Michigan Wolverines basketball improved to 8-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten behind a 103-91 win over Iowa tonight. U-M scored over 100 points for the second time this season, cruising by the Hawkeyes in a barn burner.

Here's our takeaways from the game:

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U-M scored 103 points, and allowed the Hawkeyes to score 91. Despite those high marks, defense was a big reason why this game was won. Iowa junior center Luka Garza came in averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He's been one of the best big men in the country in the early going this season. U-M has senior center Jon Teske, one of the top defensive centers in the country.

U-M's defensive strategy was to leave Garza matched up one-on-one with Teske and the other bigs. Garza put up a career-high 44 points, which is the most points scored by an opposing player in Crisler Center history. The Wolverines' game plan was to take away the three-point line, and make Garza beat them. The perimeter defenders didn't come down to double-team him, staying close on the shooters. Sure, Garza dropped 44 points, but Juwan Howard and U-M were fine with that. Garza made 17 of his 32 field goals (53.1 percent). The Hawkeyes shot just 3 for 15 (20 percent) from long distance.

We talked to Garza after the game, and he said he didn't anticipate getting single coverage down low. He's been seeing double-teams almost every night, just about every time he gets the ball in the post. He took what the defense was giving him. He's an excellent player, but he wasn't enough to carry Iowa to the win tonight by himself.

Coming into the game, U-M was allowing its opponents to score 22.5 percent of its points from beyond the arc. That number was good enough for 22nd best in the country. Tonight, Iowa scored just 9.9 percent of its points on three-pointers. Howard's game plan worked, and it got U-M out of its Big Ten opener with a big-time win.

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U-M is undefeated at home, touting a 5-0 record at Crisler after tonight's game. The crowd was rocking tonight. It especially got raucous when Hawkeyes' head coach Fran McCaffrey got upset at calls. The roof got blown off the building when sophomore guard Brandon Johns dove for a loose ball, forcing a jump ball with the possession going to the Wolverines.

Howard has talked about how much the team feeds off the energy in the home building, and how much he personally enjoys playing in front of the U-M fans. The place was packed tonight, and was loud throughout the entire game. There was still some concern about U-M's fatigue coming into this one, considering they seemed flat on Tuesday at Louisville, and the team had just two days to get ready for Iowa. There was no problem playing all-out tonight. U-M wanted this game bad. As the Wolverines continue to grow their identity under Howard, one thing is obvious — they will play hard for 40 minutes. Not many teams are going to beat U-M in Ann Arbor this year.

Freshman guard Franz Wagner has been on campus since the late summer, but this was his first game that he was able to play in at home, coming off the wrist injury. He was thrown into the fire down in the Bahamas, before playing Louisville Tuesday. Yesterday, he spoke about how excited he was to play here, and he had a breakout performance. Wagner led U-M in scoring with 18 points on 4 of 10 from the field and 9 for 10 from the free throw stripe. We saw glimpses of the Wagner that we expect to see during his career at U-M. This was a great step for the freshman, who is still getting acclimated in his first few tastes of college ball.

He capped off the night with a high-flying alley-oop, with the feed from sophomore guard David DeJulius.

We mentioned earlier Johns diving to the floor for a loose ball and causing a tie up. His effort was contagious out there. He scrapped for five offensive rebounds, keeping U-M possessions alive at crucial points. He finished with an efficient 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting and 8 rebounds. He was especially effective against Iowa's zone. He moved well to find the soft spots, and was able to get behind the zone with back door cuts.. He was aggressive when he got the ball, and showed a nasty side to him.

It's important to have guys off the bench that will knock down shots. U-M has shown that those players are there, such as DeJulius and sophomore center Colin Castleton, Johns was one tonight that not only was able to hit his shoots, but do the little things that add up to wins. Great performance by the sophomore.

U-M shot 55 percent from the field and 42 percent on three-pointers. These numbers are very good, but they really don't show just how effective the Wolverines were on offense. First of all, Iowa presented different looks on defense, with man-to-man, and some zone for stretches. Now, Iowa isn't known for its defense. The Hawkeyes were allowing their opponents to shoot 42.7 percent from the field. Kenpom had them as the 105th best defense in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency.

For every different look Iowa threw at U-M, there was an answer. The Wolverines ran their pick-and-roll very well, something they normally do. When the Hawkeyes went with zone, U-M moved the ball extremely well. Iowa didn't have enough time to recover, and there were guys open.

Just how good was U-M on the offensive end of the floor? Six different Wolverines scored in double-figures: Wagner (18), Simpson (16), Teske (16), Livers (14), Brooks (13) and Johns (12). Even redshirt junior center Austin Davis got in on the party, scoring eight points. He hadn't played much this season, but he stepped in nicely with Teske in foul trouble. Everyone looked much more aggressive shooting open looks than they did against Louisville. If nothing else, tonight provided a much-needed confidence boost in many areas for U-M coming off its first loss of the season.

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