# 1986–87 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1986–87 season. The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference. Under the direction of head coach Bill Frieder, the team finished fifth in the Big Ten Conference. The team earned the number nine seed in the 1987 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where it advanced one round before losing. The team was unranked all season in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll. and it also ended the season unranked in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. Gary Grant and Antoine Joubert served as team co-captains and Grant earned team MVP.
On March 12, 1987, Garde Thompson set the Big Ten Conference single-game record for three-point field goals made with 9 against Navy. The record was unsurpassed until February 23, 2003. Thompson's performance continues to be the school record. Grant led the conference with a 2.67 steals average in conference games for the season. The team led the conference with an 86.7 points per game scoring average. Additionally, the team led the conference with a total of 89 three-point field goals made in 18 conference games. That season Thompson also set the current Michigan record for career three-point field goal percentage (48.08) as well as a single-game three-point field goal percentage record of 88.9% (8-for-9) against the UIC Flames on December 6, 1986, that would last until February 25, 1989. That night the team made 12 of 16 to set the team single-game three-point field goal percentage record, that stood until February 3, 1988, and that season the team shot 43.2% on its three-point shots which lasted two years as a school single-season record.
The team set a new school record by totaling 2821 points over the course of the season, surpassing the record of 2753 set in 1976. The record would be rebroken each of the following two seasons. For the third of five consecutive seasons, the team set the school record for single-season field goal percentage with a 52.4% (1139-for-2175) performance. Antoine Joubert's 539 career assists surpassed Eric Turner's 1984 total to set a school record that Gary Grant eclipsed the following season. For the first of three consecutive seasons, the team set the school single-season total assist record with a total of 652, surpassing the 1976 total of 600. Gary Grant's single-season steals total of 86 and average of 2.69 surpassed his own school records set the prior year and remain school records.
The team set the current school record for single-game field goal percentage on December 30, 1986, against Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves with a 69.2% (45–65) performance, surpassing the 66.2% mark set on February 23, 1978. The team also set a school single-season free throw percentage record of 75.0% that would last until 1999, surpassing the 74.8% set in 1986. On February 21, 1987, against Northwestern, the team set the school single-game free throw percentage record by making all fifteen of its free throws, which has only been outdone by the March 2, 2002 16-for-16 performance. The team set the school single-game assists record of 33 on March 7, 1987, against Purdue, surpassing the February 23, 1974, total of 32. This was surpassed twice the following December. Joubert's career total of 3960 minutes surpassed Mike McGee's school record total of 3941. Gary Grant would break the record the following season. Joubert ended his career with 127 games played and 115 games started, which surpassed Richard Rellford's 1986 school record of 124 games and Mike McGee's record of 112 starts. Gary Grant would surpass the record the following season.
In the 64-team NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, number nine seeded Michigan advanced one round by defeating the eight-seeded Navy 97–82. In the second round the team was defeated by top-seeded North Carolina 109–97. Grant became the first Wolverine to post a triple double on against North Carolina with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 21, 1986* | | Bradley | W 115–107 | 1–0 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| November 22, 1986* | | at Memphis State | L 76–82 | 1–1 | Mid-South Coliseum Memphis, Tennessee |
| December 1, 1986* | | Ball State | W 90–57 | 2–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 3, 1986* | | Central Michigan | W 76–56 | 3–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 6, 1986* | | UIC | W 123–88 | 4–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 8, 1986* | | Western Michigan | L 59–62 | 4–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 9, 1986* | | Kent State | W 73–61 | 5–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 15, 1986* | | Bowling Green | W 76–64 | 6–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 28, 1986* | | vs. Middle Tennessee UAB Classic | L 63–65 | 6–3 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| January 3, 1987 | | at No. 16 Illinois | L 84–95 | 6–4 (0–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| January 5, 1987 | | at No. 6 Purdue | L 77–89 | 6–5 (0–2) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| January 8, 1987 | | Ohio State | W 107–92 | 7–5 (1–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 12, 1987 | | No. 4 Indiana | L 84–85 | 7–6 (1–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 15, 1987 | | Michigan State | W 74–70 | 8–6 (2–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 18, 1987* | | No. 5 Syracuse | W 91–88 | 9–6 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 21, 1987 | | at Northwestern | W 87–73 | 10–6 (3–3) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| January 24, 1987 | | at Wisconsin | W 84–78 | 11–6 (4–3) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| January 29, 1987 | | Minnesota | W 84–78 | 12–6 (5–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 31, 1987 | | No. 2 Iowa | W 100–92 | 13–6 (6–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 5, 1987 | | at Ohio State | L 87–95 | 13–7 (6–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| February 8, 1987 | | at No. 2 Indiana | L 67–83 | 13–8 (6–5) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| February 15, 1987 | | at Michigan State | L 81–90 | 13–9 (6–6) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan |
| February 18, 1987 | | Wisconsin | W 77–64 | 14–9 (7–6) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 21, 1987 | | Northwestern | W 101–73 | 15–9 (8–6) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 25, 1987 | | at Minnesota | W 95–70 | 16–9 (9–6) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| February 28, 1987 | | at No. 7 Iowa | L 85–95 | 16–10 (9–7) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| March 4, 1987 | | No. 12 Illinois | L 75–89 | 16–11 (9–8) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| March 7, 1987 | | No. 3 Purdue | W 104–68 | 17–11 (10–8) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 12, 1987* | (9 E) | (8 E) Navy First Round | W 97–82 | 18–11 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| March 14, 1987* | (9 E) | (1 E) No. 2 North Carolina Second Round | L 97–109 | 18–12 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Team players drafted into the NBA

Seven players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | NBA Club |
| 1987 | 6 | 20 | 134 | Antoine Joubert | Detroit Pistons |
| 1988 | 1 | 15 | 15 | Gary Grant | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1989 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Glen Rice | Miami Heat |
| 1990 | 1 | 10 | 10 | Rumeal Robinson | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1990 | 1 | 13 | 13 | Loy Vaught | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 1990 | 1 | 16 | 16 | Terry Mills | Milwaukee Bucks |