IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Nik Stauskas caught too much of Iowa’s attention after burning the Hawkeyes for 26 points a couple weeks ago.
Iowa’s focused defense held No. 10 Michigan’s leading scorer to 10 points and the 17th-ranked Hawkeyes beat the Wolverines 85-67 on Saturday.
Iowa’s Roy Devyn Marble scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half.
“Iowa punched us early today, and it was hard to respond,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “This is how they were playing early in the season no matter who they were playing.”
Caris LeVert scored 22 points for the Wolverines (17-6, 9-2 Big Ten), who have lost two of three after starting 8-0 in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes (18-6, 7-4) have beaten two AP Top 10 teams in the regular season for the first time since 1990-91. Iowa avoided a third straight loss at home and split the season series with Michigan.
Stauskas finished 3-of-6 shooting as Marble, from Southfield, Mich., drew the defensive matchup for much of the first half. Stauskas had tied a career high in the first matchup on Jan. 22.
Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said the Hawkeyes were locked into collectively stopping Stauskas this time.
“They made a lot of adjustments,” Stauskas said. “They did things on our ball screens and handoffs, which made things difficult. They denied me the ball and when I did try to drive all their guys were in the gaps.”
Stauskas, who averages 17.3 points per game, hasn’t scored more than 10 points in Michigan’s last three games - two of them losses.
With the loss, the Wolverines fell a half-game behind Michigan State on top of the Big Ten standings.
It doesn’t get easier from here. Michigan’s next games are at Ohio State and at home against Wisconsin and Michigan State.
Iowa’s Aaron White had 11 points and eight rebounds. Mike Gesell had 10 points and matched a career high with eight assists - five on Marble’s baskets.
Marble was 6 of 9 from 3-point range in the first half - more than the Hawkeyes made as a team the last five games.
Iowa, which ranks next to last in the Big Ten in 3-point field goals, finished 10 of 17 from behind the arc.
“When Dev got hot, I was just finding him and finding my shooters,” Gesell said. “It’s really not that hard of a job when you have guys that can score like that.”
The Hawkeyes led by as many as 16 points in the first half as Marble connected on three 3-pointers for Iowa’s first nine points.
Later in the half, Marble’s sharp crossover led to a quick layup. Marble knocked down another 3-pointer on the next possession, turning to salute the sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Marble hit two more 3-pointers at the end of the half - one just before the buzzer - to give Iowa a 43-29 lead.
Michigan never got closer in the second half.
Marble’s 22-point first half ended a stretch of bad starts for the Hawkeyes’ leading scorer. He scored five points or less in the first half in five of Iowa’s last six games, including two scoreless halves.
Marble finished 8 of 17 from the field and made all four of his free throws. He moved into 10th place on Iowa’s all-time scoring list with 1,529 points.
The Hawkeyes are 6-0 in games following a loss this season.
Freshman Zak Irvin scored 19 points for Michigan, going 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
Iowa dominated in the post with 34 points in the paint and seven blocked shots. The Hawkeyes grabbed 38 rebounds to Michigan’s 29.
“To beat Michigan, you have to play the kind of defense we played,” McCaffery said. “They have so many different weapons so it was not only getting stops, it was getting stops and then running and getting offensive opportunities in transition.”
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