The 1984–85 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

during the 1984–85 season. The team played its home games in the

Crisler Arena Crisler Center (formerly known as the University Events Building and Crisler Arena) is an indoor arena located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the home arena for the University of Michigan's men's and women's basketball teams as well as its women's ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, and was a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Under the direction of

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Bill Frieder William Samuel Frieder (born March 3, 1942) is a former basketball coach at Michigan (1981–1989) and Arizona State (1989–1997). Frieder's 1985–86 team was the last Michigan team to win a Big Ten Championship until the 2011–12 team. J ...

, the team won the Big Ten Conference by a four game margin. The team earned the number one seed in the

1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. This was the first year the field was expanded to 64 team ...

where it advanced one round before losing. Although the team began the season unranked it was in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll a total of twelve of the seventeen weeks, including a peak of number two where it ended the season, and it also ended the season ranked number two in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. During the season, the team led the Big Ten Conference in scoring margin (8.8) and

Roy Tarpley Roy James Tarpley (November 28, 1964 – January 9, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played the power forward and center positions in the National Basketball Association (NBA), earning an NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in ...

led the conference in rebound with a 9.9 average in conference games. Leslie Rockymore and Butch Wade served as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

s and Tarpley earned team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Tarpley earned 1985 NCAA All-American recognition. For the first of five consecutive seasons, the team set the school record for single-season

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

with a 51.3% (941-for-1834) performance.

Antoine Joubert Antoine Glen Joubert (born February 20, 1965) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. He played high school basketball at Southwestern in his native city of Detroit, Michigan, where he was ranked as one of the best players ...

's single-season total of 164 assists established a school record that would be eclipsed the following season by Gary Grant. It surpassed Eric Turner's 160 total set in 1983. Grant had 7 steals on January 19, 1985, against

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, which tied

Rickey Green Rickey Green (born August 18, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, a and point guard, led Chicago's Hirsch High School to the 1973 IHSA Class AA State ch ...

and Turner for the best single-game totals in school history.

surpassed his school single-season

blocked shot In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

s average record of 2.09 set the prior season with an average of 2.20. He would rebreak this record the following season. On February 7, 1985, against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, Tarpley totaled 7 blocks in a game to earn the school single-game record that he would rebreak ten months later. On January 12, 1985, the team began a 17-game winning streak against the

that continued through a March 15 victory over

Fairleigh Dickinson Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

in the NCAA tournament. This is tied as the longest winning streak in school history (With the 2018-19 season), surpassing the January 29, 1921 – January 6, 1922 14-game streak. On January 5, 1985, the team began a 24-game

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

winning streak against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

that continued through a February 15, 1986, victory over

. This stands as the longest home winning streak in school history, surpassing the 22-game January 12, 1976 – November 30, 1977, streak. The streak ended with a February 20, 1986 74–59 loss to

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. January 12 also marked the start of a 10-game

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

winning streak that continued through a January 4, 1986, victory over . This stands as the longest road winning streak in school history, surpassing two 7-game streaks that ended in 1921. The streak ended with a January 16, 1986 73–63 loss to . In the 64-team

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

, number one seeded Michigan advanced one round by defeating Fairleigh Dickinson 59–55. In the second round the team was upset by eight-seeded Villanova 59–55. The team was led in

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

and rebounds by Tarpley in both NCAA tournament games.

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular Season , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA Tournament

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Seven players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1984-85 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nation ...

Schedule and results

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

See also

References