Michigan Coach John Beilein said his team was packing for more than one day
at the Big Ten tournament. That turned out to be excellent planning on his part
since his squad dispatched of the eighth seeded Iowa Hawkeyes 55-47 Thursday afternoon.
Pacing the Wolverines effort were Manny Harris with 19 points (12 in the first
half) and Deshawn Sims, who posted the first double-double of his career with
14 points and ten rebounds.
Harris sparked the Maize & Blue early, scoring eight straight points on
a 10-0 run that put Beilein’s bunch up 20-7. The Hawkeyes finally broke
out of a four-minute cold spell thanks to a Tony Freeman jumper at the 10:01
mark, but the Wolverines kept applying the pressure. Michigan grabbed its biggest
lead of the half when Deshawn Sims drained a three-pointer with 6:46 to go to
make the score 25-11. Todd Lickliter’s club was in danger of being blown
out, but spirited play in the closing minutes of the half kept things from getting
out of hand.
Iowa forward Cyrus Tate set the tone during the final portion of the half,
notching five points, two rebounds, a block, a steal, and drawing three fouls
to help his club outscore Michigan 14-7 over a six minute span and cut the deficit
to seven (32-25). Just when it seemed like the Hawkeyes would head into the
break with a little momentum, Zach Gibson’s tip-in just before the halftime
buzzer made the score 34-25 at intermission.
Michigan came out of the gates hot in the second half scoring five quick points
on an Anthony Wright triple and a jumper from Deshawn Sims. That pushed the
lead back to 14 and forced a Lickliter timeout. The time used to regroup had
the desired effect offensively, as evidenced by the four quick Hawkeye points
in the aftermath. However, it did nothing defensively. Sims came right back
with five more points on a tip-in and a triple to give Michigan its biggest
lead of the game, 44-29. Then it happened. Both teams went through an unthinkable
drought in which not a single field goal was converted for over 11 minutes.
The only points scored during that span came from the charity stripe. The Hawkeyes
cut margin back to single digits (46-37) with 4:33 to go thanks to 8-2 advantage
from the line (including five by Cyrus Tate). Anthony Wright finally knocked
the lid off of the basket for the Wolverines when he nailed a big three-pointer
to make the score 49-37 with 4:07 left on the clock.
Iowa’s ineptitude from the perimeter continued for another two-and-a-half
minutes. A Jake Kelly jumper with 1:55 remaining finally gave them their first
field goal in over 16 minutes, but it was too little too late. The Wolverines
protected their lead from the foul line in the waning moments to earn the 55-47
victory.
For more on the game, click the following links: Boxscore,
Notes
& Quotes.
Next up for the Maize & Blue is a contest with top-seeded Wisconsin. Tip-off
is scheduled for noon EST tomorrow. In Michigan’s only game against the
Badgers this year, the young Wolverines lost a hard fought battle 64-61 in Madison.