NEW YORK -- If there's one thing we've learned through the first two weeks of this college basketball season, it's that anything can happen in November.
Michigan beat No. 4 UCLA on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Seton Hall upset No. 19 USC in Puerto Rico that same night. And last week, VMI beat Kentucky at Kentucky.
But order was restored -- at least somewhat -- on Friday when No. 10 Duke avoided another upset bid by the Wolverines in a 71-56 victory in the championship of the 2K Sports Classic to benefit Coaches vs. Cancer at the Garden.
"I'm really happy with my team," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who led the U.S. men's basketball team to a gold medal this past summer at the Beijing Olympics. "We beat a really good Michigan team. John [Beilein] has his system in well. They're going to be a tough out in the Big 10."
Nolan Smith led Duke with 16 points, Kyle Singler had 15 and Gerald Henderson added 12, including a variety of dunks that got the crowd fired up.
The 6-foot-8 Singler was named tournament MVP and was joined on the Sports Illustrated All-Tournament Team by Michigan guard Manny Harris, who scored a game-high 25 points in the final and set a tournament record with 96 points, UCLA guard Darren Collison and Southern Illinois guard Kevin Dillard.
UCLA center Alfred Aboya, who had 22 points and 8 rebounds in a 77-60 victory over SIU in the consolation game, was left off the team.
Singler and his teammates prepared for Michigan's 1-3-1 zone defense by practicing an hour on Friday before the game.
"I think it was huge boost to come in here and prepare for Michigan," Singler said.
Duke improved to 5-0, while Michigan dropped to 3-1. The teams will meet again Dec. 6 at Michigan.
"It's like we're in the same league," Krzyzewski joked. "Playing against John's teams will always make us better. One of the reasons we scheduled them is they're going to make us better."
Despite the loss, Beilein's team has showed improvement over last year, when it finished 10-22 in the coach's first year on campus.
Michigan's victory over UCLA snapped a 12-game losing streak to ranked opponents and gave Michigan its first win over a Top 5 team since a 1997 upset over top-ranked Duke.
"To play four games by Nov. 21...and you play two Top 10 teams, to be 3-1 at that point, you gotta be pleased," Beilein said. "We've learned a lot about our team. We've thrown our young guys in there and let our guys play. I'm pleased with it. We gotta get better but I'm pleased."
Duke returns to the Garden Feb. 19 to take on St. John's in an ESPN game.
"They're a good team and they showed that the whole tournament," Beilein said of the Blue Devils.
COACH K TALKS ABOUT 2012
Asked if he was prepared to commit to coaching the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team at the 2012 Olympics, Krzyzewski said he was interested but was not ready to commit.
"I'm open to doing anything that will help USA Basketball," he said. "But that doesn't mean I'm committing to being the coach again. It's just not the time right now. This is my job. What I'm doing with these kids, that's my job."