1996–97 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 1996–97 collegiate men's basketball season. The Huskies completed the season with an 18–15 overall record. The Huskies were members of the Big East Conference where they finished with a 7–11 record.

1996–97 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
NIT, Third place
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	18–15 (7–11 Big East)
Head coach	Jim Calhoun (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Karl Hobbs Dave Leitao Tom Moore
Home arena	Hartford Civic Center Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6		.667			22	–	9		.710
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			21	–	10		.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10		.444			16	–	14		.533
St. John's	8	–	10		.444			13	–	15		.464
Connecticut	7	–	11		.389			18	–	15		.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7		.611			20	–	10		.667
Providence	10	–	8		.556			24	–	12		.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
Miami	9	–	9		.500			16	–	13		.552
Syracuse	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13		.278			10	–	18		.357
Rutgers	5	–	13		.278			11	–	16		.407
† 1997 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 1997[1][2][3] Rankings from AP poll

They came in Third Place in the 1997 National Invitation Tournament. The Huskies played their home games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut and the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and they were led by eleventh-year head coach Jim Calhoun.^[4][5]

Roster

Listed are the student athletes who were members of the 1996–1997 team.^[6]

Name	Position	Year
Dion Carson	G	SR
Kyle Chapman	G	SR
Kevin Freeman	F	FR
Sam Funches	F	FR
Richard Hamilton	F/G	FR
Monquencio Hardnett	G	JR
Ruslan Inyatkin	F	JR
Rashamel Jones	F/G	SO
Kirk King	F	SR
Antric Klaiber	F/C	SO
Michael Leblanc	F	FR
Pete McCann	G	FR
Ricky Moore	G	SO
Jake Voskuhl	C	FR

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
11/15/1996* ESPN		vs. No. 24 Indiana The Classic	L 61–68	0–1	RCA Dome (32,250) Indianapolis
11/25/1996* WTNH		Northeastern	W 89–37	1–1	Hartford Civic Center (13,005) Hartford, Connecticut
11/29/1996* WTNH		Yale	W 72–39	2–1	Hartford Civic Center (14,529) Hartford, Connecticut
12/2/1996* WTNH		Southwest Texas State	W 66–49	3–1	Hartford Civic Center (14,104) Hartford, Connecticut
12/4/1996 WTNH		at Pittsburgh	L 49–56	3–2 (0–1)	Civic Arena (9,537) Pittsburgh
12/7/1996 WTNH		No. 20 Boston College	W 61–54	4–2 (1–1)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut
12/21/1996* WTNH		Fairfield	W 68–58	5–2	Hartford Civic Center (14,918) Hartford, Connecticut
12/23/1996* WTNH		Virginia	W 64–61	6–2	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut
12/27/1996* ESPN		Massachusetts MassMutual UGame	W 64–61	7–2	Hartford Civic Center (14,389) Hartford, Connecticut
12/29/1996* WTNH		Hartford	W 104–62	8–2	Hartford Civic Center (13,793) Hartford, Connecticut
1/2/1997 WTNH		at Rutgers	W 66–57	9–2 (2–1)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,806) Piscataway, New Jersey
1/4/1997 WTNH		West Virginia	W 79–62	10–2 (3–1)	Hartford Civic Center (15,358) Hartford, Connecticut
1/8/1997 WTNH		St. John's	L 67–71 OT	10–3 (3–2)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut
1/11/1997 WTNH		at Georgetown Rivalry	W 69–54	11–3 (4–2)	Capital Centre (12,181) Landover, Maryland
1/19/1997* CBS		No. 1 Kansas	L 65–73	11–4	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
1/22/1997 WTNH		at Miami	L 46–69	11–5 (4–3)	Miami Arena (6,662) Miami
1/26/1997 CBS		Syracuse Rivalry	L 53–65	11–6 (4–4)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
1/29/1997 ESPN		Providence	L 47–62	11–7 (4–5)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut
2/1/1997 WTNH		at Seton Hall	W 62–55	12–7 (5–5)	Continental Airlines Arena (15,141) East Rutherford, New Jersey
2/3/1997 ESPN		Georgetown Rivalry	L 51–52	12–8 (5–6)	Hartford Civic Center (15,842) Hartford, Connecticut
2/8/1997 WTNH		at Notre Dame	L 65–71 OT	12–9 (5–7)	Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,196) Notre Dame, Indiana
2/12/1997 ESPN		at Boston College	W 61–56	13–9 (6–7)	Conte Forum (8,134) Boston
2/15/1997 WTNH		Miami	W 72–52	14–9 (7–7)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027) Storrs, Connecticut
2/17/1997 ESPN		at Syracuse Rivalry	L 66–71 OT	14–10 (7–8)	Carrier Dome (22,950) Syracuse, New York
2/23/1997 CBS		at No. 19 Villanova	L 58–65	14–11 (7–9)	CoreStates Center (17,263) Philadelphia
2/25/1997 ESPN2		Pittsburgh	L 74–77	14–12 (7–10)	Hartford Civic Center (15,746) Hartford, Connecticut
3/1/1997 WTNH		Seton Hall	L 60–73	14–13 (7–11)	Hartford Civic Center (16,186) Hartford, Connecticut
Big East tournament
3/5/1997 ESPN		vs. Pittsburgh First round	L 62–63	14–14	Madison Square Garden (18,291) New York City
NIT
3/12/1997*		Iona First round	W 71–66	15–14	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (6,029) Storrs, Connecticut
3/18/1997* CPTV		Bradley Second round	W 63–47	16–14	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (8,338) Storrs, Connecticut
3/21/1997* CPTV		Nebraska Quarterfinals	W 76–67	17–14	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (8,411) Storrs, Connecticut
3/25/1997* ESPN		vs. Florida State Semifinals	L 66–71	17–15	Madison Square Garden (13,841) New York
3/27/1997*		vs. Arkansas Third-place game	W 74–64	18–15	Madison Square Garden (15,849) New York
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Schedule Source:^[4][7]