1975–76 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team


The 1975–76 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1975–76 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 Johnny Orr, the team finished second in the Big Ten Conference.
The team lost to all four ranked opponents it played during the regular season. However, the team earned the third of four consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament invitations, and it defeated the first three ranked opponents that it faced in the tournament. Wayman Britt served as team captain, and Rickey Green earned team MVP. As a team, it led the conference in scoring offense with an 85.8 average in conference games as well as in field goal percentage with a 52.1%.
The team began the season ranked sixteenth and peaked at ninth, where it finished the season in the Associated Press Top 20 Poll. It was ranked for a total of 16 out of 17 weeks during the season. The team also ended the season ranked ninth in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.
That season, Hubbard set the current school record for single-season rebounds by a freshman of 352. The team set a new school record by totaling 2753 points over the course of the season. The record would last for eleven seasons. The team set the school single-season total assist record of 600.
On January 12, 1976, the team began a 22-game home winning streak against that continued through a November 30, 1977, victory over. This surpassed the 17-game streak from December 1, 1964 – January 29, 1966, and stood as the longest home winning streak in school history until a 24-game streak that started on January 5, 1985.
In the 32-team 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan reached the championship game by winning the Midwest region. In so doing they defeated the 74-73, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 80-76 and the 95-88. Then in the final four, the team defeated the previously unbeaten 86-70 before losing in the championship game to the unbeaten Indiana Hoosiers 86-68.

Regular season

The team set the school record by totaling 2753 points during its 32-game season. The record lasted until 1987. The team also set the school record for field goal percentage, which would last for five seasons.

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:
NameGPGSMinAvgFGFGAFG%3FG3FGA3FG%FTFTAFT%ORDRRBAvgAstAvgPFDQTOStlBlkPtsAvg
Rickey Green32322665420.491----1061350.7851181193.71324.188163819.9
Phil Hubbard32312083810.546----661130.584534735211.0361.11291048215.1
John Robinson32311733020.573----1021230.82972552628.2742.383144814.0
Wayman Britt32321533260.469----42550.76401351354.21233.8109934810.9
Steve Grote32291342650.506----69950.726393963.01123.5116833710.5
Dave Baxter323801640.488----46560.821045451.4621.95402066.4
Joel Thompson28142860.488----10170.588063632.3170.6370943.4
Alan Hardy29041830.494----10190.526044441.5180.617024923.2
Tom Bergen29024430.558----15170.882035351.280.33303632.2
Tom Staton22014520.269----6100.600013130.690.42008341.6
Lloyd Schinnerer111171.6130.333----460.6670440.410.130560.6
Bobby Jones5051.0221.000----120.5000000.000.020051.0
Len Lillard5051.000----000330.600.010000.0
Donald Johnston1022.000----000000.000.000100.0
TEAM321231233.8
Season Total32113822490.5064776480.7361278129440.459218.569229275386.0
Opponents32100521320.471----4466350.7021224122438.351416.162525245676.8

Rankings

NCAA tournament

Team players drafted into the NBA

Seven players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft.
YearRoundPickOverallPlayerNBA Club
19764960Wayman BrittLos Angeles Lakers
197711616Rickey GreenGolden State Warriors
197731155Steve GroteCleveland Cavaliers
1977522110John RobinsonLos Angeles Lakers
197831761Dave BaxterSeattle SuperSonics
19784369Joel ThompsonHouston Rockets
197911515Phil HubbardDetroit Pistons