1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 1976-77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bearcats were led by head coach Gale Catlett, as members of the Metro Conference.^[1] They finished the season 25–5, 4–2 in Metro play, finishing in second place.^[1] They defeated St. Louis, Memphis State, and Georgia Tech to win the Metro tournament for the second consecutive year, and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.^[1] They lost 66–51 to national champions Marquette.^[2]

1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Metro tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
Record	25-5 (4-2 Metro)
Head coach	Gale Catlett
Home arena	Riverfront Coliseum
Seasons ← 1975–76 1977–78 →

1976–77 Metro Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 19 Louisville	6	–	1		.857			21	–	7		.750
Cincinnati †	4	–	2		.667			25	–	5		.833
Georgia Tech	3	–	3		.500			13	–	10		.565
Tulane	3	–	3		.500			10	–	17		.370
Memphis State	3	–	4		.429			20	–	9		.690
Saint Louis	1	–	5		.167			7	–	19		.269
Florida State	0	–	2		.000			16	–	11		.593
† 1977 Metro Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 1975–76 season 25–6, 2–1 in Metro play to win the regular season championship. As the number 1 seer, they defeated Georgia Tech and Memphis State to win the Metro tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.^[3] They lost 79–78 to Notre Dame in the first round of the Midwest region.^[4]

Roster

1976–77 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown PF 41 Bob Miller 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Central high School Louisville, Kentucky F 42 Pat Cummings 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Jr Johnstown High School Johnstown, Pennsylvania G 44 Gary Yoder 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Westview High School LaGrange County, Indiana F Brian Williams 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — F Mike Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Jr G Steve Collier 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr G Eddie Lee 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr   Queens, New York C Paul Fazekas 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Sr G Keith Hemans 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr G Mick Shoemaker 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — G Mike Miller 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) — F Curtis Cabbell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) —	Head coach Gale Catlett (Cincinnati) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: July 8, 2019

^[5]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
December 4, 1976*		South Florida	W 103–69	1–0	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
December 8, 1976*		Bowling Green	W 67–63	2–0	Anderson Arena  Bowling Green, OH
December 15, 1976*		Miami (OH)	W 79–68	3–0	Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
December 18, 1976		Saint Louis	W 86–53	4–0	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
December 29, 1976*		South Carolina	W 79–62	5–0	Neutral
December 30, 1976*		Indiana	W 52–43	6–0	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, LA
January 5, 1977*		Temple	W 61–46	7–0	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
January 12, 1977*		Dayton	W 84–61	8–0	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
January 16, 1977		Saint Louis	W 54–52	9–0	Kiel Auditorium  St. Louis, MO
January 19, 1977	No. 12	Louisville	L 77-83	9–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
January 22, 1977		Tulane	L 75-78	9–2	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, LA
January 26, 1977*		Wichita State	W 68-60	10–2	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
January 29, 1977*		Duquesne	W 83-65	11–2	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
January 31, 1977	No. 20	Memphis State	W 88-82	12–2	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
February 2, 1977*		Pittsburgh	L 64-65	12–3	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, PA
February 6, 1977*	No. 6	Marquette	W 63-62	13–3	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
February 9, 1977*		Eastern Kentucky	W 78-60	14–3	McBrayer Arena  Richmond, KY
February 12, 1977		Georgia Tech	W 84-73	15–3	Riverfront Coliseum  Cincinnati, OH
February 19, 1977*		Rutgers	L 70-89	16–4	College Avenue Gymnasium  New Brunswick, NJ
February 26, 1977*		Jacksonville	W 78-61	17–4	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum  Jacksonville, FL
Metro Conference tournament
March 3, 1977	(2)	vs. (6) Saint Louis Quarterfinals	W 76–68	18–4	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
March 4, 1977	(2)	vs. (5) Memphis State Semifinals	W 68–67	19–4	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
March 5, 1977	(2)	vs. (3) Georgia Tech Final	W 74–61	20–4	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
NCAA Tournament
March 12, 1977*		vs. Marquette First Round	W 66–51	20–5	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[1]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	—	12	8	6	4	5	2	3	2	12	12	12	10	14	14	11	—

^[1]

References

1. "1976-77 Cincinnati Bearcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
2. "Marquette vs. Cincinnati Box Score, March 12, 1977". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
3. "1975-76 Cincinnati Bearcats Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
4. "Notre Dame vs. Cincinnati Box Score, March 13, 1976". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
5. "1976-77 Cincinnati Bearcats Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019.