Michigan upsets UNC at Battle for Atlantis
Eli Brooks matched his career high with 24 points and Michigan ran off 19 unanswered points in the second half to score a big upset, beating sixth-ranked North Carolina 73-64 on Thursday to reach the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Isaiah Livers added 12 points for the Wolverines (6-0), who led by five early in the second half before exploding for a huge run that turned the matchup into an unexpected rout. Then the Wolverines held on amid the Tar Heels’ frantic rally in the final 8 minutes to earn an early marquee win for first-year coach Juwan Howard.
Michigan’s 19-0 burst included a dazzling run of five straight made shots that turned a modest lead into a huge margin. At one point, Brooks buried a 3-pointer to push the lead to 19 and left UNC coach Roy Williams standing on the sideline with both hands resting on top of his head.
Yet Franz Wagner followed with another, then Brooks added a runner that pushed the lead to 60-36 with 11:18 left and finally forced the timeout-hoarding Williams to burn one.
The Tar Heels (5-1) managed a long push to get back in it, twice getting as close as eight on interior buckets by Garrison Brooks in the final 31⁄2 minutes. But Eli Brooks all but closed it out by swishing through a 3 with the shot clock winding down at the 1:12 mark, pushing the margin back to double figures.
Freshman Cole Anthony had 22 points and seven rebounds to lead UNC, which shot 43% while struggling with Michigan’s size anchored by 7-foot-1 senior Jon Teske inside. Garrison Brooks added 13 points and eight rebounds.
The Wolverines will play No. 8 Gonzaga in Friday’s championship game.
The Bulldogs needed overtime to beat No. 11 Oregon 73-72 in the other semifinal.
College football: Georgia senior Lawrence Cager, the team’s top wide receiver, injured his ankle in practice Wednesday, and the Bulldogs fear the injury might cause him to miss the next several weeks, according to reports. Cager, a graduate transfer from Miami, leads the No. 4 Bulldogs with 33 receptions for 476 yards and four touchdowns in nine games.
Also: Wil Besseling shot an opening-round 7-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over three players at the European Tour’s season-opening Alfred Dunhill Championship in Melane, South Africa . ... Conor McGregor will return to UFC in a non-title welterweight against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 246 on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas, ESPN reported . ... John McKissick, whose 621 victories at South Carolina’s Summerville High made him the nation’s winningest football coach at any level, died. He was 93. McKissick had a career record of 621-155-13 at Summerville from 1952 through 2014. He won 10 South Carolina state championships, the last one coming in 1998. McKissick retired in 2014 after 62 seasons.