Game 16: Michigan at Iowa Preview

Iowa hosts Michigan tonight at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (7:00 p.m., ESPN2), the Big Ten’s home for tumultuous weather and hilariously chaotic basketball. The Big Ten’s best home-court advantages tend to take on the image of their programs. There’s something about the energy in the RAC that feeds Rutgers’ swarming defense, how the Breslin Center roars when Michigan State runs or how the sheer frustration of station-by-station basketball coalesces with the Kohl Center.

In Iowa City, you always know to expect the unexpected. There’s no better example of basketball at Carver-Hawkeye Arena than Iowa’s most recent home game, a 91-89 win over Indiana. The Hawkeyes went down 23-4 to start the game, soared back by the middle of the second half, and let the game slip away, only to steal it in the closing moments. The aftermath featured outrage from both fanbases on social media, one coach calling out the officiating and a player taunting the opposition (which scored 1.17 PPP) on a podcast about not being prepared to play against zone defense.

Just another Thursday night in Iowa City.

Now, Michigan gets its turn at the madness. The Wolverines have only been to Iowa City twice under Juwan Howard, a 90-83 loss in 2020 and an 84-79 win last February, and a road win would leave them tied for 1st in the conference with a loss sending them toward the middle of the league where the bottom feels as close as the top.