NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR : RICE ON THE RISE : Illinois Found Way to Cool Michigan Star Last Time, but He Has Warmed to Occasion

It was difficult Friday to determine the identity of Glen Rice’s tormentor the last time Michigan played Illinois.

Rice thought it was the Illini’s Nick Anderson.

But Anderson’s teammate, Kenny Battle, gave the credit to Stephen Bardo, who in turn said it was a group effort that steamed the frustrated Rice, limiting the All-American forward to only 14 points on six-of-14 shooting last month in an 89-73 Illinois rout at Ann Arbor, Mich.

However they did it, the Illini (31-4) will attempt to duplicate the effort today when they play the Wolverines (28-7) at the Kingdome in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

The winner of the all-Big Ten matchup will meet Duke or Seton Hall Monday night for the national championship.

Not many thought it would be Michigan after the debacle of March 11, when the Wolverines were overwhelmed by Illinois in their own Crisler Arena.

Four days later, Coach Bill Frieder resigned.

But Rice, who last week was named on all 109 ballots as the most outstanding player in the Southeast Regional, has carried interim coach Steve Fisher and his teammates through the tournament.

The 6-foot-7 senior, almost certain to be a lottery pick in the National Basketball Assn. draft, has made 62.2% of his shots, including 60.6% from three-point range, and has averaged 31.3 points a game.

Last week, Rice made eight of 12 three-point shots and 13 of 19 overall in a 92-87 victory over North Carolina.

Only two days later, Rice was even better against Virginia, making 13 of 16 shots and scoring 32 points in a 102-65 victory.

“I can’t imagine a guy like that playing with more confidence, but you know, he really is,” Illinois Coach Lou Henson said of Rice, who averages 25.4 points a game and was co-player of the year in the Big Ten. “When he shoots it now, he just knows it’s going to go in.

“In the four playoff games, he has just been unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve seen a player play better over a long stretch.”

Said Rice’s teammate, Loy Vaught: “He’s beautiful to watch.”

Against Illinois last month, though, Rice was watched beautifully.

“They always had a man in the area where Glen likes to come off screens and get the basketball,” Fisher said of the Illini. “He had a tough time getting the ball in areas where he wanted to shoot it.

“The only way he could get it with any regularity was to go down on the blocks and beg for it, and he’s not at his best when he does that.”

Rice blamed himself.

“They did a good job switching on me,” he said, “and I got frustrated and didn’t work as hard as I should have.”

Fisher, though, applauded the swarming Illini.

“I think what they do as well as anybody in the country is play defense,” he said. “They were the best defensive team in the Big Ten.”

Also, among the most faceless.

The Positionless Clones, a national magazine called the Illini, who all seem to be quick and athletic and stand about 6-foot-6.

Call them what you will, but Illinois is unbeaten with guard Kendall Gill, who missed 12 games with a broken left foot but played in a pair of victories over Michigan, pouring in 26 points against the Wolverines at Champaign-Urbana, Ill., in January, and scoring another 19 last month in the second game after his return to the lineup.

“They’re a terrific team with or without him,” Fisher said of the Illini. “They may be sensational with him.”

They were against Michigan.

“The best team I’ve seen in this league since (undefeated national champion) Indiana in 1976,” Frieder said of the Illini in January after his Wolverines were beaten, 96-84, despite 30 points from Rice.

Illinois went into a tailspin after that, losing three of four games at one point and four of eight, but the Illini twice beat Indiana, the Big Ten champion, and they were on a roll when they swamped Michigan at Ann Arbor, limiting the nation’s No. 1 shooting team to only 42.3% from the floor.

They’ve won 10 straight games, carrying their coach to the Final Four for the first time since he brought New Mexico State to the semifinals in 1970.

A third straight victory over Michigan would put them in the final and take a burden off Henson, who some have said isn’t a good coach.

Meanwhile, Fisher has become something of a folk hero since taking over for Frieder, who accepted an offer from Arizona State on March 15.

Henson finds that amusing.

“I want to tell Steve that, when you win 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, you won’t be quite as good a coach as you go along,” said Henson, whose teams have won more than 500 games. “You’ll be much weaker in the eyes of some.

“Eventually, you’ll get to the point where you shouldn’t be coaching because you won’t know how to do it.”

If Fisher beats Illinois today, that’s not likely.

But a lot depends on Rice.