Asselin Not Enough as Hawkeyes Drop Wolverines

Saturday, January 22

Iowa City, Iowa

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Iowa

1/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Junior center Josh Asselin's (Caro, Mich./Caro HS) third double-double of the season was not enough to carry the Michigan men's basketball team as Iowa recovered from a 12-point first-half deficit to defeat the Wolverines 83-78 on Saturday (Jan. 22) in front of 15,500 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Asselin turned in his best performance of the season, hitting on 9-of-13 shots for a season-high 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds, also a season best.

Free throw shooting did in the Wolverines (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten). Just two games removed from a school-record 37 free throws made against Illinois, a game in which Michigan shot .822 from the line, the Wolverines only connected on 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the line against Iowa and hit five fewer free throws than the Hawkeyes (8-9, 2-4 Big Ten), who went 23-for-32.

Sparked by a 9-0 run, Iowa raced out to a 12-5 lead 4:30 into the game, but a pair of Asselin buckets got Michigan back into the flow, and with 6:25 remaining in the first half, the Wolverines held a slim 29-27 lead. Michigan then put on a 12-2 run -- keyed by eight points by LaVell Blanchard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and four points and two assists by Kevin Gaines (Las Vegas, Nev./Clark HS) -- to open the game's largest margin, 41-29.

However, Iowa clawed its way back into the game by closing the Michigan lead to 45-38 by the halftime break and then racing out to a 12-3 start to the second half to claim a 50-48 lead. The teams then traded the lead on the next two possessions, with Jamal Crawford (Renton, Wash./Rainier Beach HS) knocking down three free throws to put Michigan up 51-50 only to see Iowa's Rob Griffin hit a pair from the foul line to put the Hawkeyes back up 52-51.

Iowa would build its lead up to 56-51 with 14:19 remaining in the game before the Wolverines chipped the lead down to one point, 60-59, on a Leon Jones (Battle Creek, Mich./Winchendon Prep) jumper. Michigan fought back from another Iowa spurt to take a one-point lead, 70-69, when Asselin converted a Crawford pass into a layup with 6:00 left in the game, but that would be Michigan's final lead of the night as Griffin hit a three-pointer on Iowa's next possession and Hawkeyes never trailed again. The Wolverines were able to tie the score two more times -- 74-74 and 76-76 -- but were unable to regain the lead as Iowa outscored Michigan 7-2 over the final 2:19 of play, including a 7-0 run.

The Wolverines return to action on Tuesday night (Jan. 25) when they travel to Indiana to face the Hoosiers in a 7 p.m. game on ESPN.

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423