Upset-minded Michigan plays No. 4 UCLA tonight at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Michigan (2-0) pounded Michigan Tech and Northeastern to advance to New York, while UCLA (2-0) got all it could handle from Miami (OH) in its regional final, outlasting the RedHawks 64-59.
The two programs have met each of the last six seasons, with the Bruins winning the past four games, including a 69-54 win in Ann Arbor last season. This year's UCLA squad is expected to compete for a spot in its fourth straight Final Four, while the Wolverines are still rebuilding under second-year coach John Beilein.
The Michigan offense, which looked abysmal at times last season, has scored 77 and 76 points in its first two games, with sophomore guard Manny Harris leading the way. The Big Ten Preseason First Teamer followed up his 30-point outburst against MTU with a near-triple double against Northeastern, a game in which he again led all scorers with 26.
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To upset the mighty Bruins, however, Harris will need some help. DeShawn Sims will have to provide some frontcourt scoring, and three-point threats Anthony Wright and Stu Douglass will need to be sharp from the outside.
One thing this Bruins team is lacking is strong interior play. With the departure of Kevin Love, UCLA starts Adam Keefe and Alfred Aboya in the frontcourt. Michigan has been burned the past few seasons by a quality big man, but the Bruins don't seem to have that threat this year.
They do, however, have some stingy perimeter defenders. Michigan's Harris went 3-12 from the field against the Bruins last year, and two of the three guards from last season—Darren Collison and Josh Shipp—are back for their senior seasons. While Shipp is a legitimate scoring threat, he has a lot of nights where he's quiet, and if that's the case tonight, UCLA will need its newcomers to step up.
If the UCLA freshman contributors struggle under the bright lights of New York City and Michigan is shooting well from the outside, fans at the Garden might witness the first major upset of the college basketball season.
The winner faces the winner of the Duke/Southern Illinois game, which tips off at 7.
Note: Check back tomorrow for my post-game article.
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about 1 month ago
also please check out my other article
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/83786-packing-for-vegas-college-basketball-picks-nov-20
about 1 month ago
The Bruins did not play well in their last game and if they don't come to play tonight, they will be on the wrong side of a low scoring affair. Harris and the Wolverines have nothing to lose and this will be the largest venue they will play at this year at MSG.
Collison is highly overrated as a preseason All American, Josh Shipp takes months to get out of a shooting slump, Aboya picks up cheap fouls and Keefe is not the man to lead them in scoring. If the Fab Five Freshman want to show the world how good they are, this might be their opportunity to run the Wolverines off the court. Without Love and the great "Prince Luc", UCLA is young and inexperienced up front and this will rear its ugly head tonight.
A loss tonight will knock them right out of the top 10 with an incredibly talented Longhorn team waiting in the wings.
Should Bruins escape tonight, a matchup with Duke would be exciting in the Finals.
Love the Bruins and Howland, but he still has not managed to instill the Pitt ferocity into these California "dudes." Collison and Shipp came back for one reason -- to go after a Final Four Bid. Anything less and they will be considered 4 year failures in Westwood.
about 1 month ago
Well they did it. A really well played game. I was surprised that UCLA was able to get into the double bonus and still not win.
about 1 month ago
Check out my article on the upset!
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/84032-turning-the-corner-michigan-basketball-gets-signature-win-over-4-ucla
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