Something Phil Martelli talked about before Michigan's game Sunday at Iowa, and he alluded to it in the aftermath of Michigan's 90 to 80 victory, was the fact that, yes, Michigan has endured some tough losses, some close games that have gone the wrong direction this season.

But even though those final possessions, the final plays, the final mistakes that Michigan has made in some of those,

those get illuminated. They have a spotlight on them because they happen in such a high

leverage spot. But those can be aided or potentially not even necessary if you do the work in

the first 37, 38, 39 minutes. Well, on Sunday in Iowa City, Michigan certainly did

just that. And it doesn't mean that you have to play flawless basketball. Michigan did not

in this ballgame. They still committed 13 turnovers. They still had to deal with a couple of starters

and their two leading scores coming into play. Doug McDaniel and Olivier Kamwa combining for zero points and O of eight shooting in the first 20 minutes of action.

Yet, it was Terris Reed Jr., matching and surpassing a career high in points before halftime even hit.

Will Cheddar providing a burst of energy.

Namari Burnett working through a tough shooting

first half and still making an impact. Michigan was able to take a two-point lead to the break,

despite only really playing seven players, no Jalen Llewellyn on Sunday, and again, only scoring 35 points

against the worst defense in the Big Ten statistically coming in.

Second half, things changed.

Michigan Strong not just possessions together, but chunks of this game.

They had a huge surge in the second half at one point early on in half number two,

rattling off an 11-0 run.

A little bit later, nine straight aided by some

Fran McCaffrey technical fouls. It allowed Michigan to then play out some of those late-stage

situations with a healthy lead. And yes, Iowa made it interesting in the final minute or so,

cutting what was once a Michigan 20-point lead in half, but still,

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