ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Moe Wagner slapped at the ball with his right hand, and it popped straight up in the air.For a moment, it looked like a possible foul.As far as I know, I blocked it, Wagner said.The officials concurred, and Michigan held on for a 53-50 victory over Texas on Tuesday night. Wagner gave the Wolverines the lead on a putback with 18.8 seconds remaining, and then the sophomore blocked a shot by Eric Davis Jr. at the other end.Wagner led the Wolverines (7-2) with 15 points, and the 6-foot-11 forward from Germany made the biggest plays down the stretch. When Zak Irvin missed a driving layup, Wagner came up with the rebound and scored to put Michigan up 51-50.I thought he was terrific, Texas coach Shaka Smart said. I thought he was the best player on the floor tonight.The Wolverines hounded Texas (4-4) on the next possession, and Davis drove down the left edge of the lane. Wagner blocked his path, and the Texas guard tried to force a tough shot over him. Wagner contested it , and the ball never made it to the basket.Couldve gotten a better one, Davis said. Any one of us couldve taken it.Muhammad-Ali Abdur Rahkman ripped the loose ball away for Michigan, then made two free throws with 2.5 seconds to play. The Longhorns could only manage a desperation shot from around midcourt.Tevin Mack led Texas with 18 points, 13 coming in the first half.D.J. Wilson scored 13 points for Michigan, and Duncan Robinson added 12.BIG PICTURETexas: This was the first true road game of the season for the Longhorns, and they nearly pulled it out in a tight, defensive struggle. Texas held Irvin to only three points after he entered as Michigans top scorer. The Longhorns shot only 38.5 percent from the field, which was ultimately their undoing.Michigan: The Wolverines let a home game slip away against Virginia Tech last week, and they had to scrap their way to this victory. Michigan wants to become a better defensive team this season, and in that sense, this was a positive step -- especially on the key possession at the end. The Wolverines, who had fouls to give, played aggressively, and Wagner came up with the block.With Moes emergence right now -- and hes a long ways away -- but it gives us another way to play, Michigan coach John Beilein said.STRUGGLESMichigan didnt get much scoring from its two senior starters. Irvin was scoreless until his 3-pointer with 4:03 remaining tied it at 48. After that shot went in, he raised both his arms skyward in apparent relief.Derrick Walton had only seven points and five turnovers for the Wolverines. He needs nine more points to reach 1,000.You dont see us win many where its just about -- our defense was gritty, Beilein said. It was tough in the last two minutes. Everything it wasnt in the Virginia Tech last two or three minutes, it was tonight, where our kids just sat down and guarded. Nobody could make a shot. It was not a pretty offensive game, but we got done what we had to get done.UP NEXTTexas: The Longhorns return home to face Long Beach State on Saturday.Michigan: The Wolverines take on another big-name opponent when they play at No. 2 UCLA on Saturday. The unbeaten Bruins will be Michigans last road opponent before conference play.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister Stitched Phillies Jerseys . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Fake Phillies Jerseys . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. https://www.cheapphilliesjerseys.us/ . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Philadelphia Phillies Store . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Philadelphia Phillies Gear . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. The Heart of Dallas Bowl will be a rematch between two teams that played in October -- and one of them is heading into the game with a 5-7 record.Unusual? Yes. But scenarios like this simply come with the territory now.With 80 bowl spots to fill, some postseason games ended up with odd matchups this year. North Texas will play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after going 5-7, and the game will be a rematch against an Army teams it met six weeks ago. Mississippi State is also going to a bowl at 5-7. The Bulldogs face Miami (Ohio) in the St. Petersburg Bowl.Were fortunate to have the opportunity, North Texas coach Seth Littrell said. At the end of the day, we didnt even feel like we could get in this way, but we did, and so were going to take it.Hawaii is also heading to a bowl with a losing record. The Rainbow Warriors (6-7) will play in the Hawaii Bowl against Middle Tennessee. The reason some sub-.500 teams were given a reprieve is because there werent enough eligible teams to fill all the spots.That shortage also allows Army (6-5) and South Alabama (6-6) to go to bowls even though both have multiple wins over FCS schools. Teams are only supposed to count one FCS win for bowl eligibility purposes, but since there were openings, the Black Knights and Jaguars are in.South Alabama faces Air Force in the Arizona Bowl. The Jaguars were supposed to play LSU in November, but that game was canceled when the Tigers needed to play a rescheduled game against Florida. South Alabama played Presbyterian instead and won, so that switch may have been the difference between reaching a bowl and missing the postseason.There were sub-.500 teams in bowls last season too, so this may be the new normal in college football. Last season, Nebraska, Minnesota and San Jose State were 5-7 going into their bowls, and all three of them won.North Texas and Mississippi State werent exactly apologizing Sunday. The Bulldogs Twitter account boasted that Mississippi State is one of only five Southeastern Conference schools to reach a bowl every season this decade.Since the Academic Progress Rate playss a role in which sub.dddddddddddd-500 teams play on, coaches can take pride in that.This is a great opportunity for one of the winningest senior classes in school history and for our program to build momentum for 2017, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said in a statement. It also speaks volumes of our student-athletes for their commitment in the classroom to qualify for a bowl based on our successful APR.North Texas lost four of its last five games in the regular season, but reaching a bowl -- no matter how it happened -- is still a big step forward after the Mean Green went 1-11 in 2015.North Texas won 35-18 at Army on Oct. 22. Regular-season rematches are rare in bowls, but there are some positives for the Heart of Dallas Bowl in this matchup. The bowl was supposed to match Conference USA against the Big Ten, but with one Big Ten team in the playoff and three more in New Years Six bowls, there werent enough left for every bowl with ties to the league.We know that Army is going to bring a large contingency because the Texas area is one of their hotbeds, said Brant Ringler, the bowls executive director.North Texas in Denton, of course, isnt far from Dallas. Ringler said that was appealing as well.In the past couple years, you probably have noticed, the Conference USA championship has occurred, we received usually the champion or the runner-up, and it was probably going to look to be that way possibly this year as well, Ringler said. But when we had an opening in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl game that we also control, we did work out an agreement with Conference USA to have (runner-up Louisiana Tech) play in the Armed Forces Bowl. Therefore, it allowed us to be able to slide in the University of North Texas into the Heart of Dallas Bowl, which is a win-win for all of us all around.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 .---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtrister ' ' '