MBB Preview \\ at No. 23 Michigan

The University of Iowa men’s basketball team heads to Ann Arbor to face No. 23 Michigan on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) at the Crisler Center. The game will be televised on FS1.

FOLLOW LIVE

Radio: Saturday’s game will be broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network with Gary Dolphin (play-by-play) and Bobby Hansen (color) on the call. The network includes more than 40 stations that blanket the state of Iowa and include portions of Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin. The Hawkeye Radio Network includes a 60-minute pregame show.
Television: Saturday’s game will be televised on FS1 with Sloane Martin (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (color) on the call.

OPENING TIP

• Junior Josh Dix hit a game-winning catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from 33 feet with 0.8 seconds remaining to send Iowa to an 80-79 victory over Northwestern on Dec. 3 in Iowa City. It was Iowa’s first buzz-beater since Joe Wieskamp’s bank-in corner 3 at Rutgers in 2019.
• Dix’s heroics was the No. 1 play of the day on SportsCenter’s top 10 plays for Dec. 3.
• The win was Iowa’s first Big Ten-opening victory since Dec. of 2020. The Hawkeyes haven’t started 2-0 in league play since 2015-16 when the team won its first seven games.
• Saturday’s game in Ann Arbor is Iowa’s first true road game and first game against a ranked opponent this season.
• Iowa has held all eight of its opponents under 50 percent shooting, has forced at least 18 turnovers in five games and has held three opponents under 70 points. The Hawkeyes are 96-3 when holding opponents to fewer than 61 points over the past 14+ seasons.
• Dix scored a game-high 22 points, making 9-of-16 field goals with three 3s and six rebounds against Northwestern. It was his second 20-point game this season.
• Sophomore Brock Harding has scored in double digits in three straight games. He had a 20-point, 10-assist, four-steal double-double in the win over USC Upstate. It was his second career double-double and second 10+ assist game.
• Harding is averaging 17 points, 7.7 assists and 3.7 steals over his last three games, while shooting 60.5 (23-of-38) from the field.
• Payton Sandfort made four 3s en route to a 20-point outing against the Wildcats. It was his third 20-point game of the year (21st of his career) and his third game with four 3-point makes.
• Sophomore Owen Freeman has posted two double-doubles and is averaging a team-best 17.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks, while shooting 65 percent from the floor. He is second in the Big Ten in field goal percentage.
• Iowa has at least one player (five different players) score 20 or more points in seven of the team’s eight games.
• The Hawkeyes have made at least eight 3-point field goals in seven games, including 10+ in four contests. Iowa made 18 in the win over Southern — the most since 2022. Iowa is second in the Big Ten (25th nationally), averaging 10.4 per game.
• Iowa is leading the Big Ten in assists (20.1) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.75). The team has had 20+ assists in four games. The team is third in the nation in assists and 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN

• The Wolverines, who are ranked 23rd in the coaches’ poll and receiving votes in the AP poll, bring a 7-1 record into Saturday’s game. Michigan went on the road to down No. 11 Wisconsin, 67-64, on Tuesday in Madison.
• Michigan has won six straight games since suffering its lone defeat against Wake Forest (72-70) on Nov. 10 in the second game of the season.
• The Wolverines have Power 5 victories over TCU, Virginia Tech, Xavier and Wisconsin this season and are 4-0 at the Crisler Center.
• All five Michigan starters average at least 9.8 points per game and four are in double figures. The Wolverines’ top four scorers are all transfers.
• Yale transfer Danny Wolf leads the team, averaging 12 points and 9.5 rebounds (second in B1G) with three double-doubles. Ohio State transfer Roddy Gayle, Jr., averages 11.6 points, Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson averages 11.4 points and has a team-high 31 assists and FAU transfer Vladislav Goldin averages 11 points and has 16 blocks.
• Michigan ranks in the top 20 nationally, allowing 60.6 points per game and is 15th in the country, limiting opponents to a 36.6 field goal percentage (3rd in B1G, 11th nationally).
• The Wolverines are second in the Big Ten in blocks (44) with Wolf and Goldin ranking in the top three.
• Michigan is led by first-year head coach Dusty May. The Indiana graduate posted six straight winning seasons at FAU, including leading the Owls to the 2023 Final Four.

SERIES HISTORY

• Saturday’s game is the 169th meeting in the all-time series that began in 1921. Michigan leads the series, 99-68.
• Iowa has won three of the last four meetings in the series with the lone loss coming in Iowa City last December.
• The Hawkeyes have won the last two matchups in Ann Arbor — a first for the program since the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.
• The last time Iowa won three straight in Ann Arbor came in 2005-08.

