Michigan basketball overwhelms Iowa in second half of 90-80 win to stop slide
Whether it was a floater or deep ball, Dug McDaniel struggled to shoot early in Sunday's game at Iowa.
But an 0-for-5 start from the floor didn't stop Michigan basketball's sophomore point guard from facilitating the game-changing stretch in its 90-80 victory over the Hawkeyes to end a three-game losing streak.
U-M was down by two when McDaniel dropped off a bounce pass for Nimari Burnett on the right wing for a transition 3, then swung the ball from the top of the arc to the left wing to Burnett for another long ball.
He then connected with Olivier Nkamhoua, once on a side-arm bounce pass for a corner 3, then a transition lob for a thunderous dunk to force an Iowa timeout as U-M turned a two-point deficit into a 47-38 lead in the second half.
On the other side of the break McDaniel made a scooping lefty layup, and a deep 3-pointer, followed by Tarris Reed Jr.'s spinning baseline layup and three-point play finish on a nifty one-handed pass from McDaniel. All told, the Wolverines (5-5, 1-1 Big Ten) made seven consecutive field goals and blitzed Iowa with a 27-5 run in a 6:05 stretch.
It's the best example of the desired balanced scoring as six players finished in double figures: Reed dropped a career-high 19 points with six rebounds; Burnett added 14; Terrance Williams II had 13; McDaniel finished with 11 points and seven assists; Nkamhoua had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Will Tschetter scored 10.
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Iowa coach ejected
Michigan's lead ballooned to 56-42, nearing a breaking point, when Iowa's Dasonte Bowen was called for a charge with 12:58 to play. To make matters worse, Hawkeye big man Ladji Dembele was whistled for the same offense on the next trip down and Iowa coach Fran McCaffery couldn't take it anymore.
Iowa's longtime coach went on a tirade and was assessed a technical foul and had to be restrained by assistant coaches. Then, as Tray Jackson shot the resulting free throws, McCaffery had one more magic word he shouted from the coaches box and was ejected with 12:25 to go; assistant coach Sherman Dillard took over the rest of the way.
A few moments later, a second technical was given to Fran McCaffery and he is out of the game. pic.twitter.com/A8LvLljt6I
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 10, 2023
Though the Hawkeyes would mount a quick 8-2 run to get back within 14, they'd never get within single digits again. Michigan's defense held Iowa to 5 of 20 on 3-pointers (20%), though even that is extremely misleading as the Hawkeyes began 1-for-15 before they made four of their final five attempts.
Ben Krikke scored a game-high 24 for Iowa, followed by Tony Perkins with 16 and Patrick McCaffery and Payton Sandfort each with 10.
Reed bounces back with career day
After a rough three-game stretch for Reed where he totaled nine points and grab 12 rebounds, the sophomore center set the tone for his best game of the season early. Reed grabbed two offensive rebounds and recorded a block less than two minutes into the game, then got U-M on the board for the first time when he put the ball on the deck for a driving layup.
He made his next two shots, both in the paint, to get U-M even, 9-9, early before he had perhaps his best sign of the night. The 40% free throw shooter (10-for-25 entering play) sandwiched two sets of made free throws around a transition layup and by the time he'd scored the last of his six straight points U-M was ahead, 24-21, and Reed had a career-high 12 points.
Though Reed was the main force, U-M got an important contribution from Williams, too. The senior forward hit two 3-pointers in the first half, both of which came off an inside-out pass from Nkamhoua.
Later in the half, when he hit a tough layup in traffic to give Michigan 28-27 lead, he and Reed had combined for 20 of the team's 28 points.
Neither team ever led by more than five in the opening period, as the game was tied nine times and the lead changed seven times in the first half.
Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.
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Next up: Eagles
Matchup: Michigan (5-5) vs. Eastern Michigan (5-4).
Tipoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday; Crisler Center, Ann Arbor.
TV/radio: Big Ten Network; WWJ-AM (950).
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan basketball overwhelms Iowa, 90-80, to end losing streak
