COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : Finally Michigan Survives

Michigan, its “Fab Five” freshman lineup reduced to the “Fab Three” by officials’ whistles, put away Oklahoma State, 75-72, Friday night and earned a Sunday rematch with Big Ten rival Ohio State for the NCAA Southeast Regional championship.

In a game in which 50 fouls were called and 34 turnovers committed, Michigan simply survived after two starters, Chris Webber and Ray Jackson, fouled out.

The Wolverines took the lead, 47-45, with 12:07 to play. But Oklahoma State remained in striking distance or tied, and was behind by only a point with nine seconds left.

Michigan’s Juwan Howard made one of two free throws with one second left, ensuring the victory.

So Steve Fisher’s all-freshman starting lineup plays Ohio State, a team that beat the Wolverines twice this season, by 10 and 11 points.

Although the game turned into a free throw-shooting contest, it almost became a brawl in the second half when Oklahoma State’s Byron Houston and Michigan’s James Voskuil nearly fought in a battle for a loose ball.

Webber, a 6-foot-9 center, picked up his fourth foul with 17:54 to play. He sat down for nine minutes, then fouled out a minute after he returned to the game, with 8:13 to play, and the game tied, 55-55.

Jackson, another teen-age starter, fouled out with 1:47 remaining.

In the homestretch, Michigan (23-8) seemed reasonably safe, with a six-point lead and 1:39 to play. But when Cowboy guard Corey Williams drilled a three-point shot with 27 seconds left, Michigan’s lead was suddenly only 71-69.

Howard boosted Michigan to 73-69 with free throws with 21 seconds to play, Jalen Rose added another and Howard made one of two with 7.3 seconds remaining, helping to save the Wolverines from guard Sean Sutton’s three-point basket.

Sutton, son of Coach Eddie Sutton, wept during the postgame interview. Sutton, a senior, had played for his father at Kentucky but left after Eddie Sutton was forced to resign in 1988 after NCAA infractions were discovered surrounding the program.

“All your life, you grow up dreaming of making it to the Final Four, and now, to know my career’s over and I’ll never make it . . . it’s tough for me,” Sean Sutton said.

“But I think our team had a lot of opportunities to throw in the towel tonight, and the fact we never did speaks for our character.”

His father said the game was decided under Oklahoma State’s backboards.

“We told the players before the game that the big key would be not giving them second chances on the boards, and we didn’t do that,” Eddie Sutton said.

“They’re too talented. You give them second chances under there, and they’ll kill you.”

Michigan had a slim lead for most of the second half, with Oklahoma State’s last lead being 41-40. That was quickly erased on Jimmy King’s three-point shot with 14:47 to play. Michigan never trailed thereafter, although the Cowboys (28-8) did gain ties at 45-45, 55-55 and 57-57.

When it ended, Oklahoma State had lost Williams, Darwyn Alexander and Randy Davis on fouls, and four players on the court had three or more fouls.