COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : It’s Almost Another Fab Dive for Michigan : West: George Washington hangs tough, but Wolverines get the key rebounds at the finish, 72-64.

The Michigan Wolverines, expected to have sure footing into the Final Four, chose to work the high wire again Friday in the West Regional semifinals.

Fresh off their overtime victory over UCLA in the second round, the Wolverines had to struggle to defeat George Washington, 72-64, before 24,021 in the Kingdome. The Wolverines, having fallen behind by 19 points in the first half against the Bruins, handled George Washington a little differently, opening a 13-point lead in the first six minutes of the game and then letting the Colonials make it close.

Michigan, the region’s top seeded team, made seven of 12 free throws in the final 1:28 to claim the victory, but more important was the way the Wolverines’ Ray Jackson and Jimmy King gobbled up rebounds on Michigan’s missed foul shots.

“There was one stage where our best offense was a missed free throw,” Michigan Coach Steve Fisher said, “because we got them back.”

All told, the Wolverines missed 14 free throws and threw the ball away 20 times against the region’s 12th-seeded team.

Fab Five or Fumbling Five?

“We know we have to fine-tune a lot of things if we want to be national champions,” Michigan guard Jalen Rose said. “But, at the same time, you have to win, and we did that.”

George Washington, one of the last at-large teams to make the tournament field, looked terrible at times. The Colonials fired up airballs--once even on a free throw--and Yinka Dare, their 7-foot-1 center from Nigeria, was a virtual no-show. Matched against Chris Webber, the Wolverines’ 6-9 power forward, Dare played only 19 minutes and failed to score.

“Yinka certainly found out what we’ve been telling him all along--that he has a long way to go,” Coach Mike Jarvis said. “I don’t think he was intimidated. I think he was outplayed.”

Still, just when Michigan (29-4) would appear on the verge of putting its stamp on the game, one of George Washington’s legion of perimeter players would make a three-point shot to shift the momentum.

“After we missed a couple of free throws, you’d look up at the scoreboard and think, ‘When is this game going to be over?’ ” Rose said. “Once we got a couple of rebounds, I felt comfortable. But we couldn’t relax, because they can shoot three-pointers.”

In the first seven minutes, the game looked like a mismatch. The Wolverines played defense with the intensity they showed in the second half against UCLA, and the Colonials (21-9), playing tentatively, missed their first 10 shots.

A drive by Juwan Howard (17 points, 10 rebounds) six minutes into the game gave Michigan a 15-2 lead.

George Washington finally got a field goal with 13:19 left in the half when Vaughn Jones banked a shot off the glass, and the shot seemed to help the Colonials find their legs.

They started making perimeter shots, including three three-pointers, and fashioned a 17-8 run that brought them to within two, at 23-21, with 7:38 to play.

“It was just a matter of us regaining our composure and realizing we could compete with these guys,” forward Sonni Holland said.

The story was the same at the start of the second half. The Wolverines built an eight-point lead 6:23 into the half, and the Colonials refused to fade.

Holland’s spin move in the lane gave George Washington the lead for the first time with 10:40 remaining, and the Colonials were ahead by three, 53-50, with 8:09 left.

Michigan went back in front with 7:04 to play on King’s three-pointer from the corner and did not fall behind again.

The Wolverines opened a six-point lead with three minutes left, but the Colonials came back to make it a two-point game with 1:36 remaining.

Webber then went to the foul line for Michigan. He missed twice, but Jackson came up with the ball and was fouled. He made his first free throw and missed the second, but again wound up with the loose ball. Fouled again, he made two free throws.

Kwame Evans threw in an 18-footer for George Washington with 54 seconds left. But Rose made two free throws, and George Washington’s Nimbo Hammons missed a three-pointer. The Wolverines had survived, again.

Said Jarvis: “Coach Fisher probably has the toughest job in America, coaching a team that’s always supposed to win by 20 points. I certainly wouldn’t trade places with him.”

** WEST REGIONAL

Eddie Jones scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half and Temple withstood a late long-range assault by Vanderbilt, 67-59. C6

* EAST REGIONAL

Cincinnati’s Nick Van Exel had an off night, but his two three-pointers helped the Bearcats pull away from Virginia, 71-54. C6

* DIVISION II

Cal State Bakersfield improved to 32-0 with a 61-57 victory over Wayne State and will face Troy State for the title today. C8