Michigan blows out Iowa
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- If style points were awarded for performances, Michigan piled up a stack of them on its way to overwhelming Iowa 95-67 on Sunday.
The No. 2 ranked Wolverines had 25 assists, 10 dunks, a pair of double-doubles, and a 16-0 advantage in fastbreak points, all on the way to the 28-point win that continues the second-best start in school history.
Michigan (15-0, 2-0 Big Ten) took command of a close game by scoring on its final 10 possessions of the first half and the rout was on, with everyone getting into the act.
"It's a culture that we continue to work at," Michigan coach John Beilein said about his team's ability to share the ball and create scoring opportunities. "You have to have the right guys on the bus to make that happen, and we've got some really good guys on that bus."
The Wolverines were led by point guard Trey Burke, who recorded his third double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 assists. Glenn Robinson III had the first double-double of his career with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19 points and Nik Stauskas had 13.
Iowa (11-4, 0-2) was led by Roy Devyn Marble with 14 points and Anthony Clemmons with 12.
The Hawkeyes took a little of the life out of the sold-out Crisler Center crowd by jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the game's opening moments, but Michigan, led by the dynamic Burke, worked its way back quickly.
The Wolverines took their first lead of the afternoon midway through the first half, but the Hawkeyes stayed with their patient, deliberate approach on offense, however, and surged back in front by four with about 8 minutes left in the half on a putback basket by Zach McCabe.
A pair of Robinson free throws and a 3-pointer from Hardaway gave Michigan a 26-23 lead with less than 5 minutes left in the half, part of a big push that saw Michigan close the half with a 29-15 run.
"We just got ourselves together," Robinson said. "We just feed off each other's energy."
The points came in a hurry as Michigan opened up a 46-35 halftime advantage.
"That was a really important part of the game for us," Beilein said. "Once we adjusted to what they were doing, we able to get them to miss some shots, and we were very good in transition."
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said his team owed its good start to execution, but faltered when it lost its edge.
"I thought the execution down the stretch at the end of the first half was not where it needed to be," McCaffrey said. That's unfortunate because it nullified what i thought was a pretty good effort to that point."
The surge continued for the Wolverines to open the second half as Stauskas drove for baskets on consecutive plays to push the lead to 53-38 less than 3 minutes into the half.
"They got more aggressive, started running, and we didn't get back," Iowa's Clemmons said. "We didn't execute what we wanted to do. They made us pay for it."
When Burke hit a triple from out front with under 14 minutes to play, Michigan's lead bulged to 60-42, and Burke's lob to Robinson on the next possession resulted in a dunk for a 20-point advantage.
Iowa shot just 43.5 percent from the field against an energized Michigan defense, hitting only 27-of-62 attempts.
"They did everything they could to stay with us, but defense is very important to us and we got stops, and that's what we needed to do," Robinson said.
The attack by Michigan's deep and talented roster was relentless, with the lead ballooning to 25 on Burke's fastbreak bucket with about 8 minutes left, and then growing to 80-50 moments later.
"They have so many weapons," McCaffrey said about the Wolverines, who had 10 players score in the game. "They're hard to keep under control for long periods of time. They can score in transition, they can score in half court, and they have a lot of people they can go to."
Michigan shot 58.1 percent from the field, hitting 36-of-62 shots, and made just six turnovers while piling up those 25 assists.
"We're just playing the game the right way," Beilein said. "You are going to have ups and downs during the season, but it's really good to have a game where our guys are so connected to have that many assists and that few turnovers."
Notes: Michigan has a 25-1 record at Crisler Center over the past two seasons, and 10-0 this season. ... The Hawkeyes were outscored 66-38 over the final 33 minutes against Michigan. ... Stauskas, a freshman, is second in the nation in 3-point shooting accuracy at nearly 54 percent. ... Iowa entered the game having made more free throws (264) than the opposition had attempted (225) through 14 games, but went just 6-of-10 from the line, to Michigan's 13-of-19.
