Michigan Basketball: 3 takeaways from unforeseen win at Iowa
By Nick Popio
2. Keegan Murray’s injury status halted Iowa’s momentum
Iowa’s best player hit his average for the year but got dinged up in the process. He exited the game briefly, then re-entered, but wasn’t the same afterward.
21 of his 23 came before he went down in the contest. His presence or lack thereof was dually noted when Iowa fell behind and could not recover from it.
Another reason Iowa lost is that they shot 4-of-18 from 3-point range. They’re normally a good 3-point shooting squad with Patrick McCaffrey and Jordan Bohannon, but Michigan basketball held them in check with a combined 2-of-7 from three. Iowa shot 22% from deep as a whole, which coincidentally was 2% better than Michigan did.
Keegan Murray said his issue was cramps.
— Pat Harty (@PatHarty) February 18, 2022
Iowa’s defense was shaky at best. In seven of their eight losses, they have given up more than 70 plus points a game.
The only time they didn’t was a road loss to a currently streaking Rutgers club who is climbing up the Big Ten standings. Michigan will see them in Crisler next Wednesday after they travel to Madison this Sunday for another sturdy road test.