Michigan basketball's Hunter Dickinson outplays Iowa's Luka Garza in 79-57 blowout

Another big game, another big win for Michigan basketball.

Thanks to a stingy defensive performance, the No. 3 Wolverines beat No. 12 Iowa, 79-57, on Thursday night at Crisler Center.

U-M held the nation's top offense to 0.89 points per possession, while Hawkeyes center Luka Garza — the nation's leading scorer — scored 16 points on 6 of 19 shooting. And while Michigan's offense struggled in the first half, the Wolverines came alive over the final 20 minutes.

It was the Wolverines' second impressive win over the past week after Sunday's road win at then-No. 4 Ohio State.

Franz Wagner led all scorers with a season-high 21 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

Michigan is now 17-1 and 12-1 in the Big Ten, and continues to prove it is among the nation's top teams.

Defense shows up

Iowa had the nation's top-ranked offense entering the game, anchored by Garza (the nation's leading scorer). Yet the Hawkeyes had significant trouble scoring the ball all game long — thanks in large part to Michigan's interior defense, led by freshman center Hunter Dickinson.

Dickinson guarded Garza whenever he was in the game and did an exemplary job of making life difficult for the Iowa star. He was patient, using his size and positioning to contest. The tone was set early, when Garza’s first two attempts to score resulted in a blocked shot and missed layup, while his third attempt led to a held ball.

In the first half, Dickinson held Garza to just three points on 1 of 9 shooting (Garza made both shots he attempted when Dickinson was not in the game). And it did not get any easier for Garza in the second half.

Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes' top three shooters — CJ Fredrick, Joe Wieskamp and Jordan Bohannon — combined to make 4 of 12 3s, as Michigan made a concerted effort to defend the 3-point line and not provide too much help on drives.

Offense heats up in the second half

Despite Michigan's defensive success, the game was a back-and-forth affair through the first 20-plus minutes because of the Wolverines' own offensive struggles. While Iowa's defense has been among the worst (or the worst) in the Big Ten this season, it shut down Michigan's potent offense. The Wolverines settled for some bad shots and made just 14 of 35 first-half attempts; they also turned it over six times and looked relatively disjointed.

That changed after halftime, though. Michigan pulled away and established a double-digit lead by finding offensive improvement while continuing to play shutdown defense. Before the benches were emptied late, the Wolverines were averaging close to 1.35 points per possession and shot over 50% from the field. Isaiah Livers had 10 of his 16 points in the second half, while Chaundee Brown had seven second-half points off the bench.

But the main contributor was ...

Wagner takes over

Iowa simply had no answer for Michigan's star sophomore.

In the first half, Wagner kept the offense afloat by scoring eight points on 3 of 5 shooting. He then started the second half by making his first four shots (one of which was a 3). With his length and driving ability, Wagner got to the rim at will and was able to finish with either hand. The Wolverines' offense perked up when it put Wagner in a ball screen and gave him a full runway to get downhill. He assisted Isaiah Livers with a nifty pass in transition, made a couple other good passes that didn't result in made baskets and defended well.

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball's Hunter Dickinson outplays Luka Garza in blowout