For Athletes in Action, their shooting touch may have been touched from above.
In what was supposed to be a cakewalk, the Michigan basketball team was shocked by Athletes in Action, dropping a 104-96 decision.
In a shooting performance that would make Billy the Kid jealous, AIA sizzled their way to a 68 percent clip from the floor, maintaining almost identical percentages in each half.
"It's hard to win when you can't stop the other team from scoring," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said, "and we couldn't stop them from scoring.
"They were literally on fire in the first half."
Athletes in Action, an amateur exhibition team, came out shooting like anything but amateurs, connecting on 24 of their 35 shots in the first half. In addition, they nailed nine of 14 shots from behind the arc en route to taking a 15-point halftime lead, 63-48.
"I guess tonight we took our frustration out on the nets," AIA coach Chuck Badger said. "We haven't shot like this on the tour for a whole game."
And it wasn't as if Michigan was laying bricks for Athletes in Action to build their lead. The Wolverines shot a uncharacteristically strong 53 percent from the floor in the first half, including 56 percent from 3-point range.
But when Michigan expected AIA to fall apart in the second half, they didn't. In fact, AIA continued to shoot as if the baskets were magnets for the ball. They built on their lead immediately following the break and after a 3-pointer from Scott Campbell less than a minute in, AIA had built its biggest lead - an 18-point margin at 68-50.
Then Maurice Taylor draped himself in a cape, put a big "S" on his chest and took Michigan on his back for the remainder of the game.
Taylor scored a career-high 40 points with 22 of them coming after the intermission. He was consistently able to beat whoever was guarding him to the baseline for easy dunks and layups. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Jerod Ward also helped chop the Michigan deficit. converting a pair of second-half lay-ups, running the court well, and playing stingy defense.
With Taylor getting the ball virtually every time Michigan came down the floor, the Wolverines were able to cut into the AIA lead, trimming the margin to five points, 75-70, with 12 minutes to go.
After AIA's Clayton Ritter and Taylor traded baskets, making it 77-72, the Athletes turned even more Action-packed, blowing the game open for good.
Ritter hit another lay-up and then following a Michigan miss on a third chance, Campbell hit his fourth 3-pointer of the evening, running the lead to 10 points with 10:37 left to go.
For the next four minutes, the teams traded off baskets and the lead wavered between eight and 10 points. Then with just over six minutes remaining, AIA's top gun, Erwin Claggett buried a 3-pointer to make it 91-78, and sent many of the Crisler Arena fans to the parking lot.
Ritter and Claggett led a corps of six Athletes in double figures with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
A major concern for Fisher after the game was the Wolverines' defense, or lack thereof. In previous years, Michigan has been among the Big Ten's elite defensive teams. But last night was the Wolverines worst defensive effort since they allowed Arizona to pour in 119 points early in the 1993-94 season.
"Our defense is a liability to us right now," Fisher said. "They had eight or nine easy lay-ups. You can't give good teams that."
A key factor in Michigan's lackluster defensive effort was the absence of Maceo Baston for the second straight game with a strained Achilles. Without Baston, as well as backup guard Ron Oliver, Fisher was forced to go with a seven-man rotation. And that definitely caught up with his team in the second half.
"We need to get Maceo back and maintain a relative degree of health," Fisher said.
But the post-game atmosphere in the Michigan lockerroom wasn't at all hysterical, but rather wary; wary of the adjustments the Wolverines will need to make before next Tuesday's season-opener against Ball State.
"Right now, we're not in a state of panic," Taylor said. "There's just some minor things we have to get better in defensively."
MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily
Brandun Hughes, in his first season at Michigan after transferring from a community college in Kansas, scored 12 points last night against Athletes in Action, hitting five of his 12 field goal attempts.