1996–97 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team represented the University of Mississippi in the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rebels were led by fifth-year head coach, Rob Evans. The Rebels played their home games at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Mississippi as members of the Southeastern Conference. This season marked the second NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.

1996–97 Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball
SEC West Division champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	20–9 (11–5 SEC)
Head coach	Rob Evans (5th season)
Home arena	Tad Smith Coliseum
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 6 South Carolina	15	–	1		.938			24	–	8		.750
No. 5 Kentucky†	13	–	3		.813			35	–	5		.875
No. 17 Georgia	10	–	6		.625			24	–	9		.727
Vanderbilt	9	–	7		.563			19	–	12		.613
Florida	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
Tennessee	4	–	12		.250			11	–	16		.407
West
Ole Miss	11	–	5		.688			20	–	9		.690
Arkansas	8	–	8		.500			18	–	14		.563
Auburn	6	–	10		.375			16	–	15		.516
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	14		.548
Mississippi State	6	–	10		.375			12	–	18		.400
LSU	3	–	13		.188			10	–	20		.333
† 1997 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 24, 1996*		Portland State	W 56–54	1–0	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
November 26, 1996*		Prairie View A&M	W 71–42	2–0	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
December 2, 1996*		at Davidson	L 56–59	2–1	John M. Belk Arena  Davidson, NC
December 7, 1996*		Houston	W 93–71	3–1	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
December 14, 1996*		Wichita State	W 68–65	4–1	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
December 17, 1996*		Stetson	W 78–50	5–1	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
December 20, 1996*		Florida International	W 74–64	6–1	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
December 27, 1996*		vs. Appalachian State	W 75–63	7–1	The Pit  Albuquerque, NM
December 28, 1996*		at No. 14 New Mexico	L 64–75	7–2	The Pit  Albuquerque, NM
December 31, 1996*		Morgan State	W 91–57	8–2	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
SEC regular season
January 2, 1997		at No. 22 Arkansas	W 91–74	9–2 (1–0)	Bud Walton Arena  Fayetteville, AR
January 5, 1997		Georgia	W 73–66	10–2 (2–0)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
January 8, 1997		Alabama	L 46–59	10–3 (2–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
January 11, 1997		No. 3 Kentucky	W 73–69	11–3 (3–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
January 15, 1997	No. 20	at Mississippi State	L 64–75	11–4 (3–2)	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, MS
January 18, 1997	No. 20	at Vanderbilt	L 64–67	11–5 (3–3)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
January 22, 1997		Tennessee	W 70–48	12–5 (4–3)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
January 25, 1997 12:00 p.m., JP Sports		at South Carolina	L 63–86	12–6 (4–4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
January 29, 1997		Arkansas	W 71–52	13–6 (5–4)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
February 1, 1997		Auburn	W 57–46	14–6 (6–4)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
February 5, 1997		at LSU	W 79–73	15–6 (7–4)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, LA
February 12, 1997		at Alabama	L 54–57	15–7 (7–5)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
February 19, 1997		Mississippi State	W 84–61	16–7 (8–5)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
February 23, 1997		at Florida	W 67–65	17–7 (9–5)	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
February 26, 1997		LSU	W 74–68	18–7 (10–5)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, MS
March 1, 1997		at Auburn	W 71–63	19–7 (11–5)	Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum  Auburn, AL
SEC tournament
March 7, 1997 JP Sports	(1 W)	vs. (4 E) Vanderbilt Quarterfinals	W 64–62	20–7	Pyramid Arena  Memphis, TN
March 8, 1997 JP Sports	(1 W)	vs. (2 E) No. 6 Kentucky Semifinals	L 70–88	20–8	Pyramid Arena  Memphis, TN
NCAA tournament
March 14, 1997* CBS	(8 MW)	vs. (9 MW) Temple First round	L 40–62	20–9	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source: ^[1]