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Posted on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 : 12:02 a.m.

Michigan guard Zack Novak's timely shots make him the lead star

By Michael Rothstein

CLEMSON, S.C. -- The Michigan basketball team picked up a somewhat surprising road win in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Tuesday night, knocking off Clemson 69-61.

Many Wolverines played key roles, but none were more critical than junior guard Zack Novak, who picked up the first star in AnnArbor.com's three stars.

Who else earned a star? Click the jump to find out. If you want to agree or disagree, let's chat about it in the comments.

First star: Zack Novak The junior guard hasn’t shot well and has struggled through Michigan’s first five games. He seemed to find himself a little bit Tuesday night, making two critical 3-pointers in succession late in the second half to hold off Clemson. He finished with nine points, five rebounds and two assists and showed his do-the-little-things attitude.

Second star: Evan Smotrycz Smotrycz had his best game at Michigan, scoring 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first half. He made both his shots from the outside and used a pump-fake more on the perimeter to drive the lane, the first time he’s done that with repeated success this season.

Third star: Darius Morris It wasn’t the prettiest night for the sophomore point guard, but he managed to come close to a triple-double, scoring 13 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making eight assists. Even more impressive was his 7 of 8 shooting from the free-throw line and his four steals against a pair of good ACC guards.

Three Stars Season Tally: Jordan Morgan, Michigan: 3 Darius Morris, Michigan: 3 Zack Novak, Michigan: 2 Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan: 1 Evan Smotrycz, Michigan: 1 Scoop Jardine, Syracuse: 1 Kris Joseph, Syracuse: 1 Randy Culpepper, UTEP: 1 John Bohannon, UTEP: 1 The rims: 1

Michael Rothstein covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.