MINNEAPOLIS - DeShawn Sims had a trickle of blood on his right forearm from a small cut covered up by a Band-Aid.

The combination of that injury and a bad defensive play in the first minute of Michigan’s 71-63 win over Minnesota sent Sims to the bench for almost eight minutes. Wolverines coach John Beilein was trying to send a message. Sims, jokingly said after, that he kept looking down at his baby cut.

Michigan forward DeShawn Sims, back right, shoots over Minnesota center Ralph Sampson III, left, as Minnesota forward Damian Johnson (34) watches the play during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday.

AP photo

As he stared at the cut, he also thought about why he was on the bench in the first place. He hadn’t provided help on a Blake Hoffarber layup, and almost immediately, Beilein pulled him.

As Beilein said after the game - Sims didn’t make the mistake again. When he sat on the bench he thought about that and when he returned, he dominated Minnesota.

“The thing that haunts you sit down for a long time is you get in and you try to do something and you hurt the team more,” Sims said. “I got in and just tried to step up my defense and everything else came to me in the second half.

“Karma.”

You could say that about this entire trip to Minnesota. For the first time all year, Michigan (12-12 overall, 5-7 Big Ten) looked like it played a full, complete and focused game. It had big nights from Sims, who scored 27 points and seven rebounds, and junior guard Manny Harris, who had 20 points and seven assists.

It wasn’t just Michigan’s big players who helped out. Critical baskets came from role players. Fifth-year senior Zack Gibson hit two three-pointers - his first since Dec. 2 against Boston College, including one gave Michigan a nine-point lead, 47-38, with 9:42 left. Sophomore guard Stu Douglass had a full stat line of five points, four assists and five steals.

Most came in the second half, when Michigan shot 68 percent (17 of 25). The Wolverines were careful with the ball, committing two turnovers in the second half. Sims had a stretch where he scored six and eight straight points - the most critical being a six-point stretch with under 6 minutes to go in the game that gave the
Wolverines a 61-51 lead.

“A lot of that stuff, he hit a couple jump shots, was off interior feeds by Manny and he
just had to lay the ball in,” Beilein said. “It was off penetration, force (Ralph) Sampson, (Paul) Carter, (Damian) Johnson to give him a little help and then when they would try retreating back to get DeShawn, we would find him before they would get there.”

It happened all throughout the second half and allowed the Wolverines to score more than 70 points for the first time since Jan. 3 against Ohio State. It also gave confidence to
Michigan’s defense, which had 11 steals.

It all comes back to Sims, though, who went from sitting to starring.

“There was a thing with his defense that we didn’t like so we just made a quick adjustment,” Beilein said. “He didn’t make that mistake the rest of the game, which was really good news.

“He just did a great job.”

Sims let joking flow into a joyous Michigan lockerroom after the game for the first time in a long time. Harris smiled in a post-game interview for the first time in recent memory. Players were laughing and cracking jokes and bouncing around like the pressures of a season falling apart was momentarily lifted for a night.

Heading into Thursday, Michigan had lost 5 of 6 games. The Wolverines had lost their last three road games. For one night, all of that disappeared as Sims provided the metaphorical Band-Aid for this Michigan basketball season.

“We kind of missed the feeling of winning a little bit,” Douglass said. “It feels good.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.