1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

The 1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1965–66 season. The team played its home games at Fielding H. Yost Field House (renamed Yost Ice Arena in 1973) on the school's campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Under the direction of head coach Dave Strack, the team won the Big Ten Conference Championship.[1][2]

1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
Big Ten regular season champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 9
1965–66 record18–8 (11–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPCazzie Russell
CaptainOliver Darden
Home arenaFielding H. Yost Field House
1965–66 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 9 Michigan11–3 .786  18–8  .692
Michigan State10–4 .714  15–7  .682
Iowa8–6 .571  17–7  .708
Illinois8–6 .571  12–12  .500
Minnesota7–7 .500  14–10  .583
Northwestern7–7 .500  12–12  .500
Wisconsin6–8 .429  11–13  .458
Ohio State5–9 .357  11–13  .458
Indiana4–10 .286  8–16  .333
Purdue4–10 .286  8–16  .333
Rankings from AP Poll

Season review

This was the last of three consecutive Big Ten titles and NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament appearances.[2] The team earned the Big Ten team statistical championships for both scoring offense (95.4) and scoring margin (9.9) as well as field goal percentage (48.9).[3][4] Senior Cazzie Russell averaged 30.8 points per game, including 33.2 in conference games to lead the conference.[2][5] Rusell also led the conference in field goal percentage (.542).[5] The team was ranked in the Associated Press Top Ten Poll ten of the fifteen weeks, starting the season ranked number two and ending it ranked number nine.[6] The team also finished the season ranked number seven in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.[7] Oliver Darden served as team captain, while Russell earned team MVP.[8] On February 18, 1966, Craig Dill went 12 for 12 in free throw attempts against Ohio State, which was a school single-game record for most without a miss until C. J. Kupec made 14 on January 2, 1975. This surpassed Oliver Darden's total of 11 set the prior season.[9]

Post season

In the 22-team 1966 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan reached the elite eight in the Mideast region by earning a bye and defeating the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 80–79. The team then fell to the Kentucky Wildcats 84–77.[10][11]

Accomplishments

Russell won the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball as Big Ten MVP for a second year in a row.[2][12] When Russell was selected as a 1966 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American for the third year in a row it was the first three-time recognition for a Wolverine.[13] Following the season Russell was the Number one overall player selected in the NBA Draft.[14] He won the numerous national player of the year awards including the Oscar Robertson Trophy, Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year, UPI College Basketball Player of the Year, Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year and the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year.[2]

Russell and the team set numerous Big Ten Conference records. Russell set the following record: single-season field goals made (308 all games, broken 1981),[15] single-season field goals made per game (13.0 conference games, broken 1969)[16] and career field goals made (839, 1964–66, broken 1970).[15] In addition, the team set conference game records for single-season points per game 95.4 (broken 1969)[17] Also, on February 19, 1966, against Purdue, the team set conference records for single-game points (128 broken December 30, 2006) and single-game field goals made (52, broken December 19, 1972).[18]

Russell also established numerous scoring records. He became the first Wolverine to total 800 points in a season, surpassing his own junior season total of 694 that surpassed his sophomore season record. This total has been surpassed by Glen Rice, but his 30.77 points per game still stands as a Michigan record. He also surpassed Bill Buntin's career totals and career average points records with 2164 points and 27.1. The average continues to be the school record, but Mike McGee eclipsed the total record. Furthermore, he surpassed John Tidwell's single-game total of 43 with a 45-point effort on December 11, 1965, against San Francisco and then established the current school record of 48 on March 5, 1966, against Northwestern.[19] Many of Russells points were scored on free throws. He continues to hold the school's career free throw record with 486, which surpassed Buntin's 385 total but has been surpassed by the vacated 505 total of Louis Bullock.[9] In 1966, he also set the current school single-season total record of 184, which eclipsed his own record of 152 set the prior year.[9] His career percentage record of 82.65 has also been surpassed by Bullock's vacated statistics (86.03%), but Lester Abram also surpassed this mark with an 82.93% in 2007.[9]

On December 1, 1964, the team began a 17-game home winning streak against the Ball State that continued through a January 29, 1966, victory over Wisconsin. This surpassed the 16-game streak from February 22, 1947 – February 7, 1949, and stood as the longest home winning streak in school history until a 22-game streak that started on January 12, 1976.[20]

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:[21]

Name GP GS Min Avg FG FGA FG% 3FG 3FGA 3FG% FT FTA FT% OR DR RB Avg Ast Avg PF DQ TO Stl Blk Pts Avg
Cazzie Russell2626308----1842230.8252178.358180030.8
John Clawson2626165----791040.7601867.294540915.7
Oliver Darden2525141----641100.5822419.694634613.8
Jim Myers2621148----45600.7502158.359234113.1
John Thompson242068----31420.738472.05411677.0
Craig Dill26660----33420.786993.86621535.9
Dennis Bankey24640----18330.545472.0340984.1
Dan Brown1509----13200.650241.6150312.1
Jim Pitts1108----7180.389131.280232.1
Van Tillotson905----120.500151.750111.2
Marc Delzer602----240.50050.83061.0
Martin Slebodnik301----0031.00020.7
Mark Fritz10111.000----0000.00022.0
TEAM261636.3
Season Total269564776580.725127549.049017238991.9
Opponents26856----4426280.704108541.749621215482.8

Rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Final 
AP Poll[6] 2 2 3 3 7 9 10 10 10 9

Team players drafted into the NBA

Three players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft.[22][23]

YearRoundPickOverallPlayerNBA Club
1966111Cazzie RussellNew York Knicks
19663222Oliver DardenDetroit Pistons
196741142Craig DillSan Diego Rockets

See also

References
  1. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 54. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  2. 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 11.
  3. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 36. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  4. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 37. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  5. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 33. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
  6. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 68–83. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  7. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 85. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  8. "All-Time Accolades". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. pp. 9–10. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  9. 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 174.
  10. "1966 Men's College Basketball Bracket". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  11. "1966 NCAA Basketball Tournament Bracket". databaseSports.com. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  12. "Chicago Sports". Chicago Tribune.
  13. "All-Time Accolades". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. pp. 4–7. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  14. "Cazzie Russell". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  15. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 26. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  16. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 30. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  17. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 31. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  18. "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 28. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  19. 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 162.
  20. "Through The Years". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. p. 7. Archived from the original on September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  21. "Men's Basketball Statistic Archive Query Page". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  22. "1966 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  23. "1967 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
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