ANN ARBOR, Mich. - DeShawn Sims scored 15 points, including his team’s first 11, to help Michigan end a three-game losing streak with a 68-59 victory over Northwestern on Saturday night.

Michigan's Manny Harris defends forward Kevin Coble in the first half. (TONY DING/Associated Press)

The Wolverines (14-6, 4-4 Big Ten) were the aggressors throughout and set the tone with five layups and a free throw in their first five possessions. Sims scored 13 points in the first half and Zack Gibson added eight points off the bench in coach John Beilein’s 500th career win.

Kevin Coble had 21 points for the Wildcats (10-7, 2-5), 10 less than he had in Wednesday night’s shocking win at No. 7 Michigan State.

Michael Thompson added 16 points and Craig Moore 12, but Northwestern didn’t play like the team that beat Minnesota last Sunday, then stunned the Spartans in the school’s first back-to-back wins over ranked teams.

The Wolverines made sure of that by dominating a matchup of the league’s two worst rebounding teams and had a 20-10 edge in the boards in building a 33-24 halftime lead.