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THE EAST
Georgetown,
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By JOE EWING
Way back before the season started, if anyone
would have told you that the Michigan basketball
team would be a national power, you would have
thought they were nuts.
Who would have thought that after losing Tim Mc-
Cormick and Eric Turner to the pros during the off-
season, the Wolverines could be going into the NCAA
Tournament as the top seed in a region?
WITH HIGHLY-FAVORED Indiana and Illinois
virtually returning everyone from last season, who
would have thought that Michigan could clinch the
Big Ten title before the season was over, cruising
through the conference schedule with just two losses
and becoming the first team in the nation to clinch an
NCAA spot in the process?
Who would have thought that a freshman from Can-
ton, Ohio nicknamed "The General" could team up in
the backcourt with a sophomore "Judge" to form one
of the best guard pairs in the country?
Who would have believed that a tall, skinny kid
from Detroit could bang with the mammoths and be
among the leaders in rebounding and scoring in a
conference known for its gargantuan big men?
WHO WOULD have thought that the Wolverines
would have had a chance in a first place showdown
with Iowa on the Hawkeyes' home court? Or that af-
ter being humiliated at Crisler Arena by Indiana in
the Big Ten opener, Michigan could come back and
win for the first time every at Assembly Hall?
Even an optimist would have been stretching it a
little to believe that Michigan could accomplish all of
these things. But in the case of the Wolverines this
season, that optimist would have been right.
Michigan is seeded number one for the regional
playoffs and has shocked many by dominating the
Big Ten and gaining a number-two ranking in most
of the national polls. Gary "General" Grant and An-
toine "Judge" Joubert combined into a backcourt
tandem that can hurt opponents at both ends of the
floor. A slender Roy Tarpley has become the
league's top center, reaping many awards in the
process. And the Wolverines have provided many
surprises throughout the season.
MICHIGAN GOT out of the blocks quickly to start
the season, coming out on top in their first eight non-
conference contests. After blowing out the
Yugoslavian National Team, 100-87, the Wolverines
notched victories against Detroit, Georgia,
Youngstown State, Dayton, Western Michigan,
Eastern Michigan, Alcorn State and Rutgers.
In each of those contests, Tarpley was the force for
the Wolverines underneath, while Grant looked like
anything but a rookie in the backcourt.
However, in game number nine at Tennessee,
something went wrong. The Wolverines got into foul
trouble early, and both Grant and Tarpley fouled out
midway through the second half.. Despite hitting on
52 percent of their shots from the floor and
outrebounding the Volunteers 32-15, Michigan fell 81-
77. Tennessee made 29 of 34 free throws.
WHILE THE loss to Tennessee was a letdown for
the Wolverines, it appeared for a while that it might
be only the beginning of their problems, as they drop-
ped two of their first three Big Ten games.
In the Big Ten opener on January 2, Uwe Blab and
his Indiana- teammates handed Michigan its worst
loss ever at Crisler, 87-62. The 7-2 center from West
Germany scored a career-high 31 points and held
Tarpley to just 12 to pace the Hoosiers.
"If you saw them on Thursday (the day after the
Indiana game)," said Michigan coach Bill Frieder,
"you would've felt they never could have won another
game. All of a sudden you think 'Oh-oh, we're going to
go 0-18.' "
MICHIGAN CAME back two days later and beat
Ohio State, 87-82 on Joubert's career-high 27 points,
but the following Thursday the Wolverines suffered
another loss, this time at Illinois in overtime, 64-58.
Tarpley had the hot hand for Michigan with 20 points,
and guards Grant and Garde Thompson played up a
storm on defense, but it just wasn't enough to pull the
Wolverines through.
Even with the two losses, though, Michigan didn't
curl up and die. In fact they did quite the opposite as
they turned things around and ran off one of the
longest winning streaks in the country.
Following the Illinois loss, the Wolverines went into
Purdue and go Frieder his first win ever at Mackey
Arena, 81-65. They then returned to Ann Arbor and
blew out Minnesota, 97-56, to move into third place in
the conference.
TWO DAYS AFTER Minnesota, Michigan faced its
next real conference challenge against Iowa, and
Tarpley became the hero, sinking a layup at the buz-
zer to give his team a 69-67 triple overtime win. The
victory helped the Wolverines climb into the top
twenty in the national polls.
The next week Michigan blew out Michigan State
86-75, and then destroyed Kansas on national
television to prove that Michigan basketball is for
real.
After three wins against Northwestern, Wisconsin
and Purdue, the Wolverines got revenge against
Illinois, 57-45, and moved to number three in the
Associated Press national poll. They also set the
stage for a first place showdown with Iowa.
The following Thursday the Wolverines moved into
Iowa City, determined to take sole possession of the
Big Ten lead. And they did just that, as Thompson hit
two shots from the top of the key to spark a late
Wolverine comeback and 56-52 victory. From that
time on, Michingan hasn't had to look back as they've
held onto first despite scares against Minnesota and
Michigan State, and through wins against Wisconsin,
Northwestern and Ohio State.
By JOE EWING
When you think college basketball in
the East,, the team that you do most of
your thinking about is Georgetown. And
all of the thought is well-deserved.
