1988–89 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team

1988–89 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball
1988–89 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball
SoCon tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southern Conference
Record	20–11 (7–7 SoCon)
Head coach	Les Robinson (4th season);
Assistant coach	Alan LeForce
Home arena	ETSU/Mountain States Health; Alliance Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 1987–88 1989–90 →

1988–89 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Chattanooga	10	–	4	.714	18	–	12	.600
Furman	9	–	5	.643	17	–	12	.586
Appalachian State	8	–	6	.571	20	–	8	.714
East Tennessee State †	7	–	7	.500	20	–	11	.645
The Citadel	7	–	7	.500	16	–	12	.571
Marshall	6	–	8	.429	15	–	15	.500
VMI	5	–	9	.357	11	–	17	.393
Western Carolina	4	–	10	.286	12	–	16	.429

† 1989 SoCon Tournament winner As of April 30, 1988 Rankings from AP poll

The 1988–89 East Tennessee State Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 1988-89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Les Robinson. The Bucs finished the season 20–11 and 7–7 in Southern Conference play to finish in fourth place. They won the Southern Conference tournament championship in Asheville to receive the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament as the No. 16 seed in the Southeast region. They lost to No. 1 seed Oklahoma, 72–71 in the first round – the second game of the tournament between No. 1 and No. 16 seeds decided by a single point (Georgetown vs. Princeton). This was the first of four consecutive seasons where ETSU qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	11	Greg Dennis	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	So
PG	22	Keith Jennings	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	155 lb (70 kg)	So	Culpeper, Virginia

Head coach

Les Robinson

Assistant coach(es)

Alan LeForce

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Source^[1]

Source^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1988*		at No. 4 Syracuse Carrier Classic	L 81–120	2–1	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Dec 3, 1988*		vs. Miami (OH) Carrier Classic	W 79–78	3–1	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Dec 6, 1988*		Mississippi State	W 91–82	4–1	Memorial Center Johnson City, Tennessee
Dec 10, 1988*		Tennessee State	W 70–69	5–1	Memorial Center Johnson City, Tennessee
Dec 16, 1988*		vs. Pacific Sacramento Holiday Classic	W 88–86	6–1	Hornets Nest Sacramento, California
Dec 17, 1988*		at Sacramento State Sacramento Holiday Classic	W 88–86	7–1	Hornets Nest Sacramento, California
Dec 29, 1988*		vs. Southwest Missouri State BMA Holiday Classic	L 68–72	7–2	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 30, 1988*		vs. Iona BMA Holiday Classic	W 92–88	8–2	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 8, 1989		Western Carolina	W 83–74	9–2 (1–0)	Memorial Center Johnson City, Tennessee
Jan 9, 1989		Chattanooga	L 82–86	9–3 (1–1)	Memorial Center Johnson City, Tennessee
Jan 14, 1989		at Furman	L 86–90	9–4 (1–2)	Greenville Memorial Auditorium Greenville, South Carolina
Jan 21, 1989		Appalachian State	L 70–91	9–5 (1–3)	Memorial Center Johnson City, Tennessee
Jan 25, 1989		at The Citadel	W 79–70	10–5 (2–3)	Deas Hall Charleston, South Carolina
SoCon tournament
Mar 3, 1989*	(4)	vs. (5) The Citadel SoCon Tournament Quarterfinal	W 93–89	18–10	Asheville Civic Center Asheville, North Carolina
Mar 4, 1989*	(4)	vs. (1) Chattanooga SoCon Tournament Semifinal	W 76–73	19–10	Asheville Civic Center Asheville, North Carolina
Mar 5, 1989*	(4)	vs. (6) Marshall SoCon tournament championship	W 96–73	20–10	Asheville Civic Center Asheville, North Carolina
NCAA tournament
Mar 16, 1989*	(16 SE)	vs. (1 SE) No. 4 Oklahoma First Round	L 71–72^[3]	20–11	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[2]^[4]

References

^ "1988-89 ETSU Buccaneers Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ ^a ^b "1988-89 ETSU Buccaneers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
^ "No. 1-Seeded Sooners Struggle Past East Tennessee St., 72-71". March 17, 1989. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
^ "2019–20 ETSU Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). ETSU Athletics. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

[1] "1988-89 ETSU Buccaneers Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[sched-2] "1988-89 ETSU Buccaneers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.

[3] "No. 1-Seeded Sooners Struggle Past East Tennessee St., 72-71". March 17, 1989. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

[4] "2019–20 ETSU Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). ETSU Athletics. Retrieved April 11, 2020.

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[4]

v t e East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball
Venues	ETSU/Mountain States Health Alliance Athletic Center (1977–2014) Freedom Hall Civic Center (2014–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25