Michigan To Honor 1965, '85 Championship Teams
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- As the University of Michigan men's basketball team takes on rival No. 24 Ohio State on Sunday (Feb. 22) at Crisler Center, the Wolverines will honor the 50th anniversary of the 1965 U-M championship team, as well as the 30th anniversary of the 1985 U-M championship team.
Led by All-Big Ten performers Cazzie Russell (25.7 ppg) and Bill Buntin (20.1 ppg), the 1964-65 Wolverines finished 24-4 overall with a 13-1 Big Ten record. Russell and Buntin supplied U-M with the 1-2 punch as the U-M won its second of three straight Big Ten championships before finishing runner-up in the NCAA Tournament after falling to John Wooden's UCLA Bruins in the NCAA title game.
Russell was named the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player and became the Wolverines' second two-time All-American following the season. Buntin was also named an All-American, and became the first Wolverine ever to be drafted by the NBA when the Detroit Pistons made him the third overall selection in the 1965 NBA Draft. U-M Coach Dave Strack was voted UPI National Coach of the Year.
Not to be overshadowed by the U-M team that came 20 years before them, the 1984-85 Wolverines finished 26-4 overall with a 16-2 mark in the Big Ten and went on to win its first conference title in seven years. Led by Bill Frieder, who was named the Big Ten and National Coach of the Year, he guided U-M to the first of six straight NCAA Tournament bids in 1985. Michigan finished the regular season on a roll, winning 18 of its last 20 games, including a team-record 17 in a row. In the NCAA Tournament, Michigan had a hard fought 59-55 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, before bowing out to the eventual national champions Villanova, 59-55, in the second round,
Frieder's go-to Wolverine was Roy Tarpley, who averaged a double-double with 19.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and was named the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player. Along with Tarpley, Antoine Joubert led U-M's attack with 13.4 points per game and set the then-U-M single-season record with 164 assists (5.6 apg), while freshman Gary Grant averaged 12.9 points and had 140 assists (4.7 apg).
Members of each team will be honored during media timeouts at the game. The 1 p.m. contest will be televised on CBS.