 

LAST GAME: IOWA 80, NORTHWESTERN 79

Josh Dix’s catch-and-shoot game-winning 3-pointer from 33 feet with 0.8 seconds remaining sent the Hawkeyes to an 80-79 Big Ten opening victory over Northwestern on Dec. 3 in Iowa City. Dix led all scorers with 22 points in the game, making 9-of-16 field goals and three 3s.
• Iowa led by as many as 17 points in the first half and took a 45-34 lead into the break. Northwestern erased the deficit and led by six points with 2:15 left before Iowa rallied for its first Big Ten opening victory since 2020.
• Payton Sandfort scored 20 points and had seven rebounds and four assists, while Owen Freeman (16) and Brock Harding (12) also landed in double figures.
• Iowa shot 54.5 percent from the field and made nine 3-pointers in the victory, but was outrebounded, 36-26.

MORE NOTABLES

• Head coach Fran McCaffery has the most victories in Iowa history with 287, including a record 137 Big Ten wins.
• The Hawkeyes are 6-0 at home this season and have yet to play a true road game. Iowa is 1-1 on neutral courts in Moline and Kansas City.
• Iowa is third in the Big Ten, averaging 15.38 fast-break points per contest.
• The Hawkeyes have had two games decided by single digits — a nine-point neutral site loss against Utah State in Kansas City and a one point win over Northwestern.
• The Hawkeyes hit the century mark for the first time this season when they scored 110 points in a victory over USC Upstate.
• Iowa has won 94 of its last 100 nonconference home games, dating back to 2012.
• The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in four victories, including a season-best 60.6 percent (43-of-71) in the win over USC Upstate. The 43 field goals are tied for the most makes in a game under McCaffery.
• Graduate Drew Thelwell won the 100th game of his collegiate career in Iowa’s victory over USC Upstate.
• Iowa limited Rider to a single 3-point field goal on Nov. 19 in Iowa City — the fewest 3-pointers the program has allowed in nearly a decade (0 vs. Alcorn State on Dec. 9, 2014).
• The Hawkeyes have had 10 or more steals in four of the last five games and in five contests this season. Brock Harding has 11 steals in the last three games and Drew Thelwell has 12 steals over his past four contests. Iowa is fourth in the Big Ten, averaging 9.3 steals per game.
• The Hawkeye reserves combined for a season-high 48 points in the Hawkeyes’ home win over USC Upstate on Nov. 26. Iowa had 12 players score in the game. Iowa’s reserves have outscored its counterparts in seven of eight games this season.
• Thelwell finished with 15 points — his Hawkeye high — and had four steals and three assists in the win over USC Upstate. He has been in double figure four times off the bench.
• The Hawkeyes have had five players hit the 20-point mark in a game this season — Payton Sandfort (3), Josh Dix (2), Pryce Sandfort (1), Owen Freeman (1), Brock Harding (1).
• Harding has 50 assists to 18 turnovers in eight games. His 6.3 assists per game ranks third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally.
• Iowa has three players in the top eight in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio — Drew Thelwell (3rd, 4.33), Josh Dix (sixth, 3.14) and Brock Harding (8th, 2.78). As a team, Iowa is No. 1 in the Big Ten (14th nationally) with a 1.75 assist-to-turnover ratio.

BROCK’S BREAKOUT

Sophomore Brock Harding has scored in double figures in three straight games, where he is averaging 17 points, 7.7 assists and 3.7 steals, while shooting 60.5 (23-of-38) from the field.
• Harding scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting) and had 10 assists and four steals against USC Upstate to record his second career double-double. It was Harding’s first career 20 point contest and second career game with 10+ assists.
• He was a bright spot in a neutral site loss against Utah State, scoring 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting with a career-best three 3-pointers. He also had five assists and four steals in 33 minutes.
• The 2023 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year has been in double figures three this season and six times in his career. He is averaging 10 points, 6.3 assists and 2.6 steals, while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 47.6 percent from 3-point range.
• Harding is second in the Big Ten in steals (2.63), fourth in assists (6.3) and eighth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.78)
• He has at least five assists in seven of the team’s eight games and eight or more twice. Defensively, Harding has has had at least one steal in all eight games and 3+ in five contests.

1-2 PG PUNCH 

Iowa’s point guard duo of Brock Harding and Drew Thelwell are averaging 17.9 points, 9.5 assists and five steals in eight games this season.
• Thelwell has landed in double figures in four games off the bench, where he is averaging 7.9 points and 3.3 assists. The Florida native has at least one steal in every game, including a five steal contest against Utah State.
• Harding has a team-high 50 assists, 21 steals and averages 10 points in eight games.

P$$$$$

Senior Payton Sandfort has reached double figures in seven of eight games this season, including posting three 20-point contests. He is second on the team in scoring (16.1) and rebounding (6.0), while averaging four assists per game.
• The Waukee, Iowa, native finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in the season opening win over East Texas A&M and he scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with six rebounds in the win over Rider. Sandfort had 20 points with four 3s, seven rebounds and four assists in the Big Ten-opening victory over Northwestern on Dec. 3.
• Sandfort has 21 career 20-point games and six career double-doubles.
• He has the most 3-point attempts in the Big Ten this season (63).