Quick thoughts and things to ponder while Tom Hamilton daydreams about a 27 rebound game...
- The Big Ten Network's crew was Greg Kelser and Tom Hamilton, not to be confused with Scott Hamilton.
- Hamilton was shocked that Iowa coach Todd Lickliter was calling timeouts in the first half. After each timeout Hamilton expressed excitement and disbelief about this. "Iowa has called ANOTHER timeout! Thats their third used timeout!" They are meant to be used, Tom.
- The game was officiated by Eddie Hightower and Dan Dorian, the same terrible crew that called the MSU-Kansas game yesterday (see game post below). Needless to say, we were not excited about the prospects for a well officiated game. It was surprisingly OK. Hightower's Look-at-me moment came at the end of the first half, where he whistled DeShawn Sims on a travel with 0.2 seconds left, then took an agonizing minute to explain the call complete with body motions to another official. To Hightower, it's all about him.
- The Big Ten's best player, Manny Harris, was again spectacular. The kid is everywhere on the court, rarely misses open shots, and is a beast on defense. He seemed to be involved in every Iowa turnover, and finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
- Michigan ran their offense through DeShawn Sims today. Iowa had no answer inside, and Sims hit some outside shots to key Michigan's big 1st half. Sims finished with 16 points.
- Iowa clearly missed Cyrus Tate. They didn't really have an inside game and Michigan grabbed 9 offensive rebounds.
- The game was never really in doubt and quite dull, and after Michigan went up double digits in the first half, Iowa never threatened. It was in stark contrast to Michigan's season trend of falling behind. This may have been Michigan's most complete performance of the season. They were effective offensively and swarming on the defensive side, running a mix of man-to-man, a soft 2-3 zone, and the 1-3-1 zone. This has to be a confidence builder heading into an intriguing game at Illionois on Wednesday and hosting Ohio State next weekend. Each game should be competitive and both are winnable. The Big Ten race is built on road wins so the game on Wednesday should be a good measuring stick for the Wolverines.
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