Harris' near triple-double lifts No. 15 Michigan

Harris' near triple-double lifts No. 15 Michigan

Published Nov. 27, 2009 3:15 a.m. ET

Michigan survived an early season scare.

Manny Harris had 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds to lead No. 15 Michigan to an 83-76 overtime win over Creighton at the Old Spice Classic on Thursday.

"Not disrepecting the other two teams we played, but that was kind of our first challenge," Harris said.

Harris had a three-point play and added a dunk as Michigan went up 76-73 with three minutes left in the extra session. He picked up an assist on Zack Novak's 3-pointer that made it 79-73.

"That was a big game for us, to come out against a team like Creighton," Novak said. "It's a good program. To be able to get that victory early over a team like I think is going to help us."

Creighton trailed 74-73 at the two-minute mark of overtime on Antoine Young's basket.

After Harris made two free throws with 5.7 seconds left to put Michigan up 69-67, Young forced overtime on a last-second layup.

"I truthfully believe we just beat a very good team," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "They've got a lot of talent. They're just so quick at all their positions."

Laval Lucas-Perry scored 18 and DeShawn Sims added 16 for Michigan (3-0).

Creighton (2-2) got a career-high 21 points from Justin Carter, while Darryl Ashford had 16. Carter, who experienced cramping late, played in his first game this season after hurting his left knee on Nov. 8.

"I expected to play, but not that much," said Carter, who played 24 minutes.

Stu Douglass hit a 3 and Harris had a rebound basket to put Michigan up 67-65 with 1:29 remaining. Creighton tied it at 67 when Ashford made a jumper with 15 seconds left.

Creighton went up 43-42 three minutes into the second half on Carter's basket. P'Allen Stinnett's 3 and a rebound basket by Kenny Lawson Jr. gave the Bluejays a 61-55 lead with eight minutes to play.

"If we would have played 40 minutes, there won't have been extra minutes," Lawson said. "The last couple minutes of regulation we slipped."

Lawson finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Novak had 10 of his 14 points, helping Michigan take a 37-34 haltime advantage. Carter had 12 of Creighton's first-half points.

Novak had two layups and then assisted on a layup by Harris as Michigan took a 19-8 lead with 11:12 left in the first half.

Creighton used a 13-5 run, including slam dunks by Lawson and Stinnett, and Ethan Wragge's 3-pointer, to get within 24-21 with six minutes remaining.

Novak hit a 3 during a late surge that put the Wolverines ahead 34-25. Creighton pulled within three again on Ashford's long-range jumper at the first-half buzzer.

"It was a disappointing loss," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "We had our opportunity. Our guys played hard. We just didn't play very smart. We turned the ball over way too many times."

The Bluejays had 18 turnovers. Michigan scored 23 points off the turnovers.

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