Ann Arbor is the Big Dawg's yard now.
Syd Affolter set a career high with 24 points, including 14 in a volcanic first quarter, and added 11 rebounds as Iowa cruised to a 79-66 win at Michigan Wednesday night. Lucy Olsen added 20 points in the win, as she and Affolter each went 4-of-4 from deep in the first half; as a team, Iowa shot 10-for-18 for three in the winning effort.
"I am so grateful for this win and beyond proud of this team," said Iowa head coach Jan Jensen. "As they have the whole year, they just keep showing up."
With the win, Iowa moves to 19-9 (9-8), and clinches at least a .500 record in conference play in Jan Jensen's inaugural season as head coach.
THE DEEP THREE
1. Syd, vicious. Iowa's first quarters have been akin to random number generators all season long — struggling against Northwestern then dismantling USC in back-to-back games — but even by the Hawkeyes' chaotic standards, Affolter canning four three-pointers in the first frame is a special kind of wild.
"My teammates gave me some great passes, so obviously can't do it without them, but just having confidence in my shot," said Affolter. "I know I'm a good scorer, so just having that scorer's mentality at all points in the game."
Affolter matched her previous career high of 18 by halftime, and kept her 4-4 stat line pristine in the process.
"We didn't just keep putting up a bunch of three-point shots," said Stamp. "We were really disciplined in our shot selection and moving the ball, and I think that was a huge key to winning that 40-minute game tonight."
All told, Iowa shot 9-for-12 from deep in the first half, which was obviously unsustainable but at least carried with it the benefit of a 17-point cushion for the inevitable reversions to the mean.
Revert both teams did in the third quarter, as Michigan made 4-of-5 threes in the third quarter to Iowa's 1-of-5, and cut nine points off the lead in the process. No Michigan degree needed to see a connection there.
The Wolverines would cut the lead down to six before Iowa steadied the ship, and the Hawkeye lead never slipped below eight in the fourth quarter.
Even amidst a career day scoring, Affolter didn't ease off on the gas pedal elsewhere on the court — she asserted her will instead. Affolter corralled nine of her 11 rebounds in the second half, including both of her offensive rebounds.
"There's a relentless effort to her," said Stamp. "She's committed to boxing out, but half her rebounds she's making contact with not even her player — somebody else's player."
In perhaps the best sign for the senior guard, Affolter played turnover-free basketball for the first three quarters, key in Iowa winning the ball-control battle in emphatic fashion — more on that in a bit. Michigan was able to force a pair of fourth-quarter turnovers from Affolter, but they mattered little.
2. Punishing mistakes. On its face, Iowa committing 15 turnovers to Michigan's 16 is an unremarkable statistical "win." Where Iowa really won the possession battle, and thusly the game, is what the two teams did with said turnovers. The Hawkeyes converted those 16 turnovers into 28 points, to Michigan's 17.
Call it opportunism or luck, but the staff wouldn't call it a product of chance.
"At shootaround, I just talked about relentless pursuit," said Jensen. "That's what we've been doing all year. That's what it's going to take tonight. ... I kept saying, 'guys, this is who you are.'"
Kylie Feuerbach shined in two-way action, leading the team with four assists and five steals and shutting down Michigan's star freshman Olivia Olson (six points, 3-of-9 FG, 26 minutes) in the process.
"Kylie, boy, we put her on [Olson]," said Jensen. "I can't say enough about Kylie's defense."
Further, not all turnovers are created equal, and seven of Iowa's 15 giveaways happened in the final quarter, with the main effect being a final margin in the low teens instead of something even more lopsided.
3. What basketball can be. For all the brutal officiating on display in several recent games, Wednesday night's game was, well, the way it ought to be. The officials called 18 fouls — combined, for the game — and let a significant amount of contact go uncalled under the rim in the process.
"I think a lot of us honestly like when the refs let us play," said Affolter. "Obviously sometimes it's like, 'what the heck? that's a foul.' ... I thought that was a pretty physical game and I thought we handled it really well."
Crucially, the whistle stayed consistent for both teams, during all four quarters. By establishing and maintaining a baseline of permissible contact, the officials are setting a reliable standard — letting the players, well, play.
"We'd rather have it that way than not, because that changes the way that you play defense and how you attack on on the offensive end," said Affolter.
Some credit also goes to the players on both teams for not testing the referees' patience with unnecessarily hard contact or other types of physical intimidation; the game was cleanly competitive, with cynicism at a minimum.
That's not to say there was no flopping attempted, of course — Michigan dipped its toe in that water in the opening minutes, and found it bitterly cold:
This play kickstarted a career day for Affolter, and it wouldn't have happened if the referee fell for that flop — as Big Ten officials in both the men's and women's games love to do. Who knows how well Affolter's night would have gone if her first big play was fed to the Ref Show?
Aside from the self-evident competitive benefits, perhaps the most pleasant (and telling) effect the officiating had on the game was its speed: a tight 1:35, well under the norm of two hours. A hefty portion of that is the reduced ad obligations of BTN+, obviously, but Wednesday's game was still 11 minutes shorter than Iowa's 55-43 win over Rutgers, which was also streamed.
And yes, like Rutgers, Michigan didn't make a concerted effort to lengthen the game at the end (thankfully), but it's also telling that when teams do try that strategy, the sum effect is the game lasting 15-20 more minutes of real time, without any extra game time added to the clock.
It's bloat. It's bureaucracy with whistles. It's the Ref Show. And Wednesday night proved, elegantly and entertainingly, how truly unnecessary the Ref Show is to enjoyable basketball.
Iowa's regular-season finale is Sunday, March 2, against Wisconsin (13-15, 4-13) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The team will celebrate Senior Day for the game, which tips off at 3 PM on Peacock.
