Michigan made 10 of its first 11 shots to open the second half of play as the Wolverines raced away to an 87-73 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in Ann Arbor. There were 13 lead changes in the opening half and Iowa trailed by three at the break.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says they had a good focus offensively and defensively were good except for the penetration. He says they did some good things individually, but overall they need more consistency from their top players. Iowa is 1-8 at the midway point of the league race. McCaffrey says they are battling and getting better and he would like to see more consistency individually and collectively.
It was another big game for freshman Melsahn Basabe who finished with a season high 25 points and eight rebounds. Basabe says he was disappointed after a down game at Penn State and watched some film so he could improve. Basabe says a defensive lapse at the start of the second half was costly. He says they struggled to keep guys in front of them as a team and didn’t close out.
Michigan finished the game with 14 three pointers.