The Michigan Wolverines weren't able to defeat the Duke Blue Devils on Tuesday night, keeping them from avenging last season's NCAA Tournament loss as well as a shot at the Maui Invitational's championship game. The Wolverines are still playing for something on Wednesday night, however, as they'll face the UCLA Bruins on ESPN 2 in the tournament's third-place game.
The Wolverines suffered their first loss of the season when they fell to the Blue Devils, but the team looked much better in the second than it did the first. The Wolverines trailed 34-22 at halftime before Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to start hitting shots in the second half on the way to 19 points while freshman point guard Trey Burke finished with 17 points and a career-high nine assists.
Michigan will need to play two solid halves again the Bruins, though, as UCLA is going to be desperate for a victory after starting the season with just one win -- against Chaminade -- and three losses, two of which came at the hands of Loyola Marymount and Middle Tennessee. The Bruins lost by 16 to the Kansas Jayhawks to find themselves in the third-place game, but senior guard Jerime Anderson and sophomore Tyler Lamb both looked solid in defeat.
The Bruins are unranked while Michigan came into the week as 15th-best men's basketball team in the nation, leaving the onus on John Beilein's squad to come up with a victory on Wednesday night in Maui.