IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s basketball team fell to Michigan,90-80, on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Mediacom court in the Big Ten home opener.
Ben Krikke finished as Iowa’s leading scorer for the fourth time this season. Krikke poured in 24 points while also finishing as the team’s leading rebounder with eight rebounds. Senior Tony Perkins added 19 points, going 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Perkins also had a game high four steals.
Senior Patrick McCaffery and junior Payton Sandfort rounded out the Hawkeyes in double digits adding 10 points apiece. McCaffery and Sandfort were responsible for four of the five Hawkeye 3-pointers.
The first half was back and forth that featured three ties and eight lead changes. Krikke led the Hawkeyes in the scoring column in the first 20 minutes of play with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Despite struggling shooting in the first half (13-of-34 FG), the Hawkeyes found themselves down just two points at break, 35-33.
Iowa scored the first four points of the second half to take a 37-35 lead before Michigan went on an 11-0 and 27-5 run to take control.
Iowa finished the game shooting 28-of-64 (43%) from the field and 5-of-20 (25%) from deep. Michigan had a balanced scoring attack with five players reaching double digits. The Wolverines shot 29-of-60 (48%) from the field.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH FRAN MCCAFFERY
“I thought our offense itself was better. I thought the guys were really cutting hard, screening, and moving without the ball. We couldn’t get anything to drop in that first half. We go 1-of-15 to start the game from three, that’s going to make it really hard. We had good shooters with open shots, and they just didn’t go in. That puts all the pressure on your defense.”
“You just have to stay positive. I’m not in there yelling at anybody. I’m encouraging guys. We have some young guys that are talented. At times they played a little tentative today, I don’t want that. I want them to just hoop. Trust your talent and go make plays. I think they will get better at that. Again, we were a little better today. We weren’t as good as we need to be. We will get there with this group. I like the depth. I think we have enough shooting and that will come around.”
“We had an opportunity in the first half to get a little bit of a lead with some open looks. Our defense was pretty good to start the game. It was not good to start the second half. The zone was good to us for a while. The rebounding wasn’t great.”
HAWKEYE NOTABLES
- Michigan used a 27-5 run over the first eight minutes of the second half to turn a two-point deficit into a 20 point lead (62-42).
- The game featured 10 ties and nine lead changes.
- Graduate Ben Krikke paced the team with 24 points, making 8-of-15 field goals, to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.
- It is Krikke’s team-leading fourth 20-point game this season and the 28th of his career.
- Krikke has scored in double figures in nine of 10 games this season and has led/tied for the team in scoring five times.
- Krikke attempted 11 free throws, tying a season high.
- Senior Tony Perkins scored 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting, senior Patrick McCaffery scored 10 and junior Payton Sandfort had 10.
- Perkins and Sandfort have been in double figures eight times this season, McCaffery seven.
- Perkins has scored 16+ points in three games.
- The loss is the first this season with Iowa attempting at least 20 free throws.
- The defeat is Iowa’s first in Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season, falling to 4-1.
- Freshman Owen Freeman made his first career start. It is the second straight game Iowa has altered its starting lineup and it is the third different starting five this season.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday, facing Florida A&M in the HyVee Hawkeye Showcase at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m. (CT).
