Michigan Basketball opens 2018 with a win at Iowa

When the Michigan Men’s Basketball is hitting its shots, it turns out they are really, really good.

The Wolverines (13-3, 2-1 B1G) went to Iowa on Tuesday night and ran the Hawkeyes out of their own building for most of the night, winning by a final score of 75 to 68, though the score may not be entirely indicative of how impressive Michigan was.

Moritz Wagner returned to the lineup for Michigan after missing the last few games of the non-conference slate and was clearly still rusty, but managed 4 points and 4 rebounds in the process.

They were led on the night by 15 points apiece from Zavier Simpson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. Charles Matthews and Isaiah Livers had 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Iowa had 28 points out of Tyler Cook in the loss.

Overall, it was a game that illustrated pretty simply what Michigan is as a team and a program. When they are hitting their shots from outside, they are as lethal an offense as any in the country. They are still apt to the occasional drought that lets teams back into games, but this is always going to be a team that shoots its way out of it, or at least tries to.

This was a largely dominant effort against a team that they had lost five-straight to and in a building that has had some memorable beatdowns and losses over the years. Michigan was able to flip that script and lead for over 33 minutes in the contest.

Michigan is back in action on Saturday when they welcome Illinois to Crisler Center for a noon tipoff from Ann Arbor.