1996–97 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

1996–97 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
1996–97 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
C-USA regular season champions
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	26–8 (12–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Bob Huggins;
Assistant coaches	Larry Harrison; Steve Moeller; John Loyer;
Home arena	Myrl Shoemaker Center
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Conference USA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Blue
No. 10 Cincinnati	12	–	2	.857	26	–	8	.765
Marquette †	9	–	5	.643	22	–	9	.710
Saint Louis	4	–	10	.286	11	–	18	.379
DePaul	1	–	13	.071	3	–	23	.115
Red
Tulane	11	–	3	.786	20	–	11	.645
UAB	7	–	7	.500	18	–	14	.563
Southern Miss	6	–	8	.429	12	–	15	.444
South Florida	2	–	12	.143	8	–	19	.296
White
UNC Charlotte	10	–	4	.714	22	–	9	.710
Memphis	10	–	4	.714	16	–	15	.516
No. 25 Louisville	9	–	5	.643	26	–	9	.743
Houston	3	–	11	.214	11	–	16	.407

† 1997 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1996–97 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in NCAA Division I competition in the 1996–97 season. The Bearcats, coached by Bob Huggins, won Conference USA and reached the second round of the 1997 NCAA tournament. The team finished with an overall record of 26–8 (12–2 C-USA) and a No. 10 ranking in the final AP poll.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	34	Bobby Brannen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Jr	Cincinnati
G	33	Darnell Burton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Sr	Lexington, Kentucky
G	--	Terrence Davis	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr
F	--	Ryan Fletcher	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Sr	Franklin, Ohio
G	3	Damon Flint	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Sr	Cincinnati
PF	25	Danny Fortson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
F	--	Julson Jackson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Jr
G		Melvin Levett	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Cleveland, Ohio
F	--	Rod Monroe (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr

Head coach

Bob Huggins (West Virginia)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 23, 1996*	No. 1	Western Carolina	W 99–72	1–0	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 26, 1996*	No. 1	Xavier	L 69–71	1–1	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 30, 1996*	No. 1	Rutgers	W 105–65	2–1	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 4, 1996*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Kansas Great Eight	L 65–72	2–2	United Center Chicago, Illinois
Dec 17, 1996*	No. 7	Howard	W 90–46	3–2	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 19, 1996*	No. 7	Eastern Michigan	W 102–79	4–2	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 28, 1996*	No. 7	vs. Western Kentucky Gatorade Rock-N-Roll Shootout	W 81–57	5–2	Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio
Dec 30, 1996*	No. 6	vs. Southeast Missouri State Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	W 80–57	6–2	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Dec 31, 1996*	No. 6	vs. Nebraska Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	W 84–73	7–2	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Jan 1, 1997*	No. 6	vs. SW Missouri State Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	W 101–60	8–2	Eugene Guerra Sports Complex Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Jan 5, 1997	No. 6	at Saint Louis	W 64–52	9–2 (1–0)	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 8, 1997	No. 6	UAB	W 74–54	10–2 (2–0)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 10, 1997*	No. 6	Miami (OH)	W 91–61	11–2	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 16, 1997*	No. 4	Temple A-10/C-USA Challenge	L 55–70	11–3	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 18, 1997*	No. 4	Arkansas	W 92–57	12–3	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 21, 1997	No. 9	at UNC Charlotte	W 77–67	13–3 (3–0)	Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina
Jan 26, 1997*	No. 9	at USC	W 100–81	14–3	L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Jan 30, 1997	No. 8	at No. 9 Louisville	L 70–81	14–4 (3–1)	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 1, 1997	No. 8	DePaul	W 90–53	15–4 (4–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 6, 1997	No. 12	No. 21 Tulane	W 65–64	16–4 (5–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 8, 1997	No. 12	Marquette	W 91–70	17–4 (6–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 10, 1997*	No. 8	at Washington	W 82–69	18–4	Hec Edmundson Pavilion Seattle, Washington
Feb 13, 1997	No. 8	Saint Louis	W 69–56	19–4 (7–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 15, 1997*	No. 8	No. 12 South Carolina	L 83–97	19–5	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 18, 1997	No. 11	Houston	W 97–64	20–5 (8–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 20, 1997	No. 11	at South Florida	W 76–56	21–5 (9–1)	Sun Dome Tampa, Florida
Feb 22, 1997	No. 11	at DePaul	W 83–54	22–5 (10–1)	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
Feb 25, 1997	No. 9	Southern Miss	W 63–49	23–5 (11–1)	Myrl H. Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 27, 1997	No. 9	at Marquette	W 80–74	24–5 (12–1)	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 1, 1997	No. 9	at Memphis State	L 63–75	24–6 (12–2)	The Pyramid Memphis, Tennessee
C-USA Tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	(1) No. 10	at (9) Saint Louis Quarterfinals	W 71–43	25–6	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 7, 1997*	(1) No. 10	vs. (5) Marquette Semifinals	L 79–91	25–7	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (14 MW) Butler First Round	W 86–69^[2]	26–7	Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, Michigan
Mar 15, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (6 MW) No. 18 Iowa State Second Round	L 66–67^[3]	26–8	Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, Michigan
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[4]

Rankings

Awards and honors

Danny Fortson – C-USA Player of the Year, Consensus First-Team All-American

References

^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Conference USA Season Summary
^ "Burton, Not Forston, Is Key for Cincinnati". The New York Times. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
^ "Iowa State's Hot Hands Knock Off Cincinnati". The New York Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
^ "2020-21 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Cincinnati Bearcats. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

[1] sports-reference.com 1996-97 Conference USA Season Summary

[2] "Burton, Not Forston, Is Key for Cincinnati". The New York Times. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

[3] "Iowa State's Hot Hands Knock Off Cincinnati". The New York Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

[4] "2020-21 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Cincinnati Bearcats. Retrieved February 8, 2022.

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v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 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
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics