On Men's Basketball: A fresh beginning

NEW YORK — In his most famous song “New York, New York”, the late Frank Sinatra sang his famous line, “I’m gonna make a brand new start of it - in old New York. And if I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”

Thursday's 55-52 upset of No. 4 UCLA was the Michigan men’s basketball team’s verse, its first chance to shine against a dominant team.

On the storied stage at Madison Square Garden, the Wolverines defied expectations and beat the Bruins with an all-around team effort.

And Michigan coach John Beilein can add an impressive victory to his slate as he continues building his program in Ann Arbor.

Many fans would like to forget last season’s program-record 22 losses. By beating a three-peat Final Four team, the Wolverines found a way to distance themselves from that infamy.

Last night’s win marked a positive start to the season and the first big victory for a coach who has been heavily criticized in the past year. Beilein’s doubters won’t be silenced yet, but they can see a quality win and successful execution of his system.

“It’s good for us, most importantly, it’s good for the city of Ann Arbor, let them know that this team is rebuilding, and we’re not going to stop,” said junior power forward DeShawn Sims, who called the win the biggest of his Michigan career.

Beating UCLA doesn’t automatically put the Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament. They have plenty of work to do before that happens. But everyone will talk about this game. And for a program that has been little more than a joke for the past decade, some positive attention is welcome.

The victory snaps Michigan’s 12-game loss streak against ranked opponents and was its the first against UCLA in six seasons.

“These early season wins are always terrific, but you’ve got to really put them in perspective because it’s sort of a résumé-type of game,” Beilein said.

After UCLA beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last season, Bruins coach Ben Howland called the Wolverines the “best 4-8 team in the country.” They had the talent then, but their youth prevented them from executing consistently.

The Michigan team that won last night played solid team defense. It was patient on offense. And it didn’t rely on sophomore Manny Harris for all its scoring. Freshman Stu Douglass posted 14 points and Sims had 18.

“You can definitely see their improvement — the guys that know the system, the guys that returned from that team,” Howland said. “There’s definitely a good cohesion amongst the players. I thought they were a really good unit.”

Although it was technically a neutral site, there were plenty of Wolverine fans wearing maize throughout the Garden.

In the second half, you could see the Michigan fans come alive. With just under 15 seconds left, the pep band played "The Victors” and the fight song was audible throughout the arena.

It wasn’t a group of fans singing their fight song out of obligation. For the first time in a long while, Michigan basketball fans actually had something to cheer about.