Michigan Honors Its Rudy

It looks as if inspirational “Rudy” stories aren’t limited to college football, much less schools with leprechauns and a golden dome.

At Notre Dame, they can always tell the tale of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger whenever things get tough, but Michigan had a Rudy story of its own, for one day anyway.

Rudy Tomjanovich, the Houston Rocket coach and former Michigan basketball star, had his

No. 45 jersey retired Saturday during halftime of the Wolverines’ game against Iowa. Michigan held a 31-29 lead at the time, but went on to defeat Iowa, 70-62, to win for the 14th time in 16 games.

Michigan has won 11 in a row at Crisler Arena and has put together a remarkable turnaround after starting 0-6 for the first time in school history.

“We still are Michigan and we represent a program of tradition,” Coach Tommy Amaker said. “To have Rudy Tomjanovich here and to see his jersey retired means a lot to this program. Even though we will not make a postseason tournament, we still deserve things.”

Ah, yes. Michigan’s little postseason problem.

The Wolverines, 14-8 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten Conference, are done at the end of the regular season because of self-imposed sanctions stemming from the scandal involving ex-booster Ed Martin.

Too bad. Things are going so well. The Wolverines are tied with Purdue for first place in the Big Ten with a chance to win their first regular-season title since 1986.

Maybe it was a good idea to celebrate the past.

Tomjanovich, an accurate long-range shooter who did not have the benefit of the three-point line, averaged 30.1 points and 15.7 rebounds as a senior in 1969-70.

Unwilling to talk about his past success, Tomjanovich, 54, refused to speak to the media about the retirement of his jersey until 30 minutes before the game. His demeanor didn’t surprise his old teammates, who remembered Tomjanovich as being modest and quiet.

“For the longest time I used to think his name was Tom and his last name was Janovich,” former Michigan teammate Dan Fife told the Detroit Free Press. “Rudy to me was just very unassuming. There is nothing phony about Rudy.”

Tomjanovich called the ceremony “a highlight in my really blessed basketball career” and said he was glad to see Michigan on the way up again after two consecutive losing seasons.

“It’s really tough with traveling but I’m always checking up,” Tomjanovich said. “Some years are better than others. I’m really excited about what’s happening here now.”

Another Xavier Xerox?

Is he the next Derek Strong? Tyrone Hill?

Maybe Brian Grant? Or Aaron Williams?

Xavier has produced its share of NBA players, a good portion seemingly cut from the same blue-collar cloth that dictates the importance of rebounds and roughhousing over style and grace.

David West might be the one to break the Musketeer big-man mold, showing a sweet shooting touch in addition to banging around down low on the way to 47 points and 18 rebounds Saturday against in-state rival Dayton.

West, a 6-foot-9 senior forward, nearly had a double-double in the first half with 22 points and eight rebounds, shooting over or muscling through Dayton’s two 6-11 post players, Sean Finn and Keith Waleskowski.

West’s three-pointer from the top of the key sparked Xavier’s rally from a 15-point first-half deficit and the Musketeers defeated Dayton, 85-77.

“There was a guy today that saved us -- David West,” Coach Thad Matta said. “That was one of the best college performances I’ve ever seen.”

After Dayton lost for the 18th consecutive time at Xavier, West questioned the Flyers’ game plan.

“That was the first time since my freshman year that I didn’t get double-teamed,” West said. “I was waiting for it, but it never came, so coach kept calling my number. That’s probably the last time I’ll see it this year.”

No Longer Deflated

UCLA wasn’t the only traditional titan in powder blue that halted an embarrassing streak Saturday.

North Carolina defeated Florida State, 61-60, to end a losing streak at five that included a 20-point loss to Georgia Tech and a 15-point loss to Maryland.

Coach Matt Doherty was elated.

“It’s like a big balloon that you just get to untie the knot at the bottom and let the air out,” he said. “I am so proud of these kids because we have invested so much emotionally.”

The balloon almost blew away.

The Tar Heels trailed, 57-53, with 4:19 left, and needed David Noel’s free throw to end a 60-60 tie with 5.6 seconds left.

The Beat(ing) Goes On

Kansas and Oklahoma showed no sympathy -- and why would they? -- by drubbing a couple of Big 12 teams and extending eye-catching winning streaks. A few hours later, Arizona fended off Washington State to continue a streak of its own.

Extend-a-Streak Saturday started with Kansas defeating Kansas State for a 26th consecutive time. Senior guard Kirk Hinrich scored 28 points and then put pressure on the younger Jayhawks after an 82-64 victory.

“The streak is unbelievable,” Hinrich said. “Now it’s up to [the underclassmen] to keep it going.”

Oklahoma, which gets nearly 60% of its scoring from seniors, could have played only underclassmen and still would have defeated Baylor.

The Sooners defeated Baylor for the 18th consecutive time, a 91-42 thrashing that was the Bears’ worst loss since 1983.

“We’re not quite as good as we played today, probably, and Baylor’s nowhere near as bad as they played,” Coach Kelvin Sampson said. “They caught us on the wrong day.”

Not to be left out, Arizona pulled away at the end of a tight game against Washington State, 75-62 -- its 36th consecutive victory over the Cougars.

He’s Still Playing?

Texas A&M; senior guard Bernard King -- no relation to the former prolific scoring NBA player of the same name -- became the Big 12’s career scoring leader when he made a free throw with 11:48 left to give him 1,831 points, surpassing Marcus Fizer’s total for Iowa State from 1997 to 2000.

Despite the record, King hardly played like his namesake, who averaged 22.3 points a game with five NBA teams from 1977 to 1993. The Aggie King made one of 12 shots and blew a wide-open dunk that would have given Texas A&M; a seven-point lead over Texas. The Longhorns won, 95-87.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Wolverine Dandies

Michigan’s all-time scoring average leaders

*--* Player, Years Avg Cazzie Russell, 1964-66 27.1 Rudy Tomjanovich, 1967-70 25.1 Henry Wilmore, 1971-73 23.6 Bill Buntin, 1963-65 21.8

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Michigan players who have played in NBA All-Star games

*--* Player NBA Team Selection Robert Harrison St. Louis Hawks 1 Cazzie Russell Golden St. Warriors 1 Rudy Tomjanovich Houston Rockets 4 Campy Russell Cleveland Cavaliers 1 Rickey Green Utah Jazz 1 Juwan Howard Washington Bullets 1 Glen Rice Charlotte Hornets 3 Chris Weber Wash.Wiz/Sac. Kings 5

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