This Week's Obsession: How Hard Hath This Floor Been Rocked?

The Question:

That was enjoyable. In fact it was probably the biggest win in Crisler since…

Wait this is a history question? We should get Craig Ross to answer!

Oh good call.

You should introduce him though in case people don't recognize the name.

Um they should, but yeah, Craig is a Michigan fan who can probably claim to be the world's biggest Michigan fan by nature of the fact that he's been going to games so long that nobody younger than him remembers half as much, and nobody older than him remembers half as well.

You should plug his books.

I'm pretty sure he'd rather I make old jokes at his expense; a determined soul knows enough to Amazon from here.

Fair enough. The Responses:

David: All right. I sorted through game-by-game schedules and found out the last time Michigan defeated a higher ranked opponent than #3 - like Maryland was on Tuesday- at Crisler Arena was...December 13, 1997. They defeated #1 Duke.

Here is my chart of the top home wins of the Beilein Era. I started going back further...but it got REALLY scary, really quickly.

Here is a list of 'Almosts'

Michigan also had a couple of wins over #3s in Madison and East Lansing in the 13-14 season. I did not go through neutral site games.

So, technically, Tuesday's win was probably Michigan's biggest at home since 1997. I will say that the Duke win in 2008 might have been bigger than Tuesday, regardless of rankings. I was still in grad school and had Maize Rage tickets for the previous couple of years. That Duke win really injected some life and belief into the program.  Michigan went on to make the NCAA Tournament that year for the first time in 11 years and that was the game where I remember thinking that perhaps we will be very good again at some point. Plus, we drove to East Lansing right after and beat Michigan State at Munn Ice Arena for the first time in 4 years. It was a good day.

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[After the Jump: Craig Ross answers the question, but only after 6 paragraphs of not answering the question]

Craig: Seth has asked about the biggest win at Crisler and my instinct is to think about the worst loss. That would be in 1989 to Illinois. Illinois had Kenny Battle, Nick Anderson, Stephen Bardo, Kendall Gill and Marcus Liberty. Plus Lowell Hamilton, also a solid guy. The Illini were the best team in the country that year and they had beaten us seriously at Champaign. But UM had Rumeal, Glenn, Loy Vaught (his name came from his uncle’s and aunt’s first name initials, Loy’s dad told me; Louis, Olivia and Yvonne), T. Mills and Sean Higgins. One hell of a team. All played in the NBA. Glenn, Loy and Mills were significant NBA guys. Slow, but huge and they could shoot it.

UM had a solid bench with James Voskuil (aerospace engineer) and Eric Riley (NBA backup for years; Desmond Howard and Elvis Grbac were his BB teammates in high school, along with OSU star Treg Lee) and Mark Hughes, also a fine player. That UM team shot 57% from the floor for the season, not a typo, and 47% (as a team!) from three. Loy, often a jump shooter at PF, shot over 66% from the floor for the season.

Crisler was packed early for the last game of the year against Lou Henson’s team (owner of the famed Lou-Doo) and I thought (with most of the rest of the crowd) that UM had a legit chance to win this one. Indeed I expected Michigan to win.

Not so. UM was run off the court 89-73 and it wasn’t that close. UM was up early but Illinois went on a 27-8 run and never looked back. I tried to find the box on that game since I hoped the evil Jim Bain was a part of it—but I don’t recall the officiating being an issue.

I do recall a disconsolate Crisler crowd, post game. Lots of muttering. Complaints about coaching. Frieder took a job a few days later at ASU, paying him a lot more than Bo would offer. Bo refused to let Frieder coach in the NCAAs. “Michigan Man,” etc. Steve Fisher lead UM to the NC and, of course, problems.

It all turned around in the NCAA semis when Sean Higgins hit a put back at the buzzer for a 83-81 UM win over Henson’s team. Glenn Rice was on fire the entire tournament and I think he may still hold the NCAA record for scoring in the event. His 28 against Illinois might have been his low for the tournament. UM won their only NC that year, but Illinois was the better team. Of course the Fabs were better than UNC and uber-star Eric Montross, too. Data points and Ed Hightower to thank for that one. The more hair Ed grew, the better ref he became. At the time, Ed didn’t have much hair or the ability to blow the whistle against UNC.

