Bob Wojnowski: Michigan 62, Clemson 59

Manny's the man for Michigan

Harris scores 23 and makes a three-point play with 37 seconds left

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- They'd been poised and feisty most of the game, but finally the Clemson pressure was getting to them and the lead was shrinking. And the size of the moment was growing.

For the Wolverines, as it has been many times, it was Manny time.

Manny Harris drove and his team followed, and make no mistake, Harris' twisting layup and three-point play with 37 seconds left saved Michigan from disaster. The basket helped the Wolverines escape with a 62-59 victory over Clemson Thursday night in their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 11 years.

For a team that hadn't been here in a long time, Michigan sure looked like it belonged for the longest stretch. And then, yikes, the Wolverines nearly gave it away. They were hanging on, their 16-point lead down to 58-57, when Harris made his play. Under Clemson's unrelenting full-court press, Michigan buckled but didn't wilt, and advances to the second round Saturday against Oklahoma.

Nerves? Harris, who scored 23 points and led Michigan with seven rebounds, smiled and shook his head.

"I don't get nervous," he said. "I've been playing basketball all my life. It's like a job. We held up when they pushed us. I could look in our players' eyes, and not once did they put their heads down."

Size vs. shots

The Wolverines showed something, including their normal array of 3-point shooting, hitting 10 of 26. This was a collision of contrasts, with the bigger Tigers trying to slam their way inside. The Wolverines kept popping from the outside, and I'll say this: The way Harris is playing and the way they're shooting, watch out for this team.

You'd have to call this an upset according to the seeding -- Michigan was a 10, Clemson a seven -- but it really wasn't. Harris was the best player on the floor and freshman Stu Douglass provided a scoring and ball-handling spark.

Michigan's lead mounted to 16 on Zack Novak's 3-pointer but it wasn't a breeze to the finish. The Tigers clawed back, and in that terrific tension, the Wolverines showed just enough poise. Did I mention poise? It was Clemson that lost some, when sharpshooter Terrence Oglesby was ejected for throwing an elbow at Douglass.

John Beilein got a victory in his first Tournament game with the Wolverines, and the mark of his leadership was reflected in Harris. Beilein has allowed Harris to grow, pushed him to expand his game, so when the outcome was in doubt, Harris had the confidence to drive without hesitation.

"He did what he's done all year," guard C.J. Lee said. "We ask so much of Fresh (Harris' nickname), but he did a remarkable job of knowing when it was time to take over. When he's doing those things, we're a tough team to play against."

Disaster averted

The Wolverines (21-13) can be tough to beat, but when the shots aren't falling, they can be an easy team to catch. This would have been a crushing loss, after Michigan led by 13 with 6:07 left.

"We don't have a lot of experience taking care of the ball in the NCAA Tournament, so I wasn't surprised," Beilein said. "How could we survive this? Somebody had to make one shot and we had to get one defensive rebound. Manny made the big shot and I don't think we ever got the rebound."

The numbers didn't really matter in this one. It was the moments that mattered, and the fact Michigan didn't back away. The plan from the start was to attack Clemson's press and the Wolverines did, committing 14 turnovers, not a horrendous number considering the pace.

The only shot the Wolverines had was the shot they'd been taking all year, defying long odds by hitting long shots. While Clemson was gobbling most of the rebounds, Michigan was firing away.

If there were nerves, the Wolverines pushed past them, and their mantra hasn't changed. In pregame warm-ups, they again wore the T-shirts they unveiled late in the season, with the slogan "Queme los barcos." It's Spanish for "burn the ships," a reference to 16th-century Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes, who according to legend, ordered his men to burn their own boats when they landed in Mexico because there was no turning back.

An hour before the game, a loud group of Michigan fans stood and chanted "Burn the boats!" and the message could not have been clearer. The Wolverines had come this far, there was no turning back, not at the start, not at the end, not when Harris dribbled at the top of the key and eyed an opening.

"That was an unbelievable shot," Lee said. "Great players make great shots."

Manny, er, Fresh, made a fresh one. The sophomore from Detroit is rising quickly now, as if he's just getting started, which makes sense. Because on this night, he did everything he could to keep Michigan from being finished.

You can reach Bob Wojnowski at bob.wojnowski@detnews.com.