Defense comes through for Iowa in pair of key possessions against Michigan

IOWA CITY — Defense has taken the heat — rightfully, to be certain — a lot so far this season for the Iowa men's basketball team.

A lack of communication has often been cited, as has the reactive and not proactive tendencies.

Yet Sunday against Michigan, it was defense that sealed the win for the Hawkeyes. In their 86-83 overtime win against the Wolverines, Coach Fran McCaffery's group was forced — twice — to come up with a stop that would either extend or end the game, and both times they came through.

First it was a forced turnover at the end of regulation where Michigan couldn't even get off a shot. Then it was forcing a pair of bad shots at the end of overtime to close it out.

It was a satisfying punctuation mark on a game that was formative for a few reasons for an Iowa team bouncing back from a big loss to Purdue.

'Well, I thought it was really good, because it was a deviation from what we had been doing, defensively,' McCaffery said. 'The hardest thing sometimes is to — and you don't want to be the guy that gives up a bucket. Especially if you're up three, you don't want to give up a three. So you want to chase them off the line and if they score a two, they score a two, you don't want to give them an and-1 and you certainly don't want to go for any shot fake. So, they moved their feet, they switched out and contained and made it hard and also ate up all the clock. So, I couldn't be more proud of that.'

Knowledge of the situation goes a long way toward making happen what McCaffery described.

Iowa had lost shooters on the perimeter several times throughout the game, and against a Michigan team that shoots the most 3-pointers in the Big Ten, the Hawkeyes were grateful it didn't hurt more than it did. Michigan forward DJ Wilson had 28 points and 14 rebounds on 11 of 18 shooting from the field, including 4 of 8 from 3. Open 3s at the end of regulation enabled the Wolverines to tie it and eventually force overtime.

But in those two key defensive stops by the Hawkeyes, situational intelligence allowed a positive outcome.

'Coach always preaches knowing time and score. We knew we were up three, with 19.7 seconds left or something like that,' said forward Nicholas Baer, who had 12 points and five rebounds. 'If they wanted to drive the lane, don't foul them. A 2 doesn't beat us, a 3 can tie the game.

'I thought we did a nice job of making them take contested shots in that last 20 seconds of overtime.'

Iowa had made strides in the end of non-conference play defensively, and felt confident they'd be able to continue those starting in conference. But against Purdue, the Hawkeyes reverted to what plagued them early in the season.

Baer pointed out a win can be a good teaching tool, too, and his coach and teammates expressed similar sentiments.

The Hawkeyes out-rebounded the Wolverines, 42-39, and did so after a first half that saw Michigan snag eight offensive boards. To correct something like that in-game was a positive step, McCaffery said.

Iowa also got to see a lot more — thanks to no foul trouble — of what the dynamic is like having Tyler Cook and Cordell Pemsl on the floor at the same time. Cook finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Pemsl added four points and eight rebounds of his own, plus a key block of Wilson late in the game that kept Michigan from taking the lead.

Cook said after the game 'it felt better today,' and that 'we're kind of getting used to having each other around and seeing where our favorite spots are on the court.'

It's far from polished, but what they did together had a big effect on what the defense turned into as well.

'They're good together. I think they need time to figure it out together,' McCaffery said. 'Because they both like to post up, but they both can make a play out on the perimeter. Tyler's figuring out how to screen and then how to get himself open. He's a handful.

'So, I was really happy for (Tyler), because he really grew up today. He battled, he competed. He made some mistakes in the first half, and he knows it and it was pointed out to him and he corrected it. And that shows you what he's capable of.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com