INDIANAPOLIS — Standing by a locker in Conseco Fieldhouse, redshirt freshman Laval Lucas-Perry radiated the confidence of Michigan fans throughout the country:

"I think we've already made it to the NCAA Tournament," Lucas-Perry said.

Junior forward DeShawn Sims scored Michigan’s first 14 points on 7-of-7 shooting to lead the seventh-seeded Wolverines to a 73-45 win over No. 10 seed Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament yesterday afternoon.

The victory all but cements Michigan's spot in the NCAA Tournament, which would be its first bid in 10 years. The Wolverines will learn if they made the tournament, their seed and where they'll be headed for NCAA first-round play on Sunday.

Although the Wolverines tried not to think about the Big Dance, they knew they could ill afford to drop a game to a team with a sub-.500 record.

"We didn't want to put too much stress on it and stress it too much to where we felt like we had pressure on us," sophomore forward Manny Harris said. "But it was definitely a goal. We thought about it."

Sims used the pressure as motivation early. He exploded for 27 points — 18 of them in the first half — and hit 12 of 16 shots.

“You can tell from the start, even from the hotel room, you know when you're ready to go,” Harris said. “He talks about it. He says something about it. His whole body language is different.”

And Michigan (9-9 Big Ten, 20-12 overall) didn’t shy away from feeding the hot hand.

“You feel like when you give it to him, he's going to score,” Harris said. “You sometimes don't even go rebound, which we got to do. But that's how our team builds off him scoring and him getting into it.”

No other Wolverine scored until redshirt freshman guard Laval Lucas-Perry drained a 3-pointer eight minutes into the first half.

Harris, a first-team All-Big Ten selection, got hot later. But his passing, not his shots, fueled Michigan. Harris dished out five of his team-high eight assists in the first half. He also scored 18 points.

“We've strived for balance on the team all year long,” Beilein said. “Sometimes, you just can't do it. And this year, we've been able to have a good balance as the season went on. I think it's been a key to our success right now in February and March.”

The contrast in 3-point shooting percentage between the teams was glaring.

Like Michigan, Iowa's success rides on 3-pointers. But the Hawkeyes (5-13, 15-17) hit just four of their 17 shots from beyond the arc. Iowa shot a dismal 33.3 percent from the field.

The Wolverines shot 59.2 percent and were 10-of-22 from downtown.

But it wasn’t just the high shooting percentage that pleased Beilein. When he looked at the stat sheet, he couldn’t help but smile when talking about how the Wolverines notched assists on 22 of their 29 baskets.

Since Iowa’s defense closes down on players who dribble drive, the pass is critical for opening scoring opportunities. Michigan’s offense quickly rotated the ball and often hit Sims open in the paint.

Iowa point guard Jake Kelly, who entered the contest averaging 21.4 points per game in his last five games, scored just 10 points. Fifth-year senior C.J. Lee, five inches shorter than Kelly, tightly defended the Iowa guard when Michigan used its man-to-man defense.

Just two players finished in double figures for the Hawkeyes, who looked nothing like the team that beat the Wolverines 70-60 in overtime Feb. 22 in Iowa City.

Michigan led by 21 at the half, tying its largest halftime lead of the season. The Wolverines' other 21-point halftime lead came against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec 22, an eventual 76-59 Michigan win.

The Wolverines will face No. 2 seed Illinois (11-7, 23-8) Friday at 6:30 p.m. in the second round of the conference tournament. Michigan split its season series with the Fighting Illini, but the teams haven’t played each other since Jan. 14.

Sims hopes to carry the same swagger he had yesterday into today’s contest.