By: Angelique S. Chengelis (The Detroit News) — Indianapolis — Michigan now needs three wins to reach the NCAA Tournament.

That seems unrealistic for a sub-.500 team, but that’s how the Wolverines are approaching this Big Ten tournament.

They scratched one win off the list Thursday, beating Iowa, 59-52, in the first game of the tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Wolverines will play top-seeded Ohio State on Friday at noon in the first quarterfinal of the day. The fifth-ranked Buckeyes had a bye and enter the game 24-7.

Michigan is 15-16 overall after winning for the third time against Iowa (10-22) this season. It’s also the third straight year the Wolverines have beaten the Hawkeyes in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.

Junior Manny Harris led Michigan in scoring with 22, while senior DeShawn Sims was slightly less productive in this third meeting with the Hawkeyes. He had averaged 23.5 in their two regular-season games but scored 14 Thursday.

Michigan led by as many as 16 in the first half but was pushed on its heels early in the second half. Michigan led 32-23 at halftime. After Sims scored the first basket coming out of halftime, the Hawkeyes quickly cut that lead to 34-30 with a 7-0 run.

But Zack Novak answered with a 3-pointer followed by a bucket by Harris to expand Michigan’s lead to nine points.

Michigan built another 16-point lead in the second half, but in the final four minutes, Iowa took advantage of the Wolverines’ cold shooting and went on an 11-0 run. Matt Gatens scored a layup off a steal to cut Michigan’s lead to 57-52 with 1:18 left.

After the Wolverines called a timeout after the run, Novak missed a 3-point attempt on their next possession. Iowa got the rebound but wasted the possession.

Harris scored two free throws with 20 seconds left to seal the win.

The Wolverines led Iowa by as many as 16 points in the first half. Harris and Sims combined for the Wolverines’ first 21 points before Stu Douglass hit a 3-pointer to give Michigan a 24-8 lead with just more than nine minutes left.

Iowa went on a brief 7-0 run to cut Michigan’s advantage to eight with 2:48 remaining.

Michigan and Ohio State split their regular-season series, but the Buckeyes were without national player of the year favorite Evan Turner when the lost, 73-64, at Michigan in early January. More recently, the Buckeyes with a healthy Turner beat the Wolverines, 66-55 in Columbus.

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