The 1987–88 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 1987–88 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 w ...

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 ...

Bill Frieder William Samuel Frieder (born March 3, 1942) is a former basketball coach at Michigan Wolverines men's basketball, Michigan (1981–1989) and Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball, Arizona State (1989–1997). Frieder's 1985–86 Michigan Wo ...

, the team finished second in the Big Ten Conference. The team earned the number three seed in the

1988 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1988 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. The 50th annual edition of the tournament began on March ...

where it advanced two rounds before losing. The team was ranked all seventeen weeks of the season in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll where it began the season at number nine, ended at number ten and peaked at number seven. and it also ended the season ranked tenth in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. The team was the national statistical champion in team

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 gene ...

(54.6%, 1198 of 2196). The team established the current Big Ten Conference records for team single-game assists by twice totaling 37 (vs. December 7, 1987, and vs. December 12, 1987) as well as the current team assist record for conference games with 36 (vs.

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

February 3, 1988). The team also established Big Ten team records for single-season

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, a ...

made (1198), and single-season assists (694, 1987–88) that it would surpass the following season. It also set the single-game (conference games only)

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

percentage record that would only last one night (.875, 7 of 8, vs. Iowa February 3, 1988).

Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice Sr. (born May 28, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a small forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star and made 1,559 three-point field goa ...

was the conference scoring champion with a 22.9

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

per game average in conference games, while Gary Grant led the conference in both steals and assists with 2.72 and 6.5 averages, respectively in conference games. Grant 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 ...

and shared team

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

with Rice. Grant earned consensus All-American recognition. The team set a new school record by totaling 2973 points over the course of the season, surpassing the record of 2821 set the prior year. The record would be rebroken the following season.

Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. Vaught played at East Kentwood High S ...

also set the Michigan single

record at 62.18% which he would break the following season. For the fourth of five consecutive seasons, the team set the school record for single-season

on with a 54.6% (1198-for-2196) performance. Grant set the individual single-season three-point field goal percentage record of 48.53%, but it was eclipsed the following season by

. Also against Iowa on February 3, the team set the current three-point field goal single game percentage record by making 7 of its eight attempts, surpassing the December 6, 1986, record of 75%. Gary Grant's established the current school record when his single-season total of 234 assists surpassed his own school record total of 185 that he set two years earlier. His 731 career assists also established the current school record, surpassing Antoine Joubert's 539 set the prior season. He also surpassed Dave Baxter's school single season average set in 1978 of 6.59 with the current record of 6.88 assists per game and Eric Turner's 1984 career average of 5.00 per game with a 5.67 average that was surpassed in 1990 by

Rumeal Robinson Rumeal James Robinson (born November 13, 1966) is a Jamaican-American former professional basketball player and convicted felon. Growing up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Robinson graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and went on to pl ...

. For the second of three consecutive seasons, the team set the school single-season total assist record with a total of 694, surpassing the prior total of 652. Grant's current school record total 14 assists in a game on December 7, 1987, against and he repeated the feat on December 19 against . This surpassed Mark Bodnar and Antoine Joubert, who had each posted 13 assists in a game previously. Grant's career steals total of 300 and average of 2.33 surpassed Thad Garner's 1982 statistics and remain school records. Gary Grant career total of 4231 minutes surpassed Joubert's school record total of 3960 set the prior year.

Louis Bullock Louis "Lou" Bullock Jr. (born May 20, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Although his records have officially been vacated, due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, his vacated records are unsurpassed for mos ...

would break the record in 1999. Gary Grant ended his career with 129 games played and 128 games started, which surpassed Joubert's 1987 school records of 127 games and 115 starts.

and

would surpass these records for games and starts in 1989 and 1999, respectively. In the 64-team

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 ...

, number three seeded Michigan advanced two rounds by defeating the fourteen-seeded

Boise State Broncos The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mount ...

63–58 and the six-seeded

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

108–85. In the third round the team was defeated by two-seeded

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

78–69.

Schedule

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

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Six 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:1987-88 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

Schedule

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

See also

References