Orr in '77 | UM Bentley Library

But, best home win? That’s the actual question. The first game that comes to mind is another last game—this time in the 1977 season when Michigan played Marquette (strange, I know) and Al McGuire was still the coach there. Like the 1989 affair, this one had a certain panorama. Johnny Orr coached Michigan. The Wolverines had run it out to the NC game in the prior year with the inverse of the 88-89 team; a group of small but quick guys. Ricky Green was the fastest player I ever saw on a BB court. But he probably weighed around 160. Steve Grote, a refugee from football was the off guard. Johnny Rob played one forward. About 6’ 5”. The other forward, the power forward, was Wayman Britt, who at 6’ 2” was the best defensive player I have ever seen in my life. Just ask Adrian Dantley, who he terrorized. The center was Phil Hubbard (6’ 7”). Before Hubbard hurt his knee, he had a lightning first step to the basket, and he routinely beat the lumbering centers of the time. A ludicrously small team, but so fast it was breathtaking. Hubbard and Green had longish but not spectacular NBA careers. [In 1977 Green and Hubbard combined for 12 steals against MSU. Green later had 7 against Western KY, a UM record that stands to this day.]

Britt was gone in ‘77 but Green and Hubbard were consensus AAs. Tom Staton and Alan Hardy were talented freshmen and Joel Thompson (a better jumper than Brett Petway) was 6’ 8” and finding his way. Marquette came to Crisler as a top 20 team, and featured Bo Ellis and Butch Beard, two great players who had real NBA careers. Michigan was # 3 coming in (and, by my recall, #1 after the game). It was a Sunday national TV game but UM was missing Green, out with an ankle sprain. Green’s role was assumed by floppy-haired David Baxter. Baxter was a good player, but he wasn’t Rickey Green and the crowd was apprehensive. Rightfully so, as Marquette dominated the game.

Michigan struggled without Green and Marquette lead by 11 points with about 10 minutes left in the game. There was no shot clock at the time and it looked like McGuire could slow down the game---just more or less hold the ball---and win it. But Michigan stole the ball and then it was turned over with the officials (I concede) playing the pro rasslin’ roles of the day. Crisler was ear shattering, very unusual for the often quiet arena, as the Wolverines edged closer. Grote, who hadn’t scored in the game, dropped in two free throws in the last few seconds to seal a 69-68 victory. The crowd was energized as Michigan was poised, or so it seemed, to win its first NC.

Alas, we waited 12 years. In the Quarters Orr made the strange decision to have Hubbard press Charlotte Center (later with the Celtics) Cornbread Maxwell, while Maxwell brought the ball up the floor. And with officiating that was crazed, Hubbard was in trouble early, finishing with 4 fouls. Green and Grote fouled out. Johnny Rob and sub Alan hardy finished with 4 each and Charlotte rode a big FT differential to a seven point win (+13 FTs made) with Michigan making only 8-14 and missing several 1/1s down the stretch. The panorama is that Marquette beat Maxwell’s team in the semis 51-49 and went on the win McGuire’s only NC.

Best and worst? Well they are to me and they seem, somehow, connected. I hope the elements of the above that are memory aren’t too far off. 1977 is a while back.

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Ace:

I’ll take any excuse to post that GIF, especially when it’s fitting. The 2014 win over MSU gave Michigan their third straight win in the series, and it was much-needed coming off a home loss to Wisconsin. Michigan never looked back after LeVert’s halftime buzzer-beater, finishing the regular season with five straight victories to earn a Big Ten title.

Unexpected victories are fun, but I’ll take a titanic win over a rival any day. The atmosphere in Crisler for that game was twice what it was on Tuesday night.

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Seth: What about a titanic win over a rival that's ALSO an unexpected victory?

It was the end of the worst of times, and the beginning of the best of times:

Here's a short list of things this night had going on:

• The inaugural Denard and Roundtree cam.
• Matt Vogrich(!) turning the corner on Draymond Green(!) then blowing past Adreian Payne(!).!
• After Michigan blows a lead it had been nursing for 3/4 of the game, Trey Burke ties it back up with a three from the Block M.
• Austin Thornton passing up an open 3 to run the silly play to Appling who got blocked by Jordan Morgan forcing MSU to get it to Draymond Green and
• AAAHHHHHHHHHHareweallowedtobreathyetit'sbeenlike4yearsAHHHhhhhHHHHHH!

Until that 60-59 victory it felt like everything the Beilein era got was stolen, as if any moment now someone's going to notice that Novak is playing the 4 and the 2 is some scrawny dude named Stu, and Jordan Morgan's head is never more than 6'9" off the floor, and turn off charges. That includes the "Get the F off my court!" sweep the previous year.

Not that this…

…was exactly striking fear across the nation. And if I'm being honest the Big Ten Championship banner they'd hang says "lolsparty" just as much as the one it's next to screams "Yes THAT Big Ten!"

So we were still definitely in the Zak and Stu era, but 2012 Michigan had had already offed Wisconsin, and come so close to taking out those Indiana tossers in Assembly Hall. One win against a potential 1 seed could be a fluke. So beating State, Michigan's best win Kenpom era to that point, was the moment you had to look at Beilein's basketball program—not just the young parts and the recruits and the increasingly rosy future but the team on the court right now—and admit "these guys are good."