Bradley falls to Michigan 77-66

Patrick Beilein probably won't need much time to get over Bradley's loss to Michigan.

He's looking forward to a happy holiday weekend with his father.

The younger Beilein is Bradley's director of basketball operations, meaning he was on hand Thursday night when the Braves lost 77-66 to the 20th-ranked Wolverines. In fact, he plans to spend some extra time in Michigan. Beilein's father John is the Wolverines' head coach.

''It was looking like it might've been a rough Christmas, when we were giving them a run,'' Patrick Beilein said. ''It'll probably be a better Christmas than if we would have beaten them, that's for sure.''

Evan Smotrycz had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added a soaring dunk during a decisive run in the second half for Michigan. John Beilein insisted there were no mixed feelings.

''I've been like this my whole life,'' he said. ''I'm so focused in the game, my mother could be on the other bench - my late mother, bless her heart, she could be on the other bench ... and you know what, she'd be the same way. Your job is to win that game.''

The Wolverines (10-2) overcame uncharacteristically poor shooting in the first half. The game was tied at 45 in the second when Smotrycz made a 3-pointer to put Michigan ahead to stay. Bradley (5-7) still trailed by one at 50-49 when the Wolverines went on a 21-7 run.

Hardaway dunked off an alley-oop pass from Stu Douglass in transition. Hardaway added a layup immediately after that to make it 65-54.

Hardaway scored 16 points, and Jordan Morgan scored 13 of his 15 in the second half. Morgan's inside presence ensured that Michigan wouldn't have to rely on its surprisingly erratic outside shooting.

Trey Burke added 12 points for the Wolverines, and Zack Novak scored 11.

Taylor Brown led the Braves with 17 points, including a 3-pointer from about 35 feet on the final shot of the first half that tied the game at 33.

The Braves had the first half's other highlight too, a dunk by Shayok Shayok that the Bradley freshman celebrated a little too exuberantly. Shayok was called for a technical foul.

Bradley coach Geno Ford said there was a limit to what Patrick Beilein was allowed to do to help the team prepare.

''There's so many rules,'' Ford said. ''He's allowed to do all of the behind-the-scenes stuff. He's allowed to be in video. He's allowed to do video with the coaches, so he can do stuff with me. Can't present to the players.''

Patrick Beilein said it was hard to block out the unusual circumstances during the game.

''Once the ball went up, and Michigan scores, and I see my mom clapping,'' he said. ''I follow Michigan so much when we're not playing them, I had to flip the switch to, `I'm with Bradley.'''

All 10 starters finished in double figures, but neither team's bench contributed much scoring. A 3-pointer by Douglass in the first half accounted for all of Michigan's scoring by non-starters.

Bradley's bench was scoreless until Jake Eastman made a 3-pointer late in the second half to make it 75-66.

Walt Lemon Jr. scored 16 points for the Braves, and Shayok, Jordan Prosser and Dyricus Simms-Edwards added 10 each.

The Wolverines shot only 35 percent from the field in the first half of their final tuneup before starting Big Ten play next week against Penn State.

When the game was over, John Beilein drew a laugh when he echoed the comments his son had made a few minutes earlier, down the hall from the interview room.

''I'm sure that we'll have a better Christmas than we would have had if he had beaten us, that's for sure,'' the Michigan coach said. ''My mother raised me to be a tough guy - just win, baby.''