In the late Friday night game of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan turned in a dominant defensive performance and avenged an earlier loss to Iowa with a blowout victory. The 0.78 points per possession scored by the Hawkeyes was their second-lowest of the season, and they didn’t make a three-pointer until a banked-in heave by a walk-on with a minute left. Michigan had a balanced offense, with five players scoring in double figures; Zavier Simpson also had 11 assists to just one turnover and held Jordan Bohannon scoreless. Charles Matthews returned from injury, and while he had a rough game offensively (five points on 11 shot equivalents), his defense was up to his usual standard.

It was a very tough night for Iowa’s perimeter players. Big men Luka Garza and Tyler Cook had some success working against Ignas Brazdeikis and Jon Teske respectively, and each scored 14 points, but the Hawkeye guards and wings really struggled. Bohannon, one of the top three-point shooters in the Big Ten, was completely shut down. Joe Wieskamp, Matthews’s primary assignment, didn’t fare much better, scoring just three points — and Matthews wasn't his primary defender for any of those three points. Bohannon and Wieskamp each averaged double figure points for Iowa this season. Michigan’s defensive effort throughout the game was excellent, but the Hawkeyes also missed its share of open threes and finished just 1-16 from behind the arc.

The game started as a track meet. Simpson found Teske on the roll for two on each of Michigan’s first two trips, including one dunk, Iggy stared down Tyler Cook and hit a three, and Jordan Poole jumped a pass for an easy layup. Iowa switched to its 2-3 zone, and Poole nailed a quick wing three on Michigan’s first possession against it. A few trips later, Simpson knocked down another. Meanwhile, Cook and Garza went to work: Cook drove past the bigger Teske from the perimeter, and Garza got good position on post touches while guarded the smaller Iggy. A few Iowa turnovers were the difference early — the Wolverines converted them into transition points — and Michigan led 17-12 at the first TV timeout.

[Campredon]

For a little while, the 2-3 began to bother Michigan. The Wolverines had a few open looks for three and missed, but they were unable to unlock the zone with penetration or passing. After that Simpson three, Michigan went four minutes without scoring and six minutes without hitting a shot; that drought was broken by Eli Brooks, who made a wing three, then forced a jump ball with Garza. Brooks played 19 minutes off the bench and looked good on both ends of the floor. Iowa wasn’t able to regain the lead during Michigan’s struggles with the zone, as they found it hard to score as well — the middle part of the half featured some ugly basketball.

Iowa didn’t switch between their defensive looks often, and Michigan eventually solved the zone. The Wolverines started to move the ball better: one possession that ended with an Isaiah Livers floater featured some side-to-side passing, Simpson broke down the defense late in the shot clock for a hook over Garza from straight on, and Livers flashed to the free throw line for an easy after Michigan manipulated the zone. A couple times in the second half, Michigan was able to string together quick passes from the wing to Teske at the free throw line to a shooter in the strong side corner for a wide open three. Michigan’s three-point shooting eventually cooled off, but the Wolverines hit 7-16 from deep before the break. Threes late in the half from Matthews, Livers, and Simpson pushed the Michigan lead to 13 by halftime.

The Hawkeyes drew a ton of fouls right after halftime, but couldn’t cut into the Michigan lead. On the first possession of the half, a helping Matthews hacked Garza on a jumper; Iggy threw it away against Iowa’s 1-2-2 press and had to give a foul to prevent an easy basket; an Isaiah Moss drive was bailed out by a whistle on Poole. Then Matthews and Poole each picked up fouls on the same possession. Iowa only managed to cut the deficit to 11 by then, but two of Michigan’s starters had three fouls each and were subbed out. That was the Hawkeyes’ opportunity for a comeback, but they only managed to make one shot — a Moss layup — in the first eight minutes of the half. Michigan’s offense had slowed a bit, but between Iowa’s horrid outside shooting and inability to generate many easy shots, the Hawkeyes didn’t have much of a chance.

[Campredon]

After Matthews and Poole went to the bench, Michigan embarked on a 15-2 run to put the game away and send much of the second half into prolonged garbage time. Iggy started the run with a corner three, Brooks hit another from the wing, and Iggy scored three more the old-fashioned way after an offensive rebound. The lead grew further with an elbow jumper from Teske, a Teske dunk from the Simpson pick and roll, and a Simpson running hook off glass after Brooks pushed the ball in transition. That bucket put the score at 59-35, and even though there was more than 13 minutes left in the game, it was effectively over.

With tonight’s win, Michigan sets up a semifinal matchup with Minnesota. The Gophers beat Penn State in overtime yesterday and upset Purdue by two points today. The winner of that game will face the winner of Michigan State vs. Wisconsin — the first game in the Saturday doubleheader — in the championship game on Sunday.

[Box score after the JUMP]