The Iowa men’s basketball team walked into Crisler Center and basically got whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted on the offensive end of the floor.
Sure, the Hawkeyes are a high-powered offensive team to begin with — they have the second-highest scoring offense in the Big Ten — but Michigan’s struggles on defense let Iowa take it to the next level. Time and time again, the Hawkeyes made a mockery out of the Wolverines’ defensive looks. Players like Payton Sandfort, a known sharp-shooter who was all over Michigan’s scouting report, torched the Wolverines for an efficient 26 points, while guard Tony Perkins had no issue dropping 24 points on a 9-for-12 night from the field.
When it was all said and done, Michigan’s defense made Iowa look ridiculously comfortable shooting in a road gym, going 53% from the field and 50% from deep. Postgame, it was the same old story for Michigan — dejected heads knowing they need to improve but showing no progress in doing so.
“We just gotta fix it,” Michigan coach Juwan Howard said of the defense. “Keep working, keep working, keep (studying) the film, keep working. … (We need to work on) rebounding, contesting shots, drives, keeping guy in front no blow by’s, ball screen defense, making sure that we keep guys out of the paint.”
In other words, everything. Michigan needs to improve on every facet on defense, that much was clear against the Hawkeyes.
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