Iowa men’s basketball struggled to execute against Michigan at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Thursday night. The Hawkeyes missed three dunks and 10 layups in their 84-79 loss to the Wolverines.

“We missed a couple dunks, some free throws, and yet, we kept coming,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said. “As a coach, you have to be proud of that effort and concentration.”

The Hawkeyes shot 13-of-20 from the charity stripe. Michigan converted 18 of its 23 attempts from the free-throw line.

The free-throw disparity, in part, contributed to the Wolverines’ 12-point lead with just 3:25 left on the game clock.

Soon after Michigan claimed its largest lead of the night, Iowa began to rally. The Hawkeyes pieced a 13-3 run together in the game’s final three minutes.

Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon and Keegan Murray both attempted game-tying 3-pointers with less than a minute remaining in the contest. Neither of their shots hit the mark.

“We got open looks down the stretch and the looks that we wanted, but they didn’t fall,” Murray said. “That’s just basketball, you have to live and learn.” 

Both Iowa and Michigan committed 11 turnovers Thursday. The Wolverines, however, won the points-off-turnovers battle, 18-9.

With the loss to Michigan, Iowa dropped to 17-8 overall and 7-7 in conference play. The Hawkeyes are now ranked 21st in the NCAA NET rankings, which uses analytics to determine which teams are the nation’s best.

The Hawkeyes will have a chance to improve their NCAA NET ranking in the next five days, as they’re slated to face two AP Top 25 teams: No. 18 Ohio State and No. 19 Michigan State.

Iowa will play Ohio State in Columbus at 1:37 p.m. on Saturday. Then, the Hawkeyes will take on the Spartans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6:01 p.m. Tuesday.

“Anytime you are able to get past a loss quickly, especially in the Big Ten, you are going to have to fight through adversity,” Bohannon said. “We just have to stay positive, and it’s my, Keegan’s and Connor’s job to keep the team level headed.”

Luka Garza’s No. 55 will be retired when Iowa and Michigan State compete. Garza is Iowa’s all-time leading scorer with 2,306 points. He was named National Player of the Year in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, Garza was the unanimous national player of the year.

Roy Marble, Murray Wier, and Chuck Darling’s jerseys will also be retired on Tuesday night.