Jarrod Uthoff led with 29 points as Iowa beat Michigan, 71-61, on March 5.
By Kyle Mann
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The Hawkeyes got a much-needed victory on March 5, besting Michigan in Ann Arbor, 71-61, to finish the 2015-16 season with a 21-9 record, 12-6 in the conference. More importantly, the Hawks avoided finishing the season on a five-game losing streak.
Iowa got off to a hot start, taking its first lead at 5-3 and using a 10-2 run to extend its lead to 15-5 just before the first media time-out. Jarrod Uthoff had 16 points in the first half and shot 4-of-8 from distance, leading the Hawkeyes to a 36-30 advantage at halftime.
While Uthoff and the offense fueled the team to open the game, the defense that limited Michigan and allowed the Hawkeyes to lead by double digits on several occasions.
“Defensive intensity at the start, I thought that was critical,” head coach Fran McCaffery said. “You go on the road, you play a team that has a lot of offensive weapons, you’ve got to get into them. I thought it really sort of propelled our offense as well.”
The Hawkeyes let the Wolverines crawl back to within 5 in the second half but ultimately held Michigan to just 36 percent from the field and never relinquished their lead. Iowa, struggling from beyond the arc in recent games, shot only 28 percent from 3 but had Uthoff to lead the way again in the second half.
He had 13 in the half and finished the game with quite the impressive stat line: 29 points was his highest mark in nearly three months (32 on Dec. 10, 2015), to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 blocks.
“I think his mindset was to come out aggressive just like he did before,” McCaffery said. “When he’s playing like that, it changes everything for us.”
Iowa desperately needed Uthoff to have a strong performance before entering Big Ten Tournament play, and more importantly, the Hawks needed to see that they really could still win games. They had insisted they were not panicking despite being in the midst of a losing streak, and now they get to finish the season with the last laugh.
Nineteen assists and 8 turnovers demonstrates a return to the fast-pace ball movement characteristic of the Hawkeyes at their peak, and Uthoff playing like a Wooden Award finalist is a requirement if Iowa is to have success in March.
It could be noted, however, that the recently struggling Peter Jok was 2-of-10 from 3 with 4 turnovers, and the oft-absent bench returned to relative futility with only 5 points collectively. Regardless, Iowa did the one thing it absolutely needed to do: win.
“We lost to three really good teams, played another good team tonight; played better,” McCaffery said following the game. “We’re fighting, we’re back to 19 assists, 8 turn[over]s; that’s more like us. Hadn’t been like that for a little while, so that’s nice to see.”