Michigan Loses On Senior Night

After a big time win over Michigan State, Michigan didn't bring enough against Iowa.

In a year filled with ups and downs, it's unfortunate that senior night in Ann Arbor was a during a down resulting in a 82-71 loss to Iowa. 

Starting with the big 24-point win over Purdue back on Feb. 10, Michigan has alternated wins and losses ever since — a span of eight games. Tonight, it was a loss in the final home game of the season, which is always a bummer. One of those wins for U-M was against Iowa in Iowa City, but unfortunately, the Hawkeyes haven't lost since. Iowa used that home loss as motivation, got hot and has now won five games in a row.

Michigan actually shot the three ball at a decent clip tonight (37%) but they were nowhere near as hot as Iowa was from distance (58%). Throw in the fact the three of Iowa's five starters scored a total of 55 points, and the "other" Murray, Kris, poured in 19 of his own, and you start to understand how the Hawkeyes won the game.

Another big factor tonight was the absence of Moussa Diabate. In the first matchup against Iowa, the freshman scored a career-high 28 points. Tonight, just four. 

Michigan also didn't get much from its bench, which has been an issue too many times this season. Terrance Williams II and Brandon Johns Jr. scored four points each — and that's it. The only other bench players to see the floor for U-M were freshmen Kobe Bufkin and Frankie Collins who were held scoreless in nine combined minutes of action. Hunter Dickinson and Eli Brooks did their part scoring 21 and 17 respectively but everyone else was mediocre or worse. 

It happens this way too often. That's why Michigan is now 16-13 overall and 10-9 in the conference. 

The Wolverines will attempt to get another quad 1 win on Sunday in Columbus, which should be a win if Michigan's win-loss pattern holds true. All jokes aside, Michigan needs that win. If they lose to the Buckeyes, the bubble might just burst because at that point, they'd officially be skidding heading into the Big Ten Tournament where they'd almost certainly need two wins to go dancing.