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Shipp sparks UCLA past Michigan

Dec 23, 2007 - 12:15 AM By Chuck Klonke PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ANN ARBOR, Michigan (Ticker) - UCLA's Shipp came in just in time to avoid an upset at the hands of Michigan.

Forward Josh Shipp scored eight points, including a pair of three-point baskets during a 14-2 run, late in the second half, that carried the No. 8 Bruins to a 69-54 victory over the Wolverines on Saturday.

Shipp finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting and freshman Kevin Love added 17 and 16 rebounds as the Bruins placed four players in double figures.

"We knew it was going to be tough because they had a week to prepare for us," Shipp said. "They did a great job of hanging in there until the end. I was finally able to get going in the second half and knock down some shots."

Michigan was ahead, 43-41, when Luc Richard Mbah a Moute triggered the comeback with a putback to tie the game with 9:06 remaining. When Shipp hit his second 3-pointer of the 12-0 run, it gave the Bruins a 53-43 advantage with 6:32 left.

Michigan (4-8) never got closer than seven points the rest of the way. UCLA, which had a season-high 18 turnovers, improved to 11-1.

Bruins coach Ben Howland didn't expect the Wolverines to be a pushover.

"That's the best 4-8 team in the country," Howland said. "They lost to Butler on a neutral court, at Georgetown at Duke and at Boston College, which is a very good team at home. They're going to be tough. They have a great coach. His teams always improve. I knew this would be a tough game."

DeShawn Sims led Michigan with 12 points.

The Bruins were the fourth Top 25 team Michigan has played this season, and the fourth in the top 10. Michigan had lost the previous three contests to Georgetown, Butler and Duke.

The last time the Wolverines beat a ranked team was on Feb. 17, 2007, when they defeated No. 19 Indiana, 58-55, at Crisler Arena.

Michigan led, 27-24, at halftime and took its biggest lead of the game, 34-26, after Manny Harris hit two free throws with just under 15 minutes left in the second half.

"I think we saw signs today of what will become our trademark in the future," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "A low number of turnovers, creating turnovers and shooting good threes."

UCLA got off to a fast start, building an 8-0 lead, but Michigan's defense tightened and the Wolverines tied the game at 11-11 with 7:18 left after a layup by Harris.

There were five lead changes before Love made a three-point play off a putback and then hit a pair of free throws to put the Bruins ahead, 24-21, with 2:13 left in the first half.

Michigan closed out the first half with 3-point baskets by Sims and C.J. Lee to take a 27-24 lead at the break.

"They're so patient on offense," Howland said. "They make you play defense for long periods of time."

The Bruins came into the game shooting 48.5 percent from the field for the season, but in the first half they made only 35 percent of their shots, missing all four three-point attempts.

The Wolverines made only 6-of-31 attempts.

"We shot 31 threes today. If we had hit 30 percent of them, it would have been a different game," Beilein said.

Howland was pleased with the defensive work of guard Russell Westbrook on Michigan's Harris, who had been averaging 16.1 points per game and finished with 11 on 3-for-12 shooting.

"Russell takes care of their best player, and he held Manny Harris to 11 points - one was a follow-up and the other came late in the game," Howland said. "Russell did a fantastic job. And he hit a big three that put it back to 10 after they cut it to seven."