How often do you lose a game when the other team goes the final four minutes without making a field goal? That's a rhetorical question, but the answer has to be "not very damn often." But that's precisely what happened to Iowa in this game, as a furious late charge came up short in an 84-79 home defeat to Michigan.
Michigan could withstand that frigid shooting display to end the game because they spent a good portion of the second half toasty-hot from the field, which enabled them to build a 12-point lead with 3:25 to play. Things looked extremely bleak for Iowa, especially with Keegan Murray sitting on the bench nursing cramps. So of course Iowa went on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes, with seven points from Patrick McCaffer, mostly on layups near the rim. Unfortunately, Iowa got no closer than three points. Michigan made six of eight free throws down the stretch to seal up the victory. Iowa's only chance to tie the game in the final minute came on a Keegan Murray 3-point try with 17 seconds to play. It was a good look, but it unfortunately clanged out.
Clanging out was kind of the story of the game, especially for Iowa in the second half. After shooting 47% from the floor in the first half (15/32), Iowa was only 42% (16/38) in the second half. They also couldn't buy a three-pointer in either half, going 2/8 (25%) in the first half and an even-worse 2/10 (20%) in the second half. (The only saving grace on that front was that Michigan was also mostly hopeless from long range in this game; they went 1/12 (8%) in the first half and 3/8 (38%) in the second half. One of the big differences in the game ended up being free throws; Michigan went 18/23 at the line, while Iowa was just 13/20 at the line and only 6/12 in the second half. In a game decided by fine margins, that's a stat that really stings. The main culprit in those missed free throws was Keegan Murray, who shot a lousy 4/9 at the stripe. As often as he gets to the line, Iowa really needs him to shoot the ball a bit better when he's there.
But it was just an off night for Murray in general. He led led Iowa with 23 points, but he was wildly inefficient in doing so -- 9/23 from the field, 1/4 from 3-point range, 4/9 at the free throw line. He also had 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, an assist, and a steal. He just seemed off all night, though. The cramps clearly impacted his second half performance, but even before that he struggled to find a rhythm in the game. In addition to the missed free throws, he also missed several dunks, which is pretty uncharacteristic for him.
Michigan had notable advantages in points in the paint and fast break points for much of this game, though those stats ended up mostly evening out by the end of the game -- 46-42 Michigan in points in the paint, 14-13 in fast break points. After beating Iowa on the glass in the first half (19-16 overall, 6-4 in offensive boards), Iowa fared better in the second half, drawing even in the overall rebounds (21-21) and even grabbing a 9-4 advantage in offensive rebounds, which they turned into a 7-2 edge in second chance points. But one stat where Iowa never caught up to Michigan (which proved costly) was in points off turnovers. Iowa and Michigan both finished with 11 turnovers, but Michigan had an 18-9 edge in points off turnovers. Too often Iowa's sloppy passes or bad ball-handling turned into easy Michigan points the other way. Again: close game, small margins, etc.
Murray was one of four Iowa players in double-figures in scoring in the game. Patrick McCaffery's fast finish helped him end up with 13 points on 6/11 shooting, along with 5 rebounds, a block, and an assist. Filip Rebraca also had a pretty decent game, at least on the offensive end, as he finished with 12 points on 6/9 shooting and 6 rebounds and 3 assists. (He had some struggles on the other end, though so did most of Iowa's front court; Moussa Diabate absolutely torched Iowa around the rim with a career-high 28 points on 12/15 shooting, while Hunter Dickinson had an excellent all-around game with 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists.) Jordan Bohannon was the only other Hawkeye in double-figures, with 11 points on 2/5 shooting (5/5 from the free throw line). Tony Perkins finished with 4 points and a team-high 5 assists, while Connor McCaffery had 4 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench.
This is a loss that stings and will hurt for a bit, because this was certainly a winnable game for Iowa. While the rally at the end gave them a chance of at least tying the game and taking it to overtime, the game itself was probably in the second half, when Iowa let what had become a close game (one they led on several occasions) turn into a double-digit deficit for an extended period. If they avoid that sort of hole, they probably don't need such a ferocious effort at the end of the game to give themselves a shot at stealing the game. Still: Iowa let a visiting team go four minutes without a field goal to end the game and shoot just 20% from 3-point range and come away with a win. That's not protecting home court.
Of course, while this loss hurts, it's also a defeat that Iowa is going to have to move on from very quickly. Iowa has another game in less than 48 hours, at #18 Ohio State on Saturday. And they've got #19 Michigan State on the Tuesday after that game. On paper, tonight's game looked like the easiest of those three; they're going to need to find a way to play much better in their next two games to try and grab a win.
NEXT: Iowa heads to Columbus, OH to take on #18 Ohio State (16-6, 9-4 Big Ten) on Saturday, February 19 (1:30 PM CT, FOX).
