# 1993–94 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The 1993–94 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1993–94 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 Steve Fisher, the team finished second in the Big Ten Conference. The team earned an invitation to the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as a number three seed and advanced to the fourth round. The team was ranked for the entire eighteen weeks of Associated Press Top Twenty-Five Poll, starting the season ranked fifth, peaking at number three and ending ranked eleventh, and it also ended the season ranked eleventh in the final USA Today/CNN Poll. The team went 6–6 against ranked teams including the following victories: November 26, 1993, against #13 Georgia Tech 80–70 in the Tipoff Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts, January 29, 1994, against #16 Wisconsin 79–75 at home, February 1 against #8 Purdue 63–62 on the road, February 8 against #12 Indiana 91–67 at home, February 19 against #20 Minnesota 72–65 at home, and March 19 against #12 Texas in the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 84–79 at Kansas Coliseum.
Juwan Howard and Jason Bossard served as team co-captains, while Howard shared team MVP honors with Jalen Rose. The team's leading scorers were Jalen Rose (636 points), Juwan Howard (625 points), and Jimmy King (358 points). The leading rebounders were Juwan Howard (270), Ray Jackson (195), and Jalen Rose (182).
The team surpassed the 1986 team's single-season total of 265 steals with 267 to establish the current school record.

## Regular season

In November 2003, Mitch Albom released his book Fab five: basketball, trash talk, the American dream chronicling the recruiting of and first two years of play of the Fab Five. After Chris Webber left for the NBA, the team entered the season ranked fifth in the nation as it opened the season against number 13 Georgia Tech. Michigan found itself with a 21–6, (13–4 Big Ten) record and tied with the Purdue Boilermakers for the conference lead with one game remaining. Michigan then lost (for the third time in its last four games) to a struggling Northwestern Wildcats team, and finished second in the conference. After the season, Howard was selected as a first team All-Big-Ten member along with Glenn Robinson, Rose, Shawn Respert, and Damon Bailey. In the opening round of the 1994 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Howard helped Michigan survive with a 78–74 overtime victory over Pepperdine by scoring 28 points and adding 9 rebounds before fouling out. In the second round, Howard posted 34 points and 18 rebounds to lead the team to an 84–79 victory over Texas. Michigan faced a Joe Smith-led Maryland in the Sweet Sixteen round. Howard scored 24 and had 11 rebounds before fouling out with 2:49 remaining in the 78–71 victory. Howard earned the regional MVP award with a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds despite collecting two fouls in the first two minutes in the Elite Eight round against a victorious Arkansas team that had United States President Bill Clinton as a vocal supporter. After the season, Howard announced his intention to enter the 1994 NBA Draft. The following day, Rose announced he would enter the draft as well.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference Regular Season ||||||
| Nov 26, 1993* | No. 5 | vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech | W 80–70 | 1–0 | Springfield Civic Center Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Nov 29, 1993* | No. 5 | Cleveland State | W 84–71 | 2–0 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 2, 1993* | No. 5 | Tulane | W 84–69 | 3–0 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 4, 1993* | No. 5 | Chattanooga | W 97–86 | 4–0 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 6, 1993* | No. 3 | Detroit Mercy | W 78–60 | 5–0 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 11, 1993* | No. 3 | No. 4 Duke | L 63–73 | 5–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 20, 1993* | No. 7 | Central Michigan | W 86–44 | 6–1 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 28, 1993* | No. 7 | vs. Auburn | W 102–81 | 7–1 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Dec 29, 1993* | No. 7 | at No. 12 Arizona | L 95–119 | 7–2 | McKale Center Tucson, Arizona |
| Jan 3, 1994* | No. 13 | Boston University | W 111–84 | 8–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Big Ten Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 5, 1994 | No. 13 | Michigan State | W 75–64 | 9–2 (1–0) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 8, 1994* | No. 13 | at Iowa | W 71–70 | 10–2 (2–0) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa |
| Jan 13, 1994* | No. 10 | Ohio State | W 86–75 $^{OT}$ | 11–2 (3–0) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Jan 16, 1994* | No. 10 | at No. 11 Indiana | L 72–82 | 11–3 (3–1) | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Jan 20, 1994 | No. 15 | at No. 20 Minnesota | L 58–63 | 11–4 (3–2) | Williams Arena Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Jan 23, 1994 | No. 15 | at Illinois | W 74–70 | 12–4 (4–2) | Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois |
| Jan 29, 1994 | No. 15 | No. 16 Wisconsin | W 79–75 | 13–4 (5–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 1, 1994 | No. 13 | at No. 8 Purdue | W 63–62 | 14–4 (6–2) | Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Feb 5, 1994 | No. 13 | at Michigan State | W 59–51 | 15–4 (7–2) | Breslin Student Events Center East Lansing, Michigan |
| Feb 8, 1994 | No. 11 | No. 12 Indiana | W 91–67 | 16–4 (8–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 13, 1994 | No. 11 | at Ohio State | W 72–70 | 17–4 (9–2) | St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Feb 16, 1994 | No. 7 | Iowa | W 89–76 | 18–4 (10–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 19, 1994 | No. 7 | No. 20 Minnesota | W 72–65 | 19–4 (11–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Feb 22, 1994 | No. 3 | Illinois | W 79–70 | 20–4 (12–2) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 2, 1994 | No. 3 | at Wisconsin | L 58–71 | 20–5 (12–3) | Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin |
| Mar 6, 1994 | No. 3 | No. 9 Purdue | L 94–95 | 20–6 (12–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 9, 1994 | No. 8 | Penn State | W 81–72 | 21–6 (13–4) | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Mar 12, 1994 | No. 8 | at Northwestern | L 93–97 $^{OT}$ | 21–7 (13–5) | Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1994* | (3 MW) No. 11 | vs. (14 MW) Pepperdine First round | W 78–74 | 22–7 | Kansas Coliseum Park City, Kansas |
| Mar 19, 1994* | (3 MW) No. 11 | vs. (6 MW) No. 20 Texas Second Round | W 84–79 | 23–7 | Kansas Coliseum Park City, Kansas |
| Mar 25, 1994* | (3 MW) No. 11 | vs. (10 MW) Maryland Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 78–71 | 24–7 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| Mar 27, 1994* | (3 MW) No. 11 | vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Arkansas Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 68–76 | 24–8 | Reunion Arena Dallas, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. ||||||

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

## Team players drafted into the NBA

Four players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.
| Year | Round | Pick | Overall | Player | NBA Club |
| 1994 | 1 | 5 | 5 | Juwan Howard | Washington Bullets |
| 1994 | 1 | 13 | 13 | Jalen Rose | Denver Nuggets |
| 1995 | 2 | 6 | 35 | Jimmy King | Toronto Raptors |
| 1997 | 1 | 11 | 11 | Olivier Saint-Jean | Sacramento Kings |