[Westside]

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's basketball team erased a 15-point second-half deficit to force overtime, where the Wolverines outscored the Bruins, 13-4, to defeat UCLA, 78-69, on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 9) inside a thundering Crisler Center.

Michigan had two 20-point scorers for the second time this season; junior Moritz Wagner had a team-best 23 points, converting a season-high 10 field goals (10-for-16), while junior Charles Matthews posted 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Sophomore Zavier Simpson contributed all over the stat sheet, finishing with a career-high 15 points, four steals and two rebounds.

With Michigan trailing, 30-27, at halftime, UCLA came out of the locker room and quickly pushed its lead to 10 at 41-31 in the first four minutes. The Bruins led by as many as 15 points after a three by Aaron Holiday, but Matthews got hot and scored the next eight points to cut UCLA's lead to seven, 46-39, and forced a Bruins timeout at 12:28. The run was a team effort though, as a key offensive rebound and kick-out from freshman Isaiah Livers led to Matthews' three pointer to start the run, and fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson found him cutting to the rim for his second field goal of that run.

With UCLA leading, 54-45, with 7:05 remaining in the second half, five quick points from Michigan -- which included a triple from senior Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and a transition dunk from Wagner -- trimmed the Bruins' lead to four at the 5:42 mark. Wagner came back with two more three-pointers over the next minute and a half, making it a two-point game, 60-58.

In the final minute of regulation, Matthews hit a free throw and Simpson stole the ball and scored on a fastbreak layup with 18 seconds left. With the Wolverines trailing, 65-63, freshman Eli Brooks was fouled while driving to the basket and sank both free throws to tie the game for the first time since the 8:16 mark of the first half. The Bruins missed a last-second shot to send the game to overtime.

The Wolverines came out firing in overtime, as Simpson and Matthews hit back-to-back threes in the first minute to put U-M up 71-65. A UCLA dunk cut Michigan's lead to four with 3:31 to play, but that was as close it got. Michigan beat the shot clock with crucial baskets twice in the final three minutes as Wagner drove and scored, then Simpson cut his man back-door and Matthews, who was double-teamed, hit him with a bounce pass for the layup to make it 77-69, Michigan, with 1:17 to go and put the game out of reach.

Defense helped the Wolverines secure the win down the stretch. In the final minute, Matthews had a steal and two key defensive rebounds when U-M's defense forced UCLA to miss a pair of three-point attempts.

In the first half, Michigan took an early 5-2 lead on a dunk from Matthews and a triple from Abdur-Rahkman before UCLA went on a 14-5 run over the next five and a half minutes to take a six-point lead, 16-10, with 12:36 to go in the opening half.

Wagner then single-handedly helped Michigan claw back, as he scored the Wolverines' next eight points, constructing an 8-2 run of his own to tie the game at 18 at the 8:16 mark. Wagner hit a key three-pointer with 3:24 left and Brooks tallied his first points of the afternoon when he connected from long range at 1:12 to keep it a one-basket game at the half, 30-27, in favor of the Bruins.

Michigan forced 20 UCLA turnovers in the win, with 12 coming off of steals. Simpson and Robinson led U-M with four steals each, setting a new career high for Simpson and tying Robinson's career best.

The win came on Michigan's second annual Star Wars Day at Crisler Center. Several Star Wars characters were introduced on the court pregame and fans had the opportunity to take photos with their favorite character from the iconic sci-fi franchise.

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