by Brett Lissenden, Bleacher Report, Special to FOXSports.com

Michigan trailed 29-23 at halftime but used a 10-2 run to open the second half to take the lead. Junior forward DeShawn Sims scored 18 points, and sophomore guard Manny Harris added 15 to lead the Big Blue to their first win over a top five-ranked team in 11 years.

UCLA has been a participant in each of the past three Final Fours, and their loss in this game eliminates the anticipated matchup of No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 Duke for the 2K Sports Classic Final. Fans will have to settle for Duke vs. Michigan.

Early Season Tournaments

The 2K Sports Classic played out its semifinals in Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Michigan scored an upset victory over UCLA, and Duke used a big second half to defeat Southern Illinois. The Blue Devils and Wolverines will now meet in the finals tonight.

The third-place game between UCLA and Southern Illinois will give a good indication of how good UCLA is this season, as their response to an early loss shows how much perseverance they have.

In addition, the Puerto Rico Tip-Off got under way on Thursday.

Virginia Tech defeated Fairfield as Puerto Rico native A.D. Vassallo notched 24 points.

Xavier, a team rebuilding from its Sweet 16 run of a year ago, overcame a stingy Missouri team to advance to the semifinals by a score of 75-71.

Memphis struggled at the start but ultimately defeated Chattanooga, the main challenger to Stephen Curry's Davidson squad in the Southern Conference.

Also, in the second-largest upset of the day, Seton Hall outscored No. 20 USC 35-18 in the second half to defeat the Trojans 63-61.

Thursday's results set up games featuring Virginia Tech vs. Xavier and Memphis vs. Seton Hall for today. It will also be interesting to see how USC responds to their first loss against Chattanooga, who has opened their season with three losses to major conference teams.

High-Scoring Affairs

There were several teams that lit up the scoreboard on Thursday.

VMI, still high off of their win over Kentucky to open the season, scored 133 points in their victory over Stevenson.

Western Carolina used a 70-point second half to defeat Toccoa Falls by a score of 120-62.

In the highest scoring game of the night, and perhaps the season, Texas Tech defeated East Central by a score of 167-115. The Red Raiders scored 90 points in the second half alone and had 10 players with double-digit point totals.

Close Call

Florida State narrowly defeated Stetson 79-77. Stetson had an opportunity for the last shot to tie or win the game but was called for an offensive foul as time expired.

Stetson outscored FSU 50-36 in the second half.

Conference call

The Big Ten conference scored two huge victories on Thursday. In addition to Michigan's upset over UCLA, Illinois also defeated Vanderbilt 69-63 on the road. Illinois and Michigan were the second-to-last and last place finishers in the Big Ten last year respectively.

The Big Ten is now undefeated as a conference on the season. The only other conference to boast that result is the ACC.

On the other side of the coin, there were the two big Pac-10 upsets on Thursday. Other noteworthy Pac-10 losses this season include Arizona losing to UAB, Oregon losing to Oakland, Oregon State losing to Howard, and Washington losing to Portland.

Fantastic Freshmen

Much has been made over the inferiority of this season's freshman class compared to prior years. But there were several first-timers that had big impacts on Thursday night.

Xavier freshman point guard Terrell Holloway made 10-of-10 free throws to secure his team's victory down the stretch over Missouri.

Memphis freshman guard Tyreke Evans had 11 points to go along with five rebounds, four assists, and three steals in Memphis' victory over Chattanooga. Evans is averaging over 16 points per game on the season.

West Virginia freshman guard Darryl Bryant went 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the free throw line on his way to 16 points in his team's victory over Longwood.

Iowa freshman guard Anthony Tucker made seven of 11 3-pointers in the Hawkeyes' win over the Citadel.

Look Out For ...

Michigan: The Wolverines' win over UCLA was no fluke. Michigan has talented players with a lot of experience gained from last season. Their big win tonight could put Michigan over the edge for receiving an NCAA tournament bid if they are on the bubble in March.

Penn State's backcourt: The Nittany Lion starting guards, Talor Battle and Stanley Pringle, combined for 44 points against Hartford. Combined they made 9 of 15 3-pointers.

Chattanooga: The Mocs are 0-3 to start the season but put up a good fight against Memphis. Stephen McDowell notched 27 points on seven 3-pointers and is looking to provide Stephen Curry with some competition for Southern Conference player of the year.

Coming off games against Tennessee, Missouri, and Memphis, Chattanooga should not be overwhelmed when they face Davidson. Chattanooga will also gain experience in their game against USC tomorrow.

Gerald Henderson: Henderson scored 20 points, all in the second half, to lead Duke to a blowout victory over Southern Illinois. In Duke's search for a go-to player, Henderson could fill the void if he can replicate his second-half performance in this game.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys are now 3-0 after their victory over Tulsa Thursday night. Tulsa is expected to be near the top of Conference USA this season, and Oklahoma State jumped on them to a score of 54-28 by halftime.

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