Michigan Defeats #4 UCLA 55-52

Maybe this surprised some folks but of the 143 votes in the poll on this blog 64% said Michigan was going to win this game. Well, Michigan pulled the upset defeating the #4 UCLA Bruins 55-52 at Madison Square Garden.
 

Michigan kept hanging around and staying within striking distance. I could sense early on that Michigan just might pull this off.  

Michigan took their first lead of the game when Manny Harris hit a 3 pointer at the 16:39 mark of the second half. That was after being down at one point 29-19 and making 1 of 12 first half three point shots.

Michigan came out battling in the second half and freshmen Stuart Douglass provided the spark. First Douglass hit a mid range jumper to cut UCLAs lead to 29-25, moments later Douglass hit a deep three to pull Michigan within one point at 29-28.

DeShawn Sims was ESPNs player of the game. Peedi scored 18 on 9-15 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds. 

The team played with a great flow. The 1-3-1 defense was causing havoc for UCLA. Meanwhile the Wolverines were executing on offense. Michigan continually worked for and found good shots. Here are some examples of that execution:
Manny Harris drove into the paint and 3 Bruins converged on him. Manny found DeShawn Sims open and kicked it out to him and Sims knocked down a long jumper and Michigan was leading 40-36.

Stuart Douglass made a nice dish to Anthony Wright for a lay up to put Michigan up 44-41.
Manny Harris picked up a steal and hit Douglass on the outlet pass, Douglass dropped the ball off to Sims in the paint and DeShawn finished to put Michigan up 51-48.

 Perhaps the most clutch execution came with 34 seconds left in the game and Michigan leading 51-49. Anthony Wright executed a perfect bounce pass to Sims on a back door cut and Sims finished the play and put Michigan up 53-49. That play was simply humongous.

Manny Harris capped things off by draining two clutch free throws with 4.1 seconds left to put Michigan up 55-52. For good measure Manny blocked Darren Collision’s three point shot at the buzzer to seal the win.

Stuart Douglass had a break out game scoring 10 points and going 2-3 on three pointers. Douglass also dished out 4 assists. 

Manny Harris finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Michigan coach John Beilein is now 3-1 against UCLA in his career.  

Michigan (3-0) will play Duke in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic on Friday (11/21) at 7pm. Ironically Michigan will also play Duke on December 6^th at Crisler Areana.