The 1973–74 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

during the 1973–74 season. The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, and was a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. Under the direction of

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Johnny Orr, the team tied with the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

for the Big Ten championship. The team earned the first of four consecutive

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

invitations. Campy Russell and C. J. Kupec served as team

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

s, with Russell earning team MVP honors. Russell, the Consensus second team All-American, earned the Big Ten

scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

championship with a 24.0 average in conference games. He also won the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball as Big Ten Most Valuable Player. Orr was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. Although the team began the season unranked, it was in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll for twelve of the eighteen weeks during the season, rising as high as number six, where it finished the season. The team ended the season ranked twelfth in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. The team set a school record for single-game assists on February 23, 1974, against

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

with 32. The record would stand until March 7, 1987. In the 25-team

1974 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1974 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It was the first tournament to be designated as a Division I ...

, Michigan reached the elite eight in the Mideast region by earning a bye and defeating the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

77–68. The team then fell to the Marquette Warriors 72–70.

Roster

Schedule

1973-74 Overall: 22-5 Big Ten: 12-2 (t-1st , Co-Champions) Postseason: NCAA (Mideast) (Elite Eight) Head Coach: Johnny Orr Staff: Jim Dutcher, Bill Frieder & Richard Carter (Freshmen) Captains: Campy Russell & C.J. Kupec Home Arena: Crisler Arena (13,609) (1) Michigan Invitational, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Arena) (2) Los Angeles Classic, Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion) (3) Big Ten playoff, Champaign, Ill. (Assembly Hall) (4) NCAA Tournament, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Memorial Coliseum)

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Five players from this team were selected in the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons Michigan Wolve Michigan Wolve

Roster

Schedule

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

See also

References