1989 NCAA tournament championship game

National championship game
Michigan Wolverines Seton Hall Pirates Big Ten Big East (29–7) (31–6) 80 79 Head coach: Steve Fisher Head coach: P.J. Carlesimo
AP:10 Coaches:10 AP:11 Coaches:11
1st half 2nd half OT Total Michigan Wolverines 37 34 9 80 Seton Hall Pirates 32 39 8 79
Date	April 3, 1989
Venue	Kingdome,Seattle, Washington
MVP	Glen Rice,Michigan
Favorite	Seton Hall by 2.5
Referees	Mickey Crowley, Tom Rucker, John Clougherty
Attendance	39,187
United States TV coverage
Network	CBS
Announcers	Brent Musburger (play-by-play) Billy Packer (color)
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The1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the final round of the1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. It determined the national champion for the1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, and was contested by the Southeast Regional Champions, No. 3-seededMichigan Wolverines of theBig Ten and the West Regional Champions, No. 3-seededSeton Hall Pirates of theBig East. Both teams were seeking their first national title. The game was played on April 3, 1989, at theKingdome inSeattle, Washington.

Michigan defeated Seton Hall, 80–79 in OT,^[1] to claim their first national championship in basketball. It was also the first title for interim head coachSteve Fisher. Wolverine senior forwardGlen Rice was named theNCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP) as he established the tournament scoring record with 184 points.

Source^[2]

Michigan trailed by three, 79–76, with less than a minute remaining in overtime whenTerry Mills hit a turnaround 11-footer to cut the Seton Hall lead to 79–78. After a defensive stop, the Pirates' Gerald Greene was controversially called for a foul onRumeal Robinson with three seconds left in overtime. Robinson made both free throws, and, after Seton Hall's last-second shot came up short, Michigan won its first national championship.^[3]

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 21 Rumeal Robinson 21 3 11 G 11 Mike Griffin 0 4 3 F 41 Glen Rice 31 11 0 F 35 Loy Vaught 8 7 0 C 52 Terry Mills 8 6 2 Reserves: G/F 24 Sean Higgins 10 9 2 C 55 Mark Hughes 2 2 0 G 13 Demetrius Calip 0 0 1 Head coach: Steve Fisher

Michigan Seton Hall 0 Michigan Statistics Seton Hall 30/67 (45%) Field goals 28/65 (43%) 6/16 (38%) 3-pt. field goals 7/23 (30%) 14/16 (88%) Free throws 16/22 (73%) 11 Offensive rebounds 7 31 Defensive rebounds 27 42 Total rebounds 34 19 Assists 14 14 Turnovers 11 3 Steals 4 4 Blocks 2 16 Fouls 23

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 15 Gerald Greene 13 5 5 G 24 Daryll Walker 13 11 1 F 10 Andrew Gaze 5 3 3 F 23 John Morton 35 4 3 C 25 Ramón Ramos 9 5 1 Reserves: F 31 Mike Cooper 0 2 0 F 32 Anthony Avent 2 3 1 G 30 Frantz Volcy 0 1 0 C 4 Pookey Wigington 2 0 0 Head coach: P. J. Carlesimo

While Michigan and Seton Hall experienced regular season and postseason success in the following years, 1989 marked a high point for both teams. To date, this remains the only championship won by the Wolverines, while this is the only appearance in the championship game for the Pirates. Since 1989, the closest Seton Hall got to another Final Four was the Elite Eight in1991, where they lost to then-undefeatedUNLV. Michigan would make four more appearances in the national championship game after this in1992,1993,2013, and2018 (the former two were later vacated by the NCAA), and the Wolverines would lose all four, bringing their record in the championship game to 1–6, the worst record among teams that have previously won a championship.

• 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
• NCAA Division I men's basketball championship games
• Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
• Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball
• College basketball tournaments in Washington (state)
• Basketball competitions in Seattle
• 1989 in sports in Washington (state)
• 1980s in Seattle
• April 1989 sports events in the United States

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• Use mdy dates from August 2023