Jett Howard, Payton Sandfort and Kris Murray put on a show in Iowa City on Thursday night in what was undoubtedly one of the most exciting games of the Big Ten basketball season. Ultimately, Howard's performance wasn't enough, as Michigan left Carver-Hawkeye arena with a 93-84 loss to Iowa.

Here are three takeaways from the fast-paced, exciting game.

This may not be the takeaway that Michigan fans want to hear, but it's the truth. Howard came out extremely hot from the floor, scoring Michigan's first 11 points. He didn't stop there, though, as he tied his career-high in points through 20 minutes of action.

In the first half, he shot 8-11 from the floor and 5-6 from deep in 17 minutes of action. The freshman was virtually unstoppable at creating his own shot. He drove into the paint, pulled up off the dribble and he even pulled up from the Hawkeye logo at one point in the first half.

He finished with 34 points on 12-22 shooting and 7-13 from the floor. Although it wasn't enough to get Michigan the win, it was an outstanding performance from the freshman in the loss.

There is still plenty of season left, but Howard should be expected to be a lottery pick whenever he does decide to enter his name in the NBA Draft.

Iowa isn't known for its great defense. In fact, the Hawkeyes are notorious for their poor defense which results in higher scoring games. Thursday night was no different.

However, just five days after it put out a season-low 53 points, Michigan's offense was clicking at an outstanding rate. The Wolverines shot better than 50% from the floor and from 3-point range in the first half, and they kept it up for most of the second half, too.

If Michigan wants to seriously contend for a Big Ten championship in the next two months, it will have to find some sort of consistency on the offensive end of the floor. The Wolverines have been a solid offensive team so far this season, but incompetent scoring performances like the one on Saturday will not bode well for Michigan.

Michigan's trio of freshmen, Jett Howard, Dug McDaniel and Tarris Reed, were fantastic in the tight loss to Iowa. Howard's performance speaks for itself, and McDaniel made some clutch shots in the closing minutes, but Reed's performance is worth noting.

Terrance Williams' subpar play has left the Wolverines with a bit of a question mark at the power forward position, but Reed may be the answer to that question. The 6-foot-10 freshman didn't light up the stat sheet, but he made a few critical plays down the stretch to help Michigan to the near victory.

Reed finished with two points, but he also had seven rebounds and a critical steal of Iowa's Kris Murray with about 2:30 to play in the game. The freshman could be the answer that Michigan has looking for to play alongside Dickinson down low. Although it didn't translate to a win, Reed showed excellent flashes and he should see a more substantial role going forward.

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