Michigan 55, Iowa 47

3/13/2008 1:56 PM

By STEVE HERMAN
AP Sports Writer

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Michigan missed 13 shots in a row during a stretch in the second half. Iowa's shooting was even worse.

Michigan's Manny Harris scored 19 points and the Wolverines survived a 10-minute scoreless second-half stretch to beat Iowa 55-47 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament Thursday.

``Aside from the fact it looked like we'd never score a basket again in my life, it was a great first step for us to come into the postseason,'' first-year Michigan coach John Beilein said.

The win sent ninth-seeded Michigan into Friday's quarterfinals against No. 8-ranked and top-seeded Wisconsin, which beat the Wolverines twice in the regular season.

``We did a good job of preparing for what they were going to run,'' said Michigan's DeShawn Sims, who added 14 points. ``Another thing, we played tenacious defense.''

The Wolverines needed the big defensive effort.

Michigan (10-21) took a 44-29 lead early in the second half but did not score a point after that until Harris hit two free throws with 5:44 to go. Iowa (13-19) was just as cold from the field, though, and managed only eight free throws - and no field goals - over a span of more than 16 minutes.

``If we can't score we just have to do a better job defensively,'' Sims said.

Still, the Hawkeyes trailed only 46-37 with 4:33 left, but Anthony Wright's 3-pointer snapped a streak of 13 straight misses for Michigan, and the Wolverines never led by fewer than eight points the rest of the way.

``It doesn't take a very astute basketball individual to figure out if you go 2-for-17 on 3s and struggle from the line that what you'd be amazed at is it's an eight-point game,'' first-year Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said. ``I'm surprised it's an eight-point game.

``They got on a run early and we couldn't stop them. ... They got good looks, shared the ball and shot it well enough.''

Iowa, a two-time tourney champion, was led by Cyrus Tate with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Jake Kelly with 11 points.

``Our defense was constant,'' Beilein said. ``We couldn't score, but we stopped them. ... We've got to be happy we're winning the game.''

Harris had eight straight points during an early 10-0 run that put the Wolverines in control. He hit two straight 3-pointers, then after an Iowa turnover, Harris scored again on a fast-break dunk for a 20-7 lead. Michigan took its biggest lead of the half at 25-11 on a 3-pointer by Sims.

The Wolverines, last in the Big Ten in shooting percentage, finally cooled late in the period. Iowa responded with a 9-2 run and pulled within 32-25 on a 3-pointer by Justin Johnson with 20 seconds to go. A last-second basket by Zack Gibson pushed Michigan's lead back to nine at halftime.

In the second half, a basket by Iowa's Seth Gorney made it 39-29 with 18:10 remaining, but the Hawkeyes did not get another field goal until a layup by Kelly with 1:56 to go.

``I believe we did have some good looks,'' Lickliter said. ``But we don't get a lot of second shots, so we've got to make the shots we get.

``We probably got enough good looks that if we were shooting the way we're capable, we would have been much more competitive.''

Michigan finished at 37.3 percent shooting; Iowa, at 31.9 percent.