# 1989–90 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The 1989–90 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1989–90 season. The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference. Head coach Steve Fisher led the team to a third-place finish in the Big Ten Conference. The team earned the number three seed in the 1990 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. For the third consecutive year, the team was ranked every week of the season in the AP Poll, which expanded from a top twenty poll to a top twenty-five poll that year. It began the season at number four, ended at number thirteen and peaked at number three. and it ended the season ranked fifteenth in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.
Terry Mills and Rumeal Robinson served as team co-captains and shared team co-MVP honors. The team's leading scorers were Robinson (575 points), Mills (562 points), and Loy Vaught (480 points). The leading rebounders were Vaught (346), Mills (247), and Robinson (127).
Robinson earned consensus All-American recognition.
The team established the current Big Ten Conference single-game field goals made record against Iowa on March 10, 1990, when it made 55. The team earned numerous conference statistical championships. Loy Vaught won the rebounding championship for conference games with a 10.7 average and all games with an 11.2 average, while Robinson won the assists title for all games. This was the first year that the conference recognized both conference games and all games statistical champions.
Vaught also set the Michigan career field goal percentage record at 67.1%. The record would stand until 1998. On March 8, 1990, against Wisconsin, the team tied the school's February 21, 1987, single-game free throw percentage record by making all fifteen of its free throws, a mark that has only been outdone by the March 2, 2002 16-for-16 performance. Robinson set the current school career assist average of 5.75 per game, surpassing Gary Grant's 1988 mark. Loy Vaught ended his career with 135 games played, which surpassed Glen Rice's 1989 school record of 134 games to establish the record. In 2012, Stu Douglass finished his career with 136 games.
In the 64-team NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, number three seeded Michigan advanced one round by defeating the fourteen-seeded Illinois State 76–70 before losing to the eleven-seeded Loyola Marymount 149–115. The March 18, 1990 264-point contest with Loyola Marymount stands as the highest scoring single game in NCAA tournament history. It is also the highest combined total in Michigan history.

## Regular season

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 25, 1989* | No. 4 | vs. No. 6 Arizona Hall of Fame Tipoff Classic | L 75–82 | 0–1 | MassMutual Center Springfield, Massachusetts |
| November 27, 1989* | No. 10 | at Boston University | W 73–65 | 1–1 | Case Gym Boston, Massachusetts |
| November 29, 1989* | No. 10 | Grambling State | W 85–70 | 2–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 2, 1989* | No. 10 | Iowa State | W 101–78 | 3–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 6, 1989* | No. 8 | Central Michigan | W 100–51 | 4–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 9, 1989* | No. 8 | No. 6 Duke | W 113–108 $^{OT}$ | 5–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 11, 1989* | No. 6 | Chicago State | W 84–57 | 6–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| December 16, 1989* | No. 6 | at Marquette | W 82–73 | 7–1 | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| December 23, 1989* | No. 6 | vs. Seton Hall | W 91–86 | 8–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| December 30, 1989* | No. 5 | Eastern Michigan | W 103–83 | 9–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 8, 1990 | No. 3 | at No. 13 Indiana | L 67–69 | 9–2 (0–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| January 13, 1990 | No. 3 | No. 16 Minnesota | W 87–83 | 10–2 (1–1) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 15, 1990 | No. 6 | at No. 7 Illinois | W 74–70 | 11–2 (2–1) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| January 18, 1990 | No. 6 | Ohio State | W 90–88 | 12–2 (3–1) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 20, 1990 | No. 6 | at Iowa | L 76–78 | 12–3 (3–2) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| January 25, 1990 | No. 7 | at Northwestern | W 86–79 | 13–3 (4–2) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| January 27, 1990 | No. 7 | Michigan State | W 65–63 | 14–3 (5–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| January 31, 1990 | No. 4 | No. 8 Purdue | L 73–91 | 14–4 (5–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 3, 1990 | No. 4 | at Wisconsin | W 77–63 | 15–4 (6–3) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| February 8, 1990 | No. 7 | No. 25 Indiana | W 79–71 | 16–4 (7–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 11, 1990 | No. 7 | No. 12 Illinois | W 93–79 | 17–4 (8–3) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| February 15, 1990 | No. 5 | at No. 17 Minnesota | W 77–73 | 18–4 (9–3) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| February 18, 1990 | No. 5 | at Ohio State | L 61–64 | 18–5 (9–4) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| February 24, 1990 | No. 7 | Northwestern | W 94–69 | 19–5 (10–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| March 1, 1990 | No. 8 | at No. 14 Michigan State | L 70–78 | 19–6 (10–5) | Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan |
| March 4, 1990 | No. 8 | at No. 9 Purdue | L 77–79 | 19–7 (10–6) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| March 8, 1990 | No. 13 | Wisconsin | W 94–64 | 20–7 (11–6) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| March 11, 1990 | No. 13 | Iowa | W 127–96 | 21–7 (12–6) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 16, 1990* | (3 W) No. 13 | (14 W) Illinois State First Round | W 76–70 | 22–7 | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California |
| March 18, 1990* | (3 W) No. 13 | (11 W) No. 21 Loyola Marymount Second Round | L 115–149 | 22–8 | Long Beach Arena Long Beach, California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP Poll | 4 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 13 |

## Team players drafted into the NBA

Five players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | NBA Club |
| 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 |
| 1990 | 2 | 27 | 54 | Sean Higgins | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1993 | 2 | 6 | 33 | Eric Riley | Dallas Mavericks |