The fourth ranked Bruins were shown up by the Michigan Wolverines 55-52 in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City a few minutes ago.

Junior forward DeShawn Sims led all scorers with 18 points for Michigan and teammate Manny Harris was held to just 15.

Darren Collison and freshman Jrue Holiday had 13 points each for UCLA. Collison missed a three-pointer with five seconds to go that sealed the win for the Wolverines.

Michigan will play Duke for the championship game tomorrow night. UCLA faces Southern Illinois, an 83-58 loser to Duke in the other semifinal, in the third place game.

That means Ryan Pravato gets to write the preview for those games. I’m going to bed.

Post from: EveryJoe

We Now Have Our Second Upset Of The Season

The Bruins are ranked fourth in the nation in both the ESPN/Coaches and Associated Press polls, while Michigan is unranked.

UCLA is being touted for having the best recruiting class in the nation, lead by McDonald’s All-American Jrue Holiday.

But don’t let the youth fool you. The Bruins are also a solid veteran team led by Preseason All-American Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, James Keefe and Alfred Aboya.

UCLA reached the semis by defeating Prairie View A&M 82-58 and Miami (Ohio) 64-59.

So far the Wolverines and second year coach John Beillein are doing a pretty good job in rebuilding a program that longs for its glory days of being one of the elite in the nations. Michigan Tech 77-55 and in a 76-56 win against Northeastern.

Sophomore guard Manny Harris has All-American, or at least All-Big 10 (plus one) written all over him. In the two wins he has averaged 28 points a game.

But two good games does not make a season. This will be the first real test of the season for the Wolverines against a UCLA team that is favored by 12 points.

The winner will play the winner of 10th ranked Duke/Southern Illinois game in the other semifinal tonight. The championship and consolation games are scheduled for Friday night.

All games will be shown on ESPN2.

Post from: EveryJoe

Game of the Day: UCLA vs. Michigan

Part of the reason is the less than desirable point guard play. Former walk-on David Merritt (now on scholarship) is still currently ahead of once prized recruit Kelvin Grady on the depth chart. We can thank Tommy Amaker for that wonderful piece of recruiting. His work has set the Michigan program back at least 4 years. But, at least he got Manny.

– Southern Illinois sneaked by Massachusetts by 7. It didn’t start out well for the Salukis however. UMass was up 11 at the half, but went cold in the 2nd. Part of the struggle was because UMass guard Chris Lowe had 10 turnovers. So maybe only Chris Lowe’s hands were cold.

Good news and bad news

The bad is that UMass didn’t get the win, and won’t advance to Madison Square Garden to face Duke. The good news is that we can say with near-absolute certainty that Chris Lowe’s worst game of the season is in the rearview mirror.

It’s remarkable that the Minutemen were even in a position to escape Carbondale, Illinois with a win over the Southern Illinois Salukis, given that Lowe, the team’s leader, committed 10 turnovers without registering a single assist.

We won’t see another game like that from Lowe again.

UMass actually had a 2 point lead with about 4 minutes to play.

So Southern Illinois will face Duke on November 20th at Madison Square Garden. Michigan will face the winner of the UCLA vs. Miami (Ohio) game (tonight at 8pm Kevin’s time) on the 20th at MSG as well.

–Keep an eye out for Kevin’s preview of the “eventual” championship game of UCLA vs. Duke.

STAT of the DAY

Crisler Arena’s paid attendance for Michigan’s tilt with Northeastern was 6,246.

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Post from: EveryJoe

All the favorites advance

– Corperryale “Manny” Harris scored a career high 30 in Michigan’s laugher against Michigan Tech. Michigan will play Northeastern today at 8pm.

– DawgBlog says to watch out for the nice touch of Massachusetts big man Tony Gaffney.

– UCLA opens up their season against the mysterious Panthers of Prairie View A&M at 7pm Kevin’s time.

STAT of the DAY

Duke’s 6′4 freshman Elliot Williams managed to grab 11 rebounds in 14 minutes of action.

Again, 2K Sports Classic bracket is here

Post from: EveryJoe

Manny Harris gets career high and Singler scores 19 again

The tournament begins with regional games on Nov. 10-13 with the semifinals and finals on Nov. 20-21 at Madison Square Garden.

Duke, UCLA, Michigan and Southern Illinois will serve as regional hosts.

The Durham Regional at Cameron Indoor Stadium has Duke facing Presbyterian and Houston playing Georgia Southern.

The Carbondale Regional at the SIU Arena features Southern Illinois vs. California (PA) and Massachusetts vs. Arkansas-Monticello.

At the Ann Arbor Regional, Michigan hosts Michigan Tech and IUPUI (I’m not spelling that out) plays Northeastern at the Crisler Arena.

Out west at Pauley Pavillion in Los Angeles, UCLA faces Prairie View A&M and Miami (OH) plays Weber State.

Of course the ESPN networks will be all over this televising 10 games, including the semifinals and finals.

Since the tournament began in 1996, more than $4 million has been raised for Coaches vs. Cancer and the American Cancer Society.

Post from: EveryJoe

UCLA and Duke Headline 2K Sports Classic

Tuesday November 27th – #20 Wisconsin at #7 Duke. A huge early season Big 10/ACC match-up that will be a good gauge for both squads.

Wednesday November 28th – #2 North Carolina at Ohio State. The Tar Heels must be very, very careful in this trip to Columbus. Do no overlook the Buckeyes.

Saturday December 1st – #2 North Carolina at Kentucky. The second of back-to-back road tilts for the Tar Heels could be a trap game.
#15 Indiana at #22 Southern Illinois. Indiana super freshman Eric Gordon is the real deal.

Sunday December 2nd – #8 Texas at #1 UCLA. The Longhorns travel to Pauley Pavillion to face the #1 Bruins in a phenomenal match-up.
#4 Kansas at #24 USC. OJ Mayo and the Trojans will have a tough time stopping the talented Jayhawks.

Post from: EveryJoe

Games to watch – 11/27

The first ESPN/USA Today Top 25 rankings have been released.

And the winner is…

1. North Carolina (10 first place votes) – 739 points
2 UCLA (12 first place votes) – 734 points
3. Memphis (8 first place votes) – 731 points
4. Kansas (1 first place vote) – 669 points
5. Georgetown – 625 points
6. Louisville – 620 points
7. Tennessee – 598 points
8. Michigan State – 503 points
9. Indiana – 479 points
10. Washington State – 464 points
11. Duke – 390 points
12. Marquette – 381 points
13. Oregon – 360 points
t-14. Gonzaga – 252 points
t-14. Texas A&M – 252 points
16. Texas – 216 points
17. Arizona – 205 points
18. USC – 189 points
19. Arkansas – 173 points
20. Pittsburgh – 160 points
21. Stanford – 158 points
22. Kentucky – 155 points
23. Southern Illinois – 137 points
24. North Carolina State – 119 points
25. Villanova – 111 points

Other schools receiving votes: Kansas State 94, Syracuse 69, Ohio State 65, Clemson 56, Connecticut 55, Butler 42, Davidson 39, Xavier 38, Alabama 31, Mississippi State 30, Florida 26, Wisconsin 21, Illinois 16, Washington 12, Brigham Young 12, Nevada 8, Bradley 7, Virginia 7, Virginia Commonwealth 5, Utah 4, Baylor 3, Old Dominion 3, Saint Joseph’s 3, Fresno State 2, George Mason 2, Utah State 2, Notre Dame 1, California 1, Maryland 1.

Post from: EveryJoe

Top 25 rankings – ESPN/USA today poll – 10/26