New York, NY (Sportsbooks) - Manny Harris scored 15 points, hit two big free throws in the waning seconds and blocked the potential tying shot at the end as Michigan upset fourth-ranked UCLA, 55-52, to reach the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
DeShawn Sims scored 18 for the Wolverines (3-0), who will take on Duke in the final Friday night. The Blue Devils beat Southern Illinois in the other semifinal. The Friday final will be a preview of a regularly-scheduled meeting on December 6.
Stu Douglass tallied 10 points for Michigan, which beat a ranked opponent on a neutral court for the first time since 1998.
Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday each scored 13 for the Bruins (2-1), while Nikola Dragovic scored 11 in defeat.
A Sims layup expanded Michigan to a 51-48 lead with 2 1/2 minutes left. The Wolverines could have essentially salted away the victory, but were whistled for a shot clock violation a minute later.
Josh Shipp then made 1-of-2 free throws with 56 seconds left, pulling the Bruins within two, but Sims jammed on a backdoor cut off a great bounce pass from Anthony Wright with 28.6 seconds remaining.
The Bruins then threw the ball out of bounds, but Sims missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Dragovic nailed a three-pointer with five seconds left.
Harris sank two from the line less than a second later and then blocked Collison's potential tying shot at the end.
Early on it looked as if UCLA would run away, as the Bruins built a 9-1 lead. The Wolverines got close several times in the half, only to have UCLA pull away each time, and the Bruins held a 29-23 advantage at the intermission. It remained tight throughout the final 20 minutes.
Game Notes
The Bruins had 17 turnovers...Michigan went 5-of-20 from three-point range...UCLA held a 38-25 rebounding advantage.
