Michigan MBB holds on against Iowa 85-83, extends winning streak to seven games

ANN ARBOR – Michigan men’s basketball (8-1, 2-0 Big Ten) won its seventh straight game on Saturday as it held off Iowa (7-2, 1-1) 85-83. It also marked back-to-back Big Ten wins after a 67-64 win over No. 11 Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Wolverines are tied at the top of the conference with Michigan State as both teams have two Big Ten wins.

Michigan MBB Holds on Against Iowa

“We’re proud that we found a way to win in a game that seemed to have a lot of different emotions, runs, (and) some high level guard play on both teams,” head coach Dusty May said after the game. “Iowa fought tooth and nail for 40 minutes, so great basketball game (and) we’re fortunate that we got this one in the left column.”

Early on it appeared Michigan would run away with this one. Almost eight minutes of game time had gone by and the Wolverines were up 20-4. Iowa fought back and cut the lead to two points with just under five minutes left in the first half, and the game was back-and-forth thereafter. 

The score was 40-37 in favor of Michigan at halftime. Iowa took its first lead of the game about three minutes into the second half. Hawkeye forward Payton Sandfort had 16 of his team-high 19 points in the second half. Unfortunately for Sandfort, and any other Iowa big-man, Michigan might have the best four-five combination in the country.

Wolverine forward Danny Wolf and center Vladislav Goldin both posted a double-double. Wolf had 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Goldin had 20 points with 11 boards. Goldin struggled to find his footing over the first month of the season, but he now has back-to-back 20 point games. May said it’s all mental.

“… He’s just been a guy that you can see when he’s really locked in and focused, there’s a different level of play, and I think now he’s finding that level of play,” May said. “I can’t speak on it (but) he’s always been kind of a slow starter. He spends a lot of (the) summer working on adding things to his game and whatnot.”

Until a Roddy Gayle Jr. layup with 45 seconds left in the game, Michigan had gone almost five minutes without a bucket. A mixture of turnovers and missed shots were at the root of the scoring drought. Michigan had 17 turnovers compared to just four by Iowa. Wolverine guard Tre Donaldson said the ability to overcome these obstacles told him a lot about the team.

“The ball’s not going to fall every time we shoot it, that’s unrealistic,” Donaldson said. “… We didn’t take care of the ball those last couple minutes, but that’s what makes us a great team. You go five minutes without scoring, that’s tough to come out with a win.”

Donaldson said the team’s focus flipped to defense towards the end of the game.

“Okay we’re having trouble scoring, that’s fine, but y’all aren’t going to score,” Donaldson said. “We had to make it tough. They made some tough shots there, but that’s going to happen when you’re in the Big Ten.”

Donaldson finished with 18 points and five assists. The Wolverines got a familiar boost off the bench from forward Will Tschetter as he came away with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

Michigan is set to take on Arkansas (7-2) next on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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