Iowa Basketball: Uthoff Paces Iowa, Hawkeyes Beat Michigan

We talked all week about how Iowa needed a win to get their confidence back headed into postseason play. Iowa had one final shot at it on Saturday night in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Iowa basketball team had lost five out of six games and four straight coming into Saturday night’s contest against the Wolverines. They seemed to gain some confidence back against Indiana this past Tuesday, but were unable to secure a victory. Iowa needed a win Saturday to ensure itself of a top five seed in the Big Ten tournament. Iowa senior forward, Jarrod Uthoff did his best to make sure Iowa left Michigan with a win.

Uthoff scored 12 of Iowa’s first 22 points en route to a 29 point night. Uthoff’s scoring hadn’t fallen off during the losing streak, it was more about his efficiency. He was shooting about 34 percent from the field over the five games prior to tonight. One of the keys was going to be how efficient he was. He started the scoring early on his way to 11-19 from the field and 4-10 from behind the arc.

The Hawkeyes struggled to end the first half of play and would go on to lose that free timeout that they get and consistently lose. There was no harm done though, they took a six point lead into the locker room at 36-30.

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The big story for me was, if we were going to see another scoring drought in the second half. In games prior, Iowa has gone on long stretches where they haven’t scored and it’s ultimately killed them in those games.

The Hawkeyes were clicking on all cylinders to start the second half and quickly had their lead to 10, at 43-33. The teams battled back and forth before Iowa opened up their lead to 15 points at 59-44 with about 10 minutes left in the half. I just had a feeling that Michigan had a run in them. And they did.

The Wolverines switched it up on defensive and went into a 1-3-1 zone that had Iowa befuddled. After Peter Jok scored on a layup at the 10:15 mark, Iowa went scoreless until the four minute mark, and Michigan went on a 10-0 run to close the lead to five. Uh oh, here we go again.

Jok missed a three pointer and Michigan took the ball to the other end looking to cut it to a one possession game. Mike Gesell picked Zak Irvin‘s pocket and took it the other way for a layup to end Iowa’s scoring drought. That was arguably the biggest bucket of the night.

After Derrick Walton cut Iowa’s lead back to five points, Anthony Clemmons buried a corner three to give Iowa an eight point lead. Those were two huge plays from seniors that needed to step up. The Wolverines would get the lead back down to six, but Uthoff slipped through the defense and wound up earning a trip to the free throw line for one shot after a made layup. That gave Iowa a nine point lead at 67-58 and it ultimately sealed the game for the Hawkeyes. They cruised to a 71-61 win.

Next: Women Eliminated From BTT

We finally got a glimpse at the Hawkeyes we saw in January. Uthoff finished with 29 points and seven rebounds. He was accompanied in double figures by Clemmons and Jok who scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Adam Woodbury nearly recorded another double double. He had nine points and 11 rebounds. Mike Gesell struggled a bit from the field, but recorded 11 assists, one off his career high.

They have set themselves up nicely to avoid the Michigan State Spartans, or in other words, the hottest team in the country right now. They’ll likely be the five seed and play on Thursday around 1:30 p.m. CST against the winner of the 12-13 matchup that takes place on Wednesday.

We’ll have full coverage tomorrow when the tournament bracket is set.

Stay locked into Dear Old Gold for constant coverage of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

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Iowa Basketball: Uthoff Paces Iowa, Hawkeyes Defeat Michigan

By Dylan Burn | Mar 5, 2016

We talked all week about how Iowa needed a win to get their confidence back headed into postseason play. Iowa had one final shot at it on Saturday night in Ann Arbor against the Michigan Wolverines.

More from Dear Old Gold