Michigan Upsets UCLA 55-52, Will Play Duke in 2K Sports Classic Final

By Sean · Friday, November 21, 2008 · 4:10 AM |  Share | 1 Comment 

Michigan beat UCLA 55-52 last night in what was the program’s biggest win in over ten years. The Bruins entered the game ranked as the #4 team in the country, and although they probably were overrated, that doesn’t take anything away from Michigan’s victory. The Wolverines’ win means they will play Duke at 7 p.m. ET tonight in the 2K Sports Classic championship game. Duke is scheduled to come to Ann Arbor on December 6, so Michigan will play them twice in a span of about two weeks.

UCLA looked like they were going to pull away on more than one occasion during last night’s game. In fact, UCLA started the game on a 9-1 run before Michigan caught back up. Soon after the lead dwindled down, the Bruins started to pull away again, this time leading 18-10. Just as before, though, Michigan caught up and actually got within a point. The momentum quickly shifted back in UCLA’s favor, and Michigan was suddenly trailing 29-19. Michigan played catch up for the third time in this game, though, and again cut the lead down to a point.

From this point in the game on Michigan and UCLA played close and neither team was able to jump ahead by very much. Michigan took the lead around five minutes into the second half and didn’t trail again until there were five minutes or so left in the game. UCLA didn’t lead for long, though, as Michigan went ahead about a minute later and didn’t look back.

In the final minute of the game, Michigan led by only 2 points and needed a big shot to ensure that they would win. That big shot actually turned out to be a big dunk. DeShawn Sims received a perfect backdoor pass from Anthony Wright and dunked the ball to give the Wolverines a 4-point lead. UCLA turned the ball over on its next possession, but Sims missed the front-end of a one-and-one after he was fouled. The Bruins quickly went down the court and hit a 3-pointer, making this a 1-point game with 5 seconds left.

Manny Harris went to the free throw line and knocked down both shots to put Michigan on top by 3 points. UCLA’s Darren Collison caught the ensuing inbounds pass near midcourt and tried to get a deep 3-pointer off a few feet outside of the NBA line. Collison’s shot was blocked by Harris, who came very close to fouling him. That would have been a disaster situation, but replays showed that it was indeed a clean block that ended up sealing the win for Michigan.

Michigan won this game thanks to its 1-3-1 zone that gave UCLA problems all night and thanks to the players’ attitude. No matter what the score, Michigan played its own game and never panicked. When the Wolverines got down by 10 points, they fought back. In the closing minutes when every play mattered, they executed nearly perfectly. I haven’t seen a Michigan basketball team play like this in a long, long time. Not only did they play great, but they stayed cool under pressure as well.

DeShawn Sims led all scorers with 18 points and probably should be in the starting lineup from now on. Manny Harris was the second-leading scorer with 15 points, and Stu Douglass was next with 10. Douglass went 2-3 from 3-point land and helped ignite a stellar shooting effort in the second half. One of his 3-pointers came from behind the NBA line and another was made despite a rather awkward release. If he gets hot, Douglass can make shots from anywhere on the floor.

As mentioned already, Michigan plays Duke tonight in the first of two matchups between the teams this season. Duke will be a much tougher team than UCLA, so Michigan will really have to play well to pull off another upset. Plus, UCLA has struggled against John Beilein-coached teams in the past, as West Virginia beat them a couple times when Beilein was there. Even last year Michigan hung around with #1 UCLA until the Bruins finally pulled away. Duke, on the other hand, blew out Michigan last year, so it will be interesting to see how the Wolverines play.

For a look at how the final minute of Michigan’s upset played out, take a look at the video below.