Andy Katz of ESPN.com called it “a reprieve, for two hours at least, to a Wolverine State that has been gripped by melancholy due to a crumbling economy.”

The Los Angeles Times said Michigan “ruined a much-anticipated final game for the 2K Sports Classic tournament, a matchup with 10th-ranked Duke.”

But it wasn’t his press clippings that had DeShawn Sims gushing after the Wolverines pulled off an improbable upset of then-No. 4 UCLA last Thursday night at Madison Square garden, a win that broke a 12-game losing skid against top-25 teams.

The junior forward's attention was snagged by his Facebook page and text message inbox.

“It’s ridiculous,” Sims said. “My Facebook has been kinda slow over the course of the fall. But now it’s started to pick up, and I almost wish I didn’t even have it. My text messages … I changed my number three times and people still manage to get it.

“It’s kinda good to have that feeling back, but, you know, we’re going to be doing a lot of winning this year, so I hope everything continues to blow up.”

Sims wasn’t the only Wolverine to get a boost in popularity since the team's nationally televised upset of the Bruins. Sophomore Manny Harris’s Facebook was flooded with tons of friend requests and new messages, and Michigan coach John Beilein saw an influx of congratulatory e-mails and text messages.

But the extra attention may be exactly what the Wolverines don’t need.

After Michigan’s 80-70 upset win over Ohio State last February, it seemed like the team may turn the corner. The Wolverines were finally picking up on Beilein’s complicated offensive scheme — but the progress didn’t lead anywhere.

They finished the regular season on a 1-4 skid, losing to Penn State and Northwestern, which both had losing records last year.

The young Michigan team had enormous letdowns all season against teams it should have easily beat, like Harvard (8-22 overall last season), Northwestern (8-22) and Central Michigan (14-17).

“That’s always one of the challenges to coaching — to understand winning,” Beilein said. “We had that situation last year a little bit with the Ohio State game … We’ve taught that to them already. You have to be ready to play everybody every night. But sometimes, 18, 19-year-old kids, they’re not going to be and you have to learn from it.”

The Wolverines will run into what could be a trap game tonight at 8:30 p.m. when they play Norfolk State. The Trojans (1-1 overall) could represent either of last year's trends. Coming off the UCLA win, Michigan could be riding too high to focus on Norfolk State, and, like Harvard, the Wolverines could simply perform poorly against an inferior opponent. An impressive win over the Trojans would be even more proof that Michigan has bucked the mental lapses and meltdowns that typified last season.

A loss would mean the Wolverines still have a lot of work to do.

But, reading Sims’s upbeat attitude, Michigan is ready to charge through this season.

“We haven’t arrived yet,” Sims said. “Coach knows it, and most importantly, we know it. … And that’s just the mindset of a mature basketball team. We don’t think the UCLA win made our season.”