Harding picked up his second foul with 13:17 to play and sat the rest of the half.

Ladji Dembele and Payton Sandfort also had two first-half fouls and that, plus the Hawkeyes’ cold start, left McCaffery scrambling for options.

Thelwell played 14 ½ minutes and scored 10 points in the half. Pryce Sandfort played 14 minutes and had 10 points.

Riley Mulvey and Chris Tadjo combined for 9 ½ minutes and contributed three points and four rebounds.

The Hawkeyes were only down 40-37 at halftime, setting the stage for the second half.

INSIDE JOB

Michigan had a size advantage on the Hawkeyes with 7-footers Danny Wolf and Vladislav Goldin, so the Wolverines were expected to have an edge inside.

The rebound margin — Michigan 45, Iowa 30 — was especially crushing to the Hawkeyes.

Michigan had a 54-32 edge in paint points and a 20-9 edge in second-chance points.

The Hawkeyes have a minus-4.6 rebound margin average this season.

MISSED FREE THROWS

The Hawkeyes were 10-of-17 in free throws, continuing their struggles at the line this season.

Everybody who went to the line missed at least one free throw with the exception of Payton Sandfort, who went 3-of-3.

The Hawkeyes are shooting just 66 percent from the line this season, and that has to improve if they’re going to be playing in these types of games in conference play.

SANDFORT’S SLOW START

The hope for Payton Sandfort moving forward is that his second-half shooting will give him momentum.

Sandfort was 0-for-9 from the field in the first half, 0-for-4 in 3-pointers. He was 6-for-11 from the field, 4-for-6 in 3-pointers, in the second half.

Sandfort is shooting just 31.5 percent in 3-pointers this season as he has been battling a right wrist injury. He looked more like himself in the second half, a good sign as the Hawkeyes head into the rest of nonconference play and Big Ten play.