The defending national champion
Hoyas (30-2), led by center Patrick
Ewing, are everybody's pick to take the
East Region crown, as well as repeat
their national title. And everybody is
probably right.
THE NUMBER-ONE ranked Hoyas
have done nothing but dominate all
season, they destroyed number-two St.
John's twice in New York City in the
past two weeks. Nonetheless,
Georgetown coach John Thompson is a
little cautious when looking- at his
team's chances.
"Most people are talking to us about
repeating," said Thompson on CBS
radio's selection day broadcast. "But I
don't think that we can approach it
from that perspective. We've got to ap-
proach it from a purely one-game-at-a-
time perspective."
Thompson and crew were to get their
start yesterday (results not available at
press time) at Hartford, Conn. against
Lehigh (12-18), a team that 'gets
criticized for having backed into the
tournament by winning the East Coast
Conference tournament.
"I'VE ALREADY gotten a little reac-
tion from playing Lehigh in relation to
their record," said Thompson. "But
I've told the people I've spoken with it's
obvious Lehigh did something to get in-
to the NCAA tournament."
But the Engineers shouldn't be any
problem for the Hoyas
other teams in the Easi
Number-two seed Ge
surprised many by kn
Carolina in the Atla
ference championship
might have some surp
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Ewing lookt
.However, some teams that have beaten the Hoyas this
tt might be. season.
orgia Tech (24-7) Southern Methodist (22-9), led by
cocking off North Olympic center Jon Koncak, was also
ntic Coast Con- one of the early season favorites in the
game, and still national rankings until it fell on hard
rises in store. times recently. However, the Mustangs
RACUSE (21-8), still might have enough gallup left to
eorgetown in the give the team from D.C. a run for its
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WHICH WAY TO LEXINGTON? - Georgetown's Pat Ewing, a shoo-in for NCAA player-of-
be pointing the way to the Final Four, his club's probable destination.
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Win by win
High scorer
MICHIGAN 80, Detroit 66 ....................................... Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 63, Georgia 57 ..................................... Tarpley 22
MICHIGAN 103, Youngstown State 73 ........................ Rellford 20
MICHIGAN 87, Dayton 78.......................................Joubert 21
MICHIGAN 83, Western Michigan 59 .............................Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 83, Eastern Michigan 72............................Tarpley 17
MICHIGAN 84, Alcorn State 81 .................................. Tarpley 29
MICHIGAN 93, Rutgers 77 ..................................... Tarpley 20
Iennessee 81, MICHIGAN 77 ..................................... Joubert 19
Indiana 87, MICHIGAN 62 .....................................Grant 16
MICHIGAN 87, Ohio State 82 ............... ...............Joubert 27
Illinois 64, MICHIGAN 58 (OT) .................................. Tarpley 20
MICHIGAN 81, Purdue 65.......................................Tarpley 23
MICHIGAN 97, Minnesota 56. ............................... Joubert 17
MICHIGAN 69, Iowa 67 (3 OT) .................................. Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 86, Michigan State 75 ............................... Tarpley 17
MICHIGAN 96, Kansas 77........--..............................Grant 20
MICHIGAN 76, Northwestern 52................................ Tarpley 16
MICHIGAN 94, Wisconsin 81 ................................. Joubert 24
MICHIGAN 95, Purdue 84 ....................................... Tarpley 31
MICHIGAN 57, Illinois 45 ....................................... Tarpley 17
MICHIGAN 56, Iowa 52.................................. Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 66, Minnesota 64....................................Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 75, Michigan State 73 ............................... Joubert 18
MICHIGAN 88, Wisconsin 68 ............................... Tarpley 21
MICHIGAN 87, Northwestern 66............................ Tarpley 21,
MICHIGAN 77, Ohio State 72................................... Tarpley 23
MICHIGAN 73, Indiana 71 ........................................Grant 18
the second round, Memphis State will
play the winner of a clash between
Gene Bartow's Alabama-Birmingham
Blazers (24-8) and the pride of East
Lansing, Jud Heathcote's Michigan
State Spartans (19-9).
Heathcote is billing his first-round
season. They destroyed number-two St.
Gene." If the Spartans, seeded tenth in
the. region, advance to the second
round, it'll be the battle of the MSUs
and the Big Ten rep could give fifth-
ranked Memphis State a battle.
HEATHCOTE feels that the absence
of the 45-second clock in the tourney
will help his guard-oriented team. "We
can keep the ball in Sam (Vincent's)
hands even longer and be 'more selec-
... but Lee's potent too
tive," he said.
Duke, ranked in the top ten all
season, is seeded third. The Blue Devils
(27-7) won all of their non-conference
games and then struggled through the
Atlantic Coast Conference sked. Led by
Mark Alarie and Johnny Dawkins,
Duke is a strong contender for the Final
Four.
There are some name schools in this
region that aren't going to do it this
year. Those include Boston College,
Pac-Ten champ Southern Cal and Iowa
State, coached by former Michigan
head man Johnny Orr.
Favorite: Oklahoma
Possible Darkhorse: Michigan State
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