IOWA CITY, Iowa — As the shot clock was winding down and the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena was growing loud, freshman forward Moussa Diabate had the ball in his hands along the baseline.
Diabate calmly drained a face-up jumper to beat the shot clock and quiet the crowd before flexing and letting out a roar.
It was that kind of night for Diabate, who erupted for a season-high 28 points and helped Michigan stave off Iowa for a critical 84-79 victory Thursday that will help keep the Wolverines’ postseason hopes alive.
Diabate, who was an efficient 12 for 15 from the field, received plenty of help. Sophomore center Hunter Dickinson had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks scored 13 and grad transfer guard DeVante’ Jones added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan (14-10, 8-6 Big Ten).
The Wolverines didn’t make a field goal over the final 4:06 and shot 4 for 20 from 3-point range, but they finished 18 for 23 from the free-throw line, with eight makes coming in the final 3:25, to pull it out.
After a first half that featured eight lead changes, the seesaw battle raged on out of halftime. Dickinson scored a layup to give Michigan a one-point edge with 17:40 left in the second half after Iowa split two free throws following a Class B technical foul on coach Juwan Howard for picking up a live ball that was rolling out of bounds in front of the Michigan bench.
That started a back-and-forth stretch where the teams traded baskets and Michigan wasn’t able extend the lead as Iowa kept pulling even. The Hawkeyes, though, were the first to blink as Keegan Murray missed two free throws and a dunk at the rim on back-to-back possessions.
The Wolverines made Iowa pay for the miscues with seven unanswered points — a 3-pointer from Brooks, a hook shot from Diabate and a nifty finish at the rim by Jones — to pull ahead 57-50 with 13:10 remaining.
As Iowa kept struggling to knock down shots and come up with answers, Michigan kept adding distance. Brooks splashed a 3-pointer and found a trailing Dickinson for a shot in paint. Then after Brooks got loose for a layup, Diabate got a hook shot to drop to make it 68-57 at the 8:54 mark.
Things got hairy when Michigan had to wade through a string of mistakes. Diabate missed the front end of a one-and-one. Dickinson turned the ball over on a bad pass out a double-team. Freshman Kobe Bufkin was called for a double dribble. Iowa used a 3-pointer from Jordan Bohannon to cut the deficit to 72-66 with 5:56 to go.
The Wolverines were able to navigate the rough stretch and turned to Diabate to help pull them out of it. He scored a layup while being fouled and knocked down two free throws to give Michigan a 78-66 lead with 3:25 to play.
It was far from over as Michigan missed seven straight shots and Iowa made one last push. Patrick McCaffery keyed a 9-0 run with three layups, including a three-point play, to pull the Hawkeyes within 78-75 with 1:20 remaining.
After freshman forward Caleb Houstan made two free throws to make it a five-point game and Iowa got a second-chance basket from Murray, Jones had a blocked layup attempt go off him last, giving the Hawkeyes possession and a chance to tie it with 26 seconds left.
Even after Murray’s ensuing 3-pointer rimmed out, Michigan had a tough time closing it out. Jones split four free throws in the final 11 seconds to make it 82-79 and give Iowa a glimmer of hope with four seconds left, but the Hawkeyes’ desperation heave in the final seconds was off the mark.
Murray, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, finished with 23 points on 23 shots for Iowa (17-8, 7-7), which saw its three-game win streak come to an end. McCaffery added 13 points, Filip Rebraca 12 and Bohannon 11 for the Hawkeyes.
The Wolverines were without sophomore forward Terrance Williams II, which made Michigan’s short bench even shorter. The program announced shortly before tip-off he was unavailable due to a left ankle sprain. Bufkin stepped up in Williams’ absence and scored 10 off the bench.
There wasn’t much defense from either team during a fast-paced start. Iowa opened by making six of its first seven shots, with Murray getting off to a quick start and scoring five points in less than a minute, including a three-point play that drew an early foul on Diabate.
Michigan countered by making nine of its first 12 shots and rattling off an 11-0 run to take a 21-14 lead with 13:47 left in the first half. A double-team of Dickinson led to an open 3-pointer for Brooks. A steal by Jones led to a one-handed slam in transition by Diabate. Jones blocked a shot then hit freshman forward Caleb Houstan with an outlet pass for another dunk and a seven-point lead.
The Wolverines couldn’t hold the lead as the hot start cooled. After Murray snapped the run with a 3-pointer from wing, Michigan could only muster two points over a six-minute span that featured some badly missed 3-point attempts. The Hawkeyes took advantage of the cold stretch and ripped off a 13-2 spurt that Murray capped with a layup to put Iowa up, 27-23, at the 8:19 mark.
Michigan was effective enough inside with Diabate and Bufkin to overcome the outside shooting struggles. The two sparked an 8-0 run that put the Wolverines back in front by four. Then after Iowa regained the lead, Diabate and Bufkin scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to give Michigan a 35-33 edge with 2:29 left.
Despite a final minute that saw Howard get hit with a technical foul for arguing with a referee, Bufkin air-ball a pull-up 3-pointer when Michigan could’ve held for the last shot and Iowa execute a full-court pass and turnaround jumper with 2.9 seconds left, the Wolverines were still in it and trailed 39-37 at the break.
