Michigan sends North Carolina into 3rd-place game in Bahamas

Cole Anthony scored 22 points with seven rebounds and three assists, but it was not enough as No. 6 North Carolina fell 73-64 to Michigan in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament on Thursday at Nassau, Bahamas.

UNC (5-1) drops into the tournament’s third-place game Friday when it will play No. 11 Oregon at 11:30 a.m. The Ducks lost Thursday’s second semifinal to No. 8 Gonzaga, 73-72 in overtime.

The only other UNC player to reach double figures in scoring was Garrison Brooks with 13 points. Michigan (6-0) had four players reach double figures, including Eli Brooks’ game-high 24 points. Isaiah Livers added 12, David Dejulius 11 off the bench and Jon Teske 10.

“I think that goes off shot selection, just sharing the ball,” Brooks told The Associated Press after the game. “We take good shots. People aren’t afraid to share the ball because they know the next person’s going to do their job.”

Michigan moves into Friday’s title game against Gonzaga.

Michigan outscored UNC in both halves, leading 39-34 at halftime. The Wolverines had a stretch in the second half where they scored 19 straight points and extended their lead to 60-36, forcing North Carolina coach Roy Williams to do something he hates -- take an early timeout.

“It was frustrating,” Williams told the AP. “I’ve never stood there in 32 years and 8 million games and thinking about calling timeout with 12 minutes left in the friggin’ game. That’s so silly to me. We’ve won a few games doing it my way.

“But I watched three extra possessions, and we missed and they scored three straight times.”

The Wolverines held North Carolina to 42.6 percent shooting from the field (26 of 61), including a paltry 15.4 percent (2 of 13) from 3-point range.

The Wolverines made 50 percent (28 of 56) from the field, including 11 of 26 (42.3 percent) 3-pointers.

This story was originally published November 28, 2019 at 4:11 PM.