Michigan pulled off the first upset of a highly-ranked team this season, knocking off #4 UCLA 55-52 last night at Madison Square Garden. I went to bed at halftime, but from what I saw, the 1-3-1 zone looks a lot more effective this year. The box score confirms this, as Michigan forced UCLA into turning the ball over 17 times in a game that featured only 58 possessions (DefTO% of 29.3%).
DeShaun Sims led the way for the Woliverines, scoring 18 points on 9-12 two-point shooting, including a basket off a back-door cut to put Michigan up by 4 with 30 seconds remaining in the game. UMHoops has a complete run down of the game. Michigan’s reward is a match-up vs. Duke tonight in the final of the 2K Sports Classic (9:00 7:00 7:30ish on ESPN2).
Is this an early sign the Big Ten may not be quite as shallow as many experts have been saying?
I don’t know if it means the big ten isn’t quite as shallow so much as it means that UCLA has absolutely no business being ranked in the top 10. They looked pretty unimpressive. If it was just one game I could maybe just chuck it up to being a complete fluke – but the combination of this and the close win against Miami(OH) leads me to believe they’re not that great after having lost 3 NBA-caliber players.
The game is at 7:30, not 9. Don’t want y’all to be late for the show.
My bad. Misread the schedule. Looks like a 7:00 tip. (Update: 30 minutes after the consolation game, so 7:30 is indeed a better estimate.)
Props to the Wolvies for last night’s upset. And I must admit, I was pulling for them to do it again against Duke. But then again, it’s Duke.