| 1995–96Princeton Tigers men's basketball | |
|---|---|
Ivy League Champion | |
One-game Ivy League playoff, Won 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Thirteen Seed, Regional quarterfinal | |
| Conference | Ivy League |
| Record | 22–7 (12–2, 1st-t Ivy) |
| Head coach |
|
| Captain | Sydney Johnson |
| Home arena | Jadwin Gymnasium |
Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 → | |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Princeton | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 22 | – | 7 | .759 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | 17 | – | 10 | .630 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dartmouth | 9 | – | 5 | .643 | 16 | – | 10 | .615 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Harvard | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 15 | – | 11 | .577 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Brown | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 10 | – | 16 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cornell | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 10 | – | 16 | .385 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yale | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 8 | – | 18 | .308 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Columbia | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 7 | – | 19 | .269 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rankings fromAP Poll[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The1995–96 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team representedPrinceton University in intercollegiatecollege basketball during the1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Thehead coach wasPete Carril and the teamcaptain wasSydney Johnson.[2] The team played its home games in theJadwin Gymnasium on the University campus inPrinceton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of theIvy League, which earned them an invitation to the 64-team1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they were seeded thirteenth in the Southeast Region.[3] This was the final year that Carril coached the men's basketball team.[4] He would be succeeded by assistant coachBill Carmody.[3] Carrill retired as the Ivy League's winningest coach in terms of overall victories, conference victories and conference championships.[5] By the end of the decade, Princeton achieved a 76.1% (210–66) winning percentage, which was the eighth best in the nation.[6]
Using thePrinceton offense, the team posted a 22–7 overall record and a 13–2 conference record.[2] Even afterJerome Allen andMatt Maloney who led the Penn Quakers to Ivy titles in the prior four seasons graduated, Princeton's only two losses were toPenn.[7] After losing the regular season finale atThe Palestra against Penn to finish the regular season tied for the conference championship on March 5,[8] the team won its March 9, 1996, one-game Ivy League playoff game against Penn inBethlehem, Pennsylvania, at theStabler Arena by a 63–56 margin inovertime for the Ivy League Championship and an invitation to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[2][3][4][9][10] The win ended an eight-game losing streak to Penn.[11] The win earned the team the conference automatic bid to the1996 NCAA tournament and following the gamehead coachPete Carril announced his retirement.[4][10] On March 14, the 13th seeded team was matched against thedefending national champion and fourth seededUCLA Bruins in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Southeast Regional first round game at theRCA Dome inIndianapolis, Indiana. The team fell behind 41–34 with over six minutes remaining, but held UCLA scoreless the rest of the game, winning 43–41 on the strength of a typicalPrinceton offense, Steve Goodrich to Gabe Lewullisbounce pass backdoor basket.[2][3][9][12] During the game,Sydney Johnson's leadership held the team together early when the UCLA team looked strong.[13][14][15] It was the final upset the team produced in Carril's career, as two days later, the Tigers season ended with a 63–41 loss toMississippi State in the second round.[16]
The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selectionsSteve Goodrich and Johnson.[3] The team won the eighth of twelve consecutive national statistical championships inscoring defense with a 51.7 points allowed average.[17] Goodrich led the Ivy League with a 60.3field goal percentage.[18]
| Date time, TV | Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | Site city, state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-conference Regular season | |||||||||||
| Nov 27, 1995* | at Lehigh | W 62–45 | 1–0 | Stabler Arena Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | |||||||
| Nov 29, 1995* | Lafayette | W 62–47 | 2–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Dec 1, 1995* | vs. Boise State | W 61–41 | 3–0 | Selland Arena Fresno, California | |||||||
| Dec 2, 1995* | at Fresno State | W 59–54 | 4–0 | Selland Arena Fresno, California | |||||||
| Dec 12, 1995* | Monmouth | L 56–65 | 4–1 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Dec 18, 1995* | Saint Joseph's | W 88–78 | 5–1 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Dec 21, 1995* | at Iowa State ISU Holiday Classic | L 47–50 | 5–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa | |||||||
| Dec 22, 1995* | vs. Nicholls State ISU Holiday Classic | W 86–51 | 6–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa | |||||||
| Dec 29, 1995* | vs. Ohio Pepsi/Oneida Casino Classic | W 65–60 | 7–2 | Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin | |||||||
| Dec 30, 1995* | at Green Bay Pepsi/Oneida Casino Classic | L 35–55 | 7–3 | Brown County Arena Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin | |||||||
| Jan 3, 1996* | at La Salle | L 49–52 | 7–4 | Convention Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||||||
| Ivy League Regular season | |||||||||||
| Jan 6, 1996 | Penn | L 55–57 | 7–5 (0–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Jan 12, 1996 | Yale | W 56–55 | 8–5 (1–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Jan 13, 1996 | Brown | W 64–36 | 9–5 (2–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Jan 29, 1996* | Haverford | W 75–46 | 10–5 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Feb 2, 1996 | Columbia | W 66–45 | 11–5 (3–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Feb 3, 1996 | Cornell | W 57–54 | 12–5 (4–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Feb 9, 1996 | at Harvard | W 49–44 | 13–5 (5–1) | Lavietes Pavilion Cambridge, Massachusetts | |||||||
| Feb 10, 1996 | at Dartmouth | W 52–41 | 14–5 (6–1) | Leede Arena Hanover, New Hampshire | |||||||
| Feb 16, 1996 | at Brown | W 58–56 | 15–5 (7–1) | Pizzitola Sports Center Providence, Rhode Island | |||||||
| Feb 17, 1996 | at Yale | W 64–42 | 16–5 (8–1) | John J. Lee Amphitheater New Haven, Connecticut | |||||||
| Feb 23, 1996 | Dartmouth | W 65–39 | 17–5 (9–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Feb 24, 1996 | Harvard | W 65–58 | 18–5 (10–1) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey | |||||||
| Mar 1, 1996 | at Cornell | W 65–49 | 19–5 (11–1) | Newman Arena Ithaca, New York | |||||||
| Mar 2, 1996 | at Columbia | W 57–55 | 20–5 (12–1) | Levien Gymnasium New York, New York | |||||||
| Mar 5, 1996 | at Penn | L 49–63 | 20–6 (12–2) | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||||||
| Ivy League Playoff | |||||||||||
| Mar 9, 1996* | vs. Penn | W 63–56 OT | 21–6 | Stabler Arena Bethlehem, Pennsylvania | |||||||
| NCAA tournament | |||||||||||
| Mar 14, 1996* | (13 MW) | vs. (4 MW) No. 14 UCLA First round | W 43–41 | 22–6 | RCA Dome (31,569) Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||
| Mar 16, 1996* | (13 MW) | vs. (5 MW) No. 19 Mississippi State Second round | L 41–63 | 22–7 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana | ||||||
*Non-conference game.#Rankings fromAP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. | |||||||||||
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