Michigan Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Wolverines at Iowa
By Adam Childs
3. Make Iowa play defense
Obviously, Iowa will be playing defense in this game, but this is more of Michigan making them play it for long stretches. It is no secret that the Hawkeyes are not the best defensive team in the conference. Last year it cost them a lot of games because they could not stop anyone. Michigan needs to exploit that and make them play defense more than they can play offense.
The Wolverines need to run their offense and be patient and force Iowa to make mistakes which will lead to open and easy baskets. They want to get out and run and will gamble some but Michigan needs to handle the ball and not turn it over. All of these will make the Hawkeyes have to buckle down on defense and that has not been their strong suit the last couple of days.
This also goes back to key number one of controlling the pace. If Michigan is patient and makes them play defense for long stretches it keeps them from running and getting easy baskets on their own. Combine this with the way Michigan plays defense and they could make some big runs to put Iowa away and take them out of their game.
Iowa is desperate to bounce back from two straight losses, especially one they feel they let slip away against Michigan State last week. They will try and get their crowd into it and jump on Michigan early. The problem is they have not faced a defense like Michigan’s yet this year. The Wolverines can frustrate the Hawkeyes and they will force them into bad shots all night. Expect Michigan to take advantage of Iowa on the defensive side of the ball and use the pick and roll well. If they can get easy buckets early they could pull away in the first half.
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As long as Iowa doesn’t get hot early Michigan should be able to control this game. Look for Michigan to wear down the Hawkeyes and pull away in the second half and head home 21-1 on the year.