# 2005–06 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The 2005-06 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 2005-06 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 Tommy Amaker, the team finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten Conference. The team earned a seventh seed and lost in the first round of the 2006 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament. The team earned an invitation to the 2006 National Invitation Tournament. The team was ranked as the 21st best team in the January 31, 2006 Associated Press Top Twenty-Five Poll but fell out of the poll two weeks later, and also ended the season unranked in the final USA Today/CNN Poll. The team had a 3–7 record against ranked opponents, with its victories coming against #25 Michigan State 72–67 on January 25, 2006 at Crisler Arena, #23 Wisconsin 85–76 on January 28, 2006 at Crisler Arena and #8 Illinois 72–64 on February 21, 2006 at Crisler Arena.
Lester Abram, Graham Brown, and Sherrod Harrell served as team co-captains, and Daniel Horton earned team MVP honors. The team's leading scorers were Horton (581 points), Courtney Sims (360 points) and Dion Harris (343 points). The leading rebounders were Graham Brown (240), Courtney Sims (189) and Chris Hunter (115).
Courtney Sims won the Big Ten Conference statistical championship for field goal percentage with a 63.3% mark in all of Michigan's games. Daniel Horton set the current Big Ten Conference single-season free throw percentage record of 97.8 (89 of 91) for conference games. This, of course, led the conference for the conference season as did his 90.1% mark for all games. The team set the current school single-season record with 200 blocked shots in 34 games surpassing the total of 193 set 36 games in 1993.
In the 2006 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament at the Conseco Fieldhouse from March 9–12, Michigan was seeded seventh. In the first round they lost to number 10 Minnesota 59–55.
On March 16, 2006, Michigan defeated nine seeded Texas-El Paso 82–67 at Crisler Arena in the first round of the 2006 National Invitation Tournament. Then, Michigan defeated five seeded Notre Dame 87–84 in double overtime and three seeded Miami 71–65 on March 20 and March 22 at Crisler Arena, respectively. At the final four in New York City at Madison Square Garden, the team defeated five seeded Old Dominion 66–43 in the semifinals on March 28 before losing to three seeded South Carolina 76–64 in the championship on March 30.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 18, 2005* 7:00 p.m. | | Central Michigan | W 87–60 | 1–0 | Crisler Arena (11,484) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Nov 22, 2005* 7:00 p.m., NESN | | at Boston University | W 51–46 | 2–0 | Agganis Arena (4,750) Boston, Massachusetts |
| Nov 26, 2005* 2:00 p.m. | | Butler | W 78–74 | 3–0 | Crisler Arena (9,513) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Nov 29, 2005* 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | Miami ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 74–53 | 4–0 | Crisler Arena (8,257) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 3, 2005* 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Notre Dame | W 71–67 | 5–0 | Joyce Center (11,418) South Bend, Indiana |
| Dec 7, 2005* 7:00 p.m. | | Delaware State | W 69–49 | 6–0 | Crisler Arena (5,508) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 10, 2005* 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at South Florida | W 68–47 | 7–0 | SunDome (5,688) Tampa, Florida |
| Dec 17, 2005* 12:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 14 UCLA | L 61–68 | 7–1 | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 22, 2005* 7:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Miami (OH) | W 87–80 | 8–1 | Crisler Arena (10,073) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 28, 2005* 6:00 p.m. | | Coppin State | W 81–53 | 9–1 | Crisler Arena (10,017) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 31, 2006* 2:00 p.m. | | Chicago State | W 86–69 | 10–1 | Crisler Arena (10,148) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 3, 2006 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at No. 16 Indiana | L 63–70 | 10–2 (0–1) | Assembly Hall (13,619) Bloomington, Indiana |
| Jan 7, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Purdue | W 68–65 | 11–2 (1–1) | Crisler Arena (10,947) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 14, 2006 4:30 p.m., ESPN Plus | | at No. 7 Illinois | L 74–79 | 11–3 (1–2) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, Illinois |
| Jan 18, 2006 8:30 p.m., ESPNU | | Northwestern | W 68–51 | 12–3 (2–2) | Crisler Arena (10,123) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 21, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | at Minnesota | W 71–55 | 13–3 (3–2) | Williams Arena (13,112) Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 25, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | No. 11 Michigan State | W 72–67 | 14–3 (4–2) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan. 28, 2006 2:30 p.m., ESPN Plus | | No. 23 Wisconsin | W 85–76 | 15–3 (5–2) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 1, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 21 | at Penn State | W 71–65 | 16–3 (6–2) | Bryce Jordan Center (6,509) State College, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 4, 2006 5:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 21 | at No. 23 Iowa | L 66–94 | 16–4 (6–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Feb 9, 2006 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 22 | No. 19 Ohio State | L 85–94 | 16–5 (6–4) | Crisler Arena (12,788) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 11, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 22 | at Purdue | L 70–84 | 16–6 (6–5) | Mackey Arena (13,803) West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Feb 15, 2006 7:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Minnesota | W 72–50 | 17–6 (7–5) | Crisler Arena (11,118) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 18, 2006 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | at No. 16 Michigan State | L 71–90 | 17–7 (7–6) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 21, 2006 7:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 8 Illinois | W 72–64 | 18–7 (8–6) | Crisler Arena (13,164) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 25, 2006 1:30 p.m., CBS | | at No. 13 Ohio State | L 54–64 | 18–8 (8–7) | Value City Arena (12,100) Columbus, Ohio |
| Mar 4, 2006 2:30 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Indiana | L 67–69 | 18–9 (8–8) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Big Ten Tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 2006 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (7) | vs. (10) Minnesota First round | L 55–59 | 18–10 | Conseco Fieldhouse (16,982) Indianapolis, Indiana |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 16, 2006* 7:00 p.m. | (1) | (9) UTEP First round | W 82–67 | 19–10 | Crisler Arena (4,400) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 20, 2006* 7:00 p.m. | (1) | (5) Notre Dame Second round | W 87–84 $^{2OT}$ | 20–10 | Crisler Arena (8,554) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 22, 2006* 7:00 p.m. | (1) | (3) Miami Quarterfinals | W 71–65 | 21–10 | Crisler Arena (8,817) Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 28, 2006* 7:00 p.m. | (1) | vs. (5) Old Dominion Semifinals | W 66–43 | 22–10 | Madison Square Garden (7,473) New York, New York |
| Mar 30, 2006* 7:00 p.m. | (1) | vs. (3) South Carolina Championship | L 64–76 | 22–11 | Madison Square Garden (6,130) New York, New York |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## 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 | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP Poll | | | | | | | | | | | | | 21 | 22 | | | | | |