IOWA CITY — In the overtime period of the Michigan’s men’s basketball game against Iowa on Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines took a 73-70 lead into the final minute.
Hawkeye guard Bryce Cartwright drove to the hoop through traffic to bring his team within one point with 18.4 seconds to play. But on the subsequent possession, Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was fouled, and he hit both free throws to regain the three-point lead. And on Iowa’s final possession, both forward Zach McCabe and Cartwright missed 3-point attempts as the clock ran out, sealing the 75-72 victory for the Wolverines.
“(I was) just hoping that he airballs it,” Hardaway Jr. said of Cartwright’s shot at the buzzer.
Compared to Michigan’s previous outing against Iowa, the Wolverines (7-8 Big Ten, 17-11 overall) looked like a different team — not in a good way. On Jan. 30, at Crisler Arena, Morris registered the third triple-double in program history, and all five Wolverine starters finished with double-digit point totals.
But on Saturday, Michigan played sloppily, often finding itself in foul trouble and finishing with an assist-to-turnover ratio barely above one. The team’s saving grace came in the form of reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Hardaway Jr., who put up a career-high 30 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He broke the high he set a week ago — 26 points at home against Indiana.
“If you noticed as the year’s gone on … he just lets the game come to him a little bit more, and that’s why you see this spike that we’re having right now with him,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game. “He’s become such a high-IQ player for us as he’s learned more about the college game.”
Sophomore point guard Darius Morris registered 20 points, and redshirt freshman center Jordan Morgan added 18 of his own. Along with Hardaway Jr., the trio accounted for 91 percent of the team’s scoring.
But most of that production came in the second half, as Beilein had his hands tied in the first.
With two minutes left in the first stanza, starters Morris, Morgan, Hardaway Jr. and Zack Novak were all sitting on the bench. Each player had two fouls, and just as the Hawkeyes (3-12, 10-17) were gaining momentum, the Wolverine bench players hit the floor and saw significant time in the first half of a conference matchup for the first time this season. Sophomore guard Eso Akunne scored his first basket since playing in garbage minutes against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 21.
And after the starters ran out to a 14-4 lead to open the contest, the reserves stumbled and allowed Iowa to take a 32-24 lead into halftime. The team’s frustration actually manifested itself in a technical foul when Beilein argued a call with four minutes left in the half.
“It just seemed like everything was going wrong,” Morgan said. “We stuck in there together and battled. Then coach got T’ed up, and we fought for our coach, and for our season. We hung on together and battled this one out.”
At the halftime buzzer, almost as a microcosm of how the whole first half went for Michigan, Cartwright heaved a shot from beyond the halfcourt line and banked it in, giving the Hawkeyes an 11-point lead at the half. But after both teams hit the locker rooms, the officials determined the ball was still touching Cartwright’s fingertips as time expired, and they took the three points off the scoreboard.
In retrospect, it was just the turning point Michigan needed.
“Those are the breaks of the game,” Beilein said. “We talk all about strategies and all these different things … If that ball was in his hands for one (less) second, or one-tenth of a second (less), we’re sitting here and (Iowa coach) Fran (McCaffery) is the winning coach. It’s the life Fran and I have chosen to live.”
In the second half, the Wolverine starters returned and gradually pecked away at the lead until tying the game up at 40 apiece 10 minutes into the half, and the contest was neck-and-neck the rest of the way.
With 14 seconds remaining in regulation and Michigan down by two, Hardaway Jr. took a jump shot from the paint and missed. Morgan grabbed the offensive rebound and drew the foul. At the line, he hit the first free throw, and after an Iowa timeout, he hit the second to tie the game, 65-65.
“We said, ‘If (Morgan) gets a rebound or he gets the ball near the basket, you have to chop him, make him earn it. Don’t let him lay it in,’ ” McCaffery said. “That’s what Bryce (Cartwright) did, and the kid made both (free throws) — with the timeout in between. So you have to give the kid credit for that.”
The Hawkeyes couldn’t score on the final possession of regulation, and for the second time this season — the first time since playing Kansas on Jan. 9 — the Wolverines forced overtime.
With the win, Beilein’s squad picked up its fourth road win of the season, adding to impressive victories at Clemson, Michigan State and Penn State. And with three games left in the regular season, the Wolverines are confident they can make a push for an NCAA Tournament bid.
In the overtime period, Michigan took a 73-70 lead into the game’s final minute. Iowa junior guard Bryce Cartwright drove to the hoop for a layup in traffic to bring the Hawkeyes within one with 18.4 seconds to play. Hardaway Jr. was fouled on the next possession and hit both his free throws to regain a three-point lead. And on the Iowa’s last possession, both Zach McCabe and Cartwright missed 3-point attempts as the clock ran out.
Compared to Michigan’s previous outing against Iowa, the Wolverines looked like a different team — not in a good way. On Jan. 30, at Crisler Arena, Morris registered the third triple-double in program history, and all five Wolverine starters finished with double-digit point totals.
But on Saturday, Michigan played sloppily, finding itself in foul trouble often and finishing with an assist-to-turnover ratio barely above one. The team’s saving grace came in the form of Hardaway Jr., who scored a career-high 30 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.