An arena staffer took out his mop, cleaned up a puddle, and erased the last vestige of the most prolific offensive player in the country from the Crisler Center. That small, salty lakelet was all that remained of Luka Garza, a man who scored 44 points in this building last season. He was held to just 16 tonight, his first live encounter with Michigan’s freshman big man Hunter Dickinson, as Michigan rolled over the best Iowa team of Luka's lifetime.

Dickinson and Garza practiced against each other all summer, and came into this game 6th and 1st in the Kenpom Player of the Year standings, which rely heavily on offensive output and usage. Dickinson won. The battle was decided in the first two possessions, as Iowa isolated Garza on Dickinson, and got two hopeless airballs for their trouble. A few trips later Dickinson blocked Luka's spin-and-under try so authoritatively that Garza went flying into the baseline and Michigan got a run-out (that would have been a dunk but for Iowa guard Connor McCaffery comically hugging Dickinson’s waist to draw a floor foul just in time). The first test—whether Michigan’s kid big  could single-up the best post player in the country—passed with peacock colors.

The second test was whether they could keep Dickinson on the court against the Big Ten’s top foul magnet, and that proved more difficult. An early foul put Dickinson on the bench for the next 8 minutes, and backup center Austin Davis picked up two quick whistles of his own, which led to a few minutes of Brandon Johns and Terrence Williams. Dickinson returned, but picked up his second foul late in the half when Mike Smith gave up a back-cut, limiting him to just 11 minutes in the frame. For all his efforts, Michigan led just 32-29 lead at the half.

A quick third foul, a fluke off a contested rebound that Garza managed to volleyball into the basket, brought up the big third question: could someone else please step up.

Enter Franzman [Campredon]

Franz Wagner did, emphatically. As Dickinson sat back down, Wagner went to work, swooping through hopelessly outclassed defenders and finishing on three straight possessions. He then canned a three when Connor McCaffery rolled an ankle on Austin Davis’s foot, capping a four-minute, nine-point outburst that staked Michigan to a 48-39 lead. Iowa also lost backup big Jack Nunge to a leg injury earlier. Nunge later returned on crutches.

Dickinson returned, but now it was the Franz show. As his swooping drives drew defenders, Franz converted to dishing dimes. His four assists easily could have been seven, but for a few missed layups and Eli clanging his thunderdunk attempt. The fourth assist was the prettiest, a driving bounce pass to Livers, who began said breakout with a steal, and ended it with a dunk that killed Iowa’s last good run. Wagner would finish with 21 points on 13 shot equivalents, going 2/3 from the arc. Livers scored 16--the same as Luka Garza--on let's say fewer possessions.

Danke. Bitte. [Campredon]

Neither Juwan nor Iowa’s Fran McCaffery had to do much whiteboarding, both spending a solid portion of their TV time jawing at the officials. McCaffery’s grand plan was to trap a lot, which led to one 10-second violation turnover, and four easy assists in Michigan’s box score. Fran also picked up a technical. Juwan was close to one or two himself. In fairness to them, there wasn’t much to coach with the Dickinson-Garza fight on. When Michigan tried a zone, they doubled Garza, and Garza dribbled it to an open Weiskamp for Iowa's only easy bucket of the night.

That and ten minutes against the backups couldn't salvage Garza's erasure. His final statline: 5/17 from two, 16 points on 23 possessions, 2 turnovers, three offensive boards, one defensive rebound, one assist, and one foul, that an early hook-and-hold.

Loosed from Garza’s gravity, Michigan’s wings and guards were free to drive Iowa’s more-than-complementary shooters away from their favorite perches. Isaiah Livers, Chaundee Brown, and Mike Smith were particularly relentless, forcing Joe Wieskamp, CJ Fredrick, and Jordan Bohannon respectively into drives and spot-up attempts over a sea of arms. Wagner was just as much a freak on this side of the court, notably recovering off a defensive breakdown to bat an attempted entry pass to Garza out of bounds earlier in the game.

About the only thing that didn’t go right for Michigan was offense from the bench after Davis. Terrence Williams got five first-half minutes at the four, but found little to show for it. Iowa immediately identified the freshman, who came in shooting 1/10 from three, as a guy you can leave alone. Williams got two very clean shots off doubles on the post, but missed them both. He also flubbed a switch on the other end that led to Luka Garza’s lone three in the frame.

Brandon Johns, who’s been playing most of his minutes at the four lately, was used to spell Dickinson and Davis at the five. Losing a few rounds to Garza when you’re normally not a center was understandable. Reacting a beat too late to several gorgeous opportunities set up by Eli Brooks was less so. Johns at least got his moment of redemption, getting a rattlesome jumper over Garza to go before the under-8 timeout. That friendly bounce stretched the lead to 62-46, and send Dick Vitale into a rendition of Hail to the Victors, a horrific sonic assault surpassed only when he following it with the Notre Dame victory march. Never have so many so welcomed a TV timeout.

Dickinson came back from his third bench banishment for the assist portion of Franz Hour, and tallied one his own, skip-passing out of a double to an open Chaundee Brown to turn his friends’ big lead into a laughable one. The final dagger—a 2020-21 Michigan Special—was a Livers-Smith-to-Livers reverse three with Hunter Dickinson drawing extra attention in the post. That pushed the lead to 73-54, got Livers his fourth made triple in five attempts, and Smith his fourth assist on the night to match Wagner.

Iowa—offensive juggernaut Iowa—also finished with just four assists.

Indiana’s next.

[Box score and more of Marc-Gregor’s work after THE JUMP]

Where’s the rim? Why can’t you see it? Where is it? Ope, not there! [Campredon]

The age of the peacock is over. The time of the stork has come. [Campredon]

Better luck next time. [Campredon]

B1G hug. [Campredon]