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Sophomore point guard Spike Albrecht knocks down a baseline jumper giving No. 21 Michigan an 11-point lead with just over 14 minutes remaining in a 75-67 win over No. 10 Iowa on Wednesday night at Crisler Center.

(Melanie Maxwell | The Ann Arbor News)

Michigan's Spike Albrecht was given some notice, but not much.

The sophomore learned during a pregame walk-through on Wednesday that he'd be handed starting point guard duties that night against No. 10 Iowa. It meant hearing his name called in pregame warmups for the first time as a Wolverine. It meant carrying a heavy responsibility in a big time top-25 battle at Crisler Center.

Still, though, Albrecht figured starter Derrick Walton Jr. would earn his typical minutes. Walton had sat out the previous day’s practice and gameplan session with flu-like symptoms, but was expected to play. His fever broke earlier Wednesday.

Then plans changed.

“In the first half, I could just tell (Walton wasn’t feeling well),” Albrecht said. “I think he was grabbing his stomach and he told the coaches actually to come get him (out of the game). So I was like, OK, well I guess I’m the guy the rest of the way.”

Indeed he was.

Albrecht turned his first career start into a career game. No, it's not in the history books alongside his 17-point, out-of-nowhere outburst against Louisville in last year's national title game. It was, though, enough to spearhead a 75-67 win for the 21st-ranked Wolverines.

The sophomore registered career highs in assists (seven), steals (four) and minutes played (35) in place of Walton.

“How do I think he handled it?” coach John Beilein said when first asked about Albrecht in the postgame press conference. “Handled it pretty good, yeah? Seven assists, zero turnovers.”

Albrecht led Michigan (14-4, 6-0 Big Ten) deftly in both the halfcourt offense and in transition.

Two plays stand out.

Following a Glenn Robinson III drive and dunk nearly four minutes into the second half, Albrecht jumped an Iowa in-bound pass and corralled the ball. Waiting for teammates to fill passing lanes, he instead pulled up and sank a 15-foot jumper for two of his five points on the night.

The sequence capped an 11-2 run that left the Hawkeyes scrambling.

Later, after Iowa (15-4, 4-2) pushed back, Michigan found itself clinging to a 67-64 lead with 2 minutes, 32 seconds remaining. Hawkeyes coach Fran McCaffery called for a switch to a zone defense and U-M appeared muddled.

Then Albrecht notched his seventh assist of the night. Passing the ball over top the zone, he found Robinson open for an easy layup.

Beilein would call it, “One of the biggest plays this year.”

As for Walton, he finished the night scoreless in three minutes played, a fraction of his normal 26.3 minutes per night.

“We got the call (Tuesday) morning that Derrick had a temperature and flu-like symptoms so obviously the doctor kept him away from everybody all day,” Beilein said.

Michigan next faces No. 3 Michigan State (18-1, 7-0) on Saturday in East Lansing. Beilein will likely update Walton’s status for that game when he meets with the media on Friday.

Brendan F. Quinn covers University of Michigan basketball. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on Wolverines hoops. He can be contacted at bquinn@mlive.com