No. 16 Iowa punctuated its upset of No. 4 Michigan State by downing Michigan, 82-71, in Carver-Hawkeye.

By Kyle Mann
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After undressing Michigan State for the second time last week, the Hawkeyes seem bound for a top-10 ranking with an 82-71 victory over Michigan on a frigid Jan. 17 in hot Carver-Hawkeye.

The Hawkeyes picked up right where they left off in East Lansing, with Jarrod Uthoff leading a 9-0 charge to start the game, provoking a John Beilein time-out at the 18:23 mark.

Iowa pushed that lead to 11-0, then its momentum waned, and Beilein had his team playing more physically. Iowa still led 20-8 at the 11:23 mark, but the Wolverines began a 13-0 run that gave them a 21-20 lead with 8:11 remaining in the half.

With the Wolverines playing tough, Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery turned to physical freshman Ahmad Wagner off the bench, who quickly made a jumper to reclaim a 22-21 lead.

The teams battled through the rest of the half. With the Hawkeyes leading 31-26, Adam Woodbury stole the ball near midcourt, and with Dom Uhl extending his arms to bar a defender from catching him, Woodbury took it the length of the court for a breakaway dunk to put Iowa ahead 33-26.

While the Wolverines were able to stay within striking distance, the Hawkeyes controlled the remainder of the half — for the most part — and led 38-33 at the break.

“When you play Michigan, the way the execute their offense, the way they move the ball, multiple 3-point shooters, they’re never out of it,” McCaffery said. “I thought we softened a little bit right after the 11-0 start; we started the second half, and they were on fire.”

A 3 by Peter Jok opened the second half scoring, but then Michigan came out scorching from beyond the arc. Three triples sparked Michigan to a 16-6 run and a 49-47 lead near the 15-minute mark.

After going 3-of-11 from 3-land in the first half, the recently hot-shooting Hawkeyes returned to form as Michigan applied pressure offensively. Iowa’s shooters — especially Jok — heated up, and the Hawks flew past Michigan to take a 60-52 lead with under 9:31 remaining.

Even with Michigan’s ability to stick to it, Jok says the Hawks are playing with incredible confidence and never count themselves out.

“Every time we step on the court, we think we’re the better team on the court,” he said. “We believe in ourselves.”

It was certainly a game of runs, and Michigan was in the middle of another one at the final media time-out (3:22), trailing, 71-65. Uthoff knocked down a pair at the free-throw line after the break to end that run, and Iowa ultimately thwarted the the Wolverines’ comeback attempt.

Uthoff finished with 23 points, and Jok chipped in 16, 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes shot 7-of-11 from distance in the second half and finished with 19 assists.

“We were all in rhythm; we were all playing really well,” Uthoff said. “We have a lot of experience playing with each other, and I think that contributes a lot to our success.”

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