1996–97 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by fourth year head coach Kevin Stallings, played their home games at Redbird Arena and were a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.

1996–97 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
MVC regular season champion
MVC Tournament champion
NCAA Tournament, First Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
1996–97 record24–6 (14–4 MVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaRedbird Arena
1996–97 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Illinois State144 .778  246  .800
Bradley126 .667  1713  .567
Southwest Missouri State126 .667  249  .727
Northern Iowa117 .611  1612  .571
Evansville117 .611  1714  .548
Creighton108 .556  1515  .500
Wichita State810 .444  1413  .519
Southern Illinois612 .333  1317  .433
Indiana State612 .333  1216  .429
Drake018 .000  226  .071
1997 MVC Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The Redbirds finished the season 24–6, 14–4 in conference play to finish in first place. They were the number one seed for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. They won their quarterfinal game versus Indiana State University, semifinal game versus the University of Northern Iowa, and final game versus Southwest Missouri State University to earn the championship title.

The Redbirds received the conference automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. They were assigned to the Midwest Regional as the number eleven seed where they lost to Iowa State University in the first round.

Roster

1996–97 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
C 35 Rob Gibbons 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Jr Rockaway, NJ
G 11 Steve Hansell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Jr Birmingham, England
F 44 Dan Muller 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Jr Lafayette, IN
G 13 Skipp Schaefbauer 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Jr Elk River, MN
G 15 Jamar Smiley 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
Jr West Hempstead, NY
C 32 LeRoy Watkins 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Jr Chicago, IL
G 24 Kyle Cartmill 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
So Quincy, IL
F 42 Rico Hill 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
So Calumet Park, IL
F 14 Ben Holmstrom 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
So Rockford, IL
F 23 Kenneth Pierson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
So Conroe, TX
C 33 Ronald vanVelzen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
So Noordwijk, Netherlands
F 25 Ryan Crowley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Fr Naperville, IL
F 30 Joe Hein 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Fr Northbrook, IL
G 22 Nic Stotler 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Fr Brighton, IL
50 Khalil Ourguis 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Namur, Belgium
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[2]

Schedule

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular Season
November 24, 1996*
at Pittsburgh W 69–50  1–0
                Fitzgerald Field House 
Pittsburgh, PA
November 30, 1996*
Eastern Kentucky W 87–64  2–0
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
December 4, 1996*
vs. DePaul W 75–50  3–0
                Kiel Center 
St. Louis, MO
December 7, 1996*
Ohio W 81–69  4–0
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
December 14, 1996*
at Duquesne L 64–91  4–1
                A. J. Palumbo Center 
Pittsburgh, PA
December 18, 1996*
at Northwestern W 67–47  5–1
                Welsh–Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
December 21, 1996*
at Wisconsin-Green Bay W 71–61  6–1
                Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena 
Green Bay, WI
December 23, 1996*
Illinois-Chicago W 78–58  7–1
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
December 29, 1996
at Creighton W 54–45  8–1
(1–0)
                Omaha Civic Auditorium (4,959)
Omaha, NE
January 4, 1997
Evansville W 80–67  9–1
(2–0)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 9, 1997
Northern Iowa L 71–77 OT 9–2
(2–1)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 12, 1997
at Southern Illinois W 76–70  10–2
(3–1)
 15  Muller  6  Watkins  6  Schaefbauer  SIU Arena (4,212)
Carbondale, IL
January 16, 1997
Indiana State W 101–58  11–2
(4–1)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 19, 1997
at Evansville W 67–53  12–2
(5–1)
                Roberts Municipal Stadium 
Evansville, IN
January 22, 1997
at Northern Iowa L 88–93 2OT 12–3
(5–2)
                UNI Dome 
Cedar Falls, IA
January 25, 1997
Wichita State W 79–71  13–3
(6–2)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
January 27, 1997
Southwest Missouri State W 95–84  14–3
(7–2)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
February 1, 1997
Bradley W 69–67  15–3
(8–2)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
February 3, 1997
at Drake W 73–65  16–3
(9–2)
                The Knapp Center 
Des Moines, IA
February 8, 1997
at Wichita State W 62–53  17–3
(10–2)
                Henry Levitt Arena 
Wichita, KS
February 10, 1997
at Southwest Missouri State L 66–79  17–4
(10–3)
                John Q. Hammons Student Center 
Springfield, MO
February 13, 1997
Southern Illinois W 82–77  18–4
(11–3)
 32  Hill  11  Hill  9  Smiley  Redbird Arena (8,187)
Normal, IL
February 15, 1997
Drake W 82–51  19–4
(12–3)
                Redbird Arena 
Normal, IL
February 18, 1997
at Indiana State W 78-68  20–4
(13–3)
                Hulman Center 
Terre Haute, IN
February 22, 1997
at Bradley L 64–69  20–5
(13–4)
                Carver Arena 
Peoria, IL
February 24, 1997
Creighton W 74–69  21–5
(14–4)
                Redbird Arena (8,374)
Normal, IL
Missouri Valley Conference {MVC} Tournament
March 1, 1997
(1) (9) Indiana State
Quarterfinal
W 72–58  22–5
 21  Hill  9  Muller  10  Smiley  Kiel Center 
St. Louis, MO
March 2, 1997
(1) (4) Northern Iowa
Semifinal
W 69–65  23–5
 29  Hill  7  Hill  5  Smiley  Kiel Center 
St. Louis, MO
March 3, 1997
 ESPN
(1) (3) Southwest Missouri State
Final
W 75–72  24–5
 31  Hill  8  Muller  2  Hansell,
Schaefbauer,
Smiley
 
Kiel Center (9,751)
St. Louis, MO
National Collegiate Athletic Association {NCAA} Tournament
March 13, 1997
 CBS
(11) vs. (6) No. 18 Iowa State
Midwest Region
[First Round]
L 57–69  24–6
 14  Hill  14  Hill  12  Smiley  The Palace of Auburn Hills (21,020)
Auburn Hills, MI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Standard Time.

[3] [4]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.