Michigan Basketball: 3 predictions for the Wolverines against Iowa

Teske, Wolverines will frustrate Garza

Last season, Michigan basketball went 1-1 against Iowa, losing in Iowa City but also beating the Hawkeyes at the Big Ten tournament.

One difference in the two matchups was how the Wolverines played Iowa center Luka Garza, who will be a key player in the proceedings tonight. Garza scored 19 points and grabbed eight boards in the first meeting, shooting 75 percent from the field.

The second time around, the 6-foot-11 center was held in check more and even though he was 6-of-11, he scored just 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. He was also 1-of-5 from 3-point range in the two games.

It will be interesting to see how Juwan Howard chooses to play Garza, who hasn’t done much to set up teammates with only one assist per game. However, he is scoring 20 points per game and averaging 10 rebounds, while shooting 56 percent.

Certainly, Teske will be relied upon to do much of the work, along with maybe Colin Castleton. And with Teske’s size, as well as the play of guards like Zavier Simpson, U-M should be able to frustrate Garza, even if it can’t completely shut him down.