Michigan
UCLA
Horton's Seven Threes Help Wolverines Win at UCLA
12/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
| | Horton had the hot hand from long range, making seven three-pointers. |
The Wolverines were led by freshman Daniel Horton's (Cedar Hill, Texas/Cedar Hill HS) 24 points, including 7-10 on three-point shots, and five assists. Also scoring in double figures for Michigan were LaVell Blanchard (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and Bernard Robinson Jr. (Washington, D.C./New Hampton Prep, N.H.), with each wing netting 18 points. T.J. Cummings led UCLA with 19 points.
Michigan came out of the gate with an 11-2 run to open the game. Graham Brown (Mio, Mich./Mio-AuSable HS) started the scoring for the Wolverines with a put-back on U-M's first possession. After UCLA answered to knot the score at two, the Maize and Blue connected on three-pointers on three straight possessions from Robinson, Horton and Blanchard and never looked back.
UCLA closed the gap with a 7-2 run to make the score 13-9 with 14:56 to go in the half, but Michigan responded with five straight points. The teams traded runs until UCLA was able to cut the lead to 30-29 on a pair of free throws with 5:16 left in the half.
Coming out of a media timeout, the Wolverines answered with an 8-2 run to push the lead to 38-31, highlighted by six Robinson points. UCLA narrowed the margin to 40-36 with 24 seconds left, but Gavin Groninger (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield HS) hit Michigan's seventh three of the half with six seconds on the clock to make the halftime score 43-36 in favor of the Maize and Blue.
As with the start of the game, Michigan opened the second half with a large run. This time, the Wolverines went on an 8-2 run, including a three-pointer and a pair of free throws from Horton. With 17:32 to go in the game, Michigan led by 14 points, 52-38.
U-M maintained its lead as the teams traded baskets over the next five minutes. Finally with 12:57 left in the game, Michigan was able to open up its biggest lead of the contest as Horton connected on his seventh three-point basket of the game to give the Wolverines as 16-point advantage, 63-47.
UCLA responded with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes thanks to its full-court press. A technical foul against the Bruins for hanging on the rim sparked five straight points for the Maize and Blue on technical free throws by Robinson and a three-point play by Blanchard.
The Bruins continued to chip away at Michigan's lead and narrowed the gap to 69-63 with five minutes left in the game. The Wolverines responded and pushed the lead back to nine points but a UCLA dunk cut the lead back down to 72-66 with 1:31 remaining.
Despite UCLA scoring 10 points in the final minute and a half, Michigan closed the door on the Bruins by scoring its final nine points from the free throw line to gain the 81-76 road win.
The Wolverines will take to the court for their first game in 2003 when they host San Francisco next Thursday (Jan. 2) at 7 p.m. in Crisler Arena.
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
