By Alan Goldenbach
Daily Sports Editor
NEW YORK - In a season that was as bittersweet as any, Michigan used a sugar coating for the finishing touch.
Getting snubbed by the NCAA tournament committee was not what the Michigan basketball team had in mind at the outset of the season. But the Wolverines played the hand they were dealt and now feel somewhat vindicated after taking home the NIT championship last night with an 82-73 victory over Florida State at Madison Square Garden.
"Nothing is more sweet than the smell and taste of victory," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said, "and we have that and we have it in fine fashion."
The postgame talk centered around proving the NCAA tournament committee wrong for leaving Michigan out of the 64-team field.
"Now some people are saying that we should have been in the NCAA tournament," junior forward Maurice Taylor said. "It's good to grab something and put it back in their faces.
"Our goal was to be a champion. We didn't know we'd be in the NIT, but anything is better than nothing. We wanted to come home with some kind of championship."
After beginning the season with an eight-game winning streak, Michigan crashed and burned once it hit the Big Ten season, going a mediocre 9-9.
But ending the campaign winning seven straight was all that this team could have asked for, given the circumstances.
"We had our ups and downs throughout the season," tournament MVP Robert Traylor said. "But for the most part, we stuck together as a team and just fought through the bad times to be successful in the end."
Traylor equaled the career high he set last week against Notre Dame, with 26 points against the Seminoles. For the tourney, the sophomore center averaged 18.2 points in the five games.
The title dissolved the dark cloud that hung over the Wolverines which stemmed from rumors of NCAA violations that surfaced two weeks ago when the tournament began.
"(Winning the NIT) shows a lot of character of our team," Taylor said. "We didn't put our heads down, stick in our tails and go whining. We came out here to win the NIT and we're playing our best ball of the season down the stretch."
Michigan won the game on the boards, outrebounding Florida State, 47-28, including a season-high 28 on the offensive glass. Traylor paced the the Wolverines' onslaught with 13 rebounds.
"They literally manhandled us around the basket," Florida State coach Pat Kennedy said. "I don't think I've coached a team in all my 17 years that has been so physically imposing as they are."
Michigan took control of the game late in the first half on the heels of a 10-2 run to go up 32-19 after a Louis Bullock 3-pointer. The teams pretty much traded baskets for the remainder of the half and Michigan went into intermission with a 41-31 lead.
But the Wolverines came out of the lockerroom on fire, scoring the first eight points of the half on behalf of four Florida State turnovers.
After Michigan went up 54-37 less than six minutes into the half, Kennedy went to a half-court trap which initially gave Michigan fits. The Seminoles were able to run off 12-straight points over the next 2:14 to cut the deficit to only five points.
"The thing that brought us back was the half-court trap," Kennedy said. "We couldn't defend them one-on-one around the basket."
Michigan was able to adjust, however, although the Seminoles did cut the lead down to two, 68-66, after a pair of Corey Louis free throws at the 4:46 mark.
But the next few possessions sealed the Seminoles' fate. Traylor came up with a hard-fought layup to extend the lead to four.
Florida State then committed a pair of costly turnovers, which allowed Michigan to give itself some breathing room. Louis threw the ball over guard Kerry Thompson's head, turning it over to Michigan with 3:29 to go. Despite stopping the Wolverines the next trip downcourt, Traylor came up with the defensive gem of the game, knocking the ball out of Thompson's hands and off his foot out of bounds, giving the Wolverines the ball.
That possession culminated with a magnificent alley-oop pass from Travis Conlan to Taylor from behind the arc. Michigan was up by six with 2:26 to play and Florida State's hopes were crushed.
Fisher gave a philosophical take on the close season's end. "This is going to be two books. We're closing the book on 1996-97, and we're starting 1997-98. It gives us a jumpstart on next season and makes us feel good about ourselves."