The Michigan Wolverines shot 53.5 percent from the field and made 25 of 26 free throw attempts to solidify a 76-56 victory over the Northeastern men's basketball team in the regional final of the 2kSports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The win puts Michigan in the tournament semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y. Regional MVP Manny Harris scored 26 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had eight assists.
The Huskies were led by junior forward Manny Adako, who had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Junior captain Matt Janning added 14 points, extending his career-long double-digit scoring streak to 21 games.
The Huskies (1-1) went up early 5-0 but went scoreless for over six minutes as the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to hold a 14-5 lead. The Huskies made it a competitive first half as Adako made three of Northeastern's next four baskets, all in traffic. NU cut the deficit to four, 20-16, on Adako's basket at 6:03. However, the Wolverines bounced right back with a three-pointer by Merritt. Going into halftime, the Huskies trailed 29-23.
Michigan (2-0) was able to draw plenty of contact in the first half and and got to the free throw line 11 times, making all 11 shots. NU had only four first-half free throw attempts, but made three of them.
In the second half, the Huskies got within four points early after an Adako bucket and even grabbed momentum when Janning hit a big dunk less than a minute later, but the Wolverines opened up their offense with a 10-2 run that was capped with a Harris three, forcing the Huskies to call a timeout and regroup.
Northeastern managed to cut the deficit back to eight at 11:07 with a Janning three, but off a media timeout, Michigan answered with an 8-0 run with the aid of free throws. Harris put the exclamation point with a dunk at 5:54, giving UM a 63-47 lead.
The Huskies struggled to find their shot all night, shooting just 29.3 (17-for-58) percent from the field on the night, 16.7 percent (4-for-24) from three-point range.
Northeastern looks to bounce back on Saturday when the Huskies play at Providence at the Dunkin Donuts Center at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Michigan
11/12/08 8:00 PM at Crisler Arena, Ann Arbor, MI
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VISITORS: Northeastern 1-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Spates, Eugene...... f 3-10 2-7 0-0 2 2 4 5 8 2 1 0 1 24
32 Adako, Manny........ f 7-11 0-0 2-2 5 1 6 3 16 1 0 0 2 35
54 Ojougboh, Nkem...... c 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 2 1 0 0 19
03 Allen, Chaisson..... g 1-11 1-3 4-4 3 1 4 3 7 4 3 0 1 33
23 Janning, Matt....... g 4-12 1-8 5-7 0 2 2 4 14 2 1 0 2 38
02 Alvarez, Chris...... 1-3 0-0 4-4 4 2 6 2 6 0 1 1 3 22
11 Lima, Vinny......... 1-3 0-1 0-0 2 1 3 0 2 0 3 0 0 8
20 Smith, Matt......... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 0-3 0-3 3-4 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 0 17
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 17-58 4-24 18-21 20 11 31 21 56 11 11 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-31 29.0% 2nd Half: 8-27 29.6% Game: 29.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-11 18.2% 2nd Half: 2-13 15.4% Game: 16.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 15-17 88.2% Game: 85.7% 0
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HOME TEAM: Michigan 2-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Wright, Anthony..... f 0-2 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 0 1 25
32 Gibson, Zack........ f 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 4 2 1 1 0 15
01 Douglass, Stu....... g 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 6 3 2 0 1 25
03 Harris, Manny....... g 6-9 1-2 13-14 3 7 10 2 26 8 4 1 1 37
15 Merritt, David...... g 2-5 1-3 2-2 0 0 0 2 7 0 2 0 1 24
00 Novak, Zack......... 1-3 1-2 3-3 0 2 2 2 6 0 1 0 0 15
02 Lee, C.J............ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
22 Shepherd, Jevohn.... 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 8
34 Sims, DeShawn....... 8-16 0-2 3-3 4 3 7 1 19 0 2 1 2 32
44 Grady, Kelvin....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 1 16
TEAM................ 4 4
Totals.............. 23-43 5-14 25-26 9 24 33 20 76 15 14 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-21 38.1% 2nd Half: 15-22 68.2% Game: 53.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 35.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-11 100 % 2nd Half: 14-15 93.3% Game: 96.2% 1
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Officials: Jamie Luckie, Bernard Clinton, Mike Eades
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Michigan-None.
Attendance: 6246
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 23 33 - 56
Michigan...................... 29 47 - 76
2008 2K SPORTS CLASSIC benefiting COACHES VS. CANCER ANN ARBOR REGIONAL CHAMPI
SHIP GAMEANN ARBOR REGIONAL MVP - MANNY HARRIS (MICHIGAN)
Points in the paint-NU 0,MICH 0. Points off turnovers-NU 14,MICH 10.
2nd chance points-NU 20,MICH 11. Fast break points-NU 0,MICH 0.
Bench points-NU 11,MICH 31. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-1 time.
Last FG-NU 2nd-01:02, MICH 2nd-00:45.
Largest lead-NU by 5 1st-17:39, MICH by 20 2nd-02:40.
