IOWA CITY - Iowa's full-court and half-court traps were supposed to fluster Michigan in rowdy Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a place where the Wolverines haven't won since 1994.
Instead, Michigan used pressure of its own and the Hawkeyes' trap proved to be no more than a trap ... for Iowa.
The Wolverines used a late first-half surge, a few changing defenses and all-around performances from their starters - whose poised play proved crucial when Iowa put on the pressure - to defeat the Hawkeyes, 80-66, yesterday in front of 15,500 fans at Carver-Hawkeye.
The victory snapped the Wolverines' two-game losing streak and improved their record to 6-3 in the Big Ten and 16-6 overall. Sixteenth-ranked Iowa (4-4, 15-6) dropped its fourth straight game, and third consecutive contest on its home floor. The Haw
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| WARREN ZINN/Daily Robbie Reid had five points and six assists yesterday. |
"I can't tell you how proud we are of our basketball team right now," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "To come into a very difficult place and play as well as we did in so many different areas. Our guys were very resilient and fought through the Iowa runs."
Up double digits for most of the second half, Michigan was able to survive a Hawkeye run that wittled the Wolverines' lead to eight, 68-60, with 4:09 left in the game. But Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston made two free throws apiece to increase the lead to 12. Iowa closed to within eight again, 74-66, on a Ryan Bowen putback with 1:55 left, but Louis Bullock's short turnaround jumper in the lane sealed the deal for Michigan with 1:29 to go.
The statistical area Ellerbe was most pleased with probably was the assists-to-turnovers ratio.
For a team plagued by turnovers the past few weeks, Michigan had success finding the open man and remained poised. The Wolverines had just 16 turnovers and amassed 20 assists. Even though Iowa's aggressive full-court defense made Michigan appear a little shaky toward the end of the game, the Wolverines didn't fall to the pressure.
Four Wolverines scored in double digits, led by junior guard Louis Bullock, who had 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and drained 5 of 8 shots from behind the 3-point line. Forward Jerod Ward had his most impressive performance in weeks, dropping 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting and he added seven rebounds and two steals.
"It was a great victory for us," Ward said. "It was important for both teams. Both teams came out and fought hard. Today was a good game for myself and good game for our team."
Robert Traylor added 15 points and six rebounds, and Maceo Baston finished with a double-double, 13 points and 12 boards.
"This just shows that there is such a good balance in the league," Iowa coach Tom Davis said. "There is not much difference between teams with one or two losses."
Ellerbe made a few changes after the Purdue game, both in the starting lineup and defensive schemes, that seemed to be just as important as the players' stat line. Ellerbe started senior co-captain Travis Conlan for the first time this season, replacing Robbie Reid in the starting lineup.
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| WARREN ZINN/Daily All Iowa's Kyle Galloway could do was get out of the way of this Maceo Baston jam in yesterday's Michigan victory. Baston scored 13 points and led all players with 12 rebounds. |
02-02-98
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