1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team

The 1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team represented Pennsylvania State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1995–96 season. The team was led by long-time assistant Jerry Dunn, serving in his first-year as head coach. Penn State played its home games in University Park, Pennsylvania – the first six at Rec Hall before opening the brand new Bryce Jordan Center on January 11, 1996.^[2] After winning the first 13 games of the season, the Nittany Lions climbed as high as No. 9 in the AP poll, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Penn State lost to Arkansas in the opening round to finish the season with an overall record of 21–7 (12–6 Big Ten).

1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 18
Record	21–7 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jerry Dunn (1st season)
Home arena	Rec Hall Bryce Jordan Center
Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Indiana^[a]	13	–	5		.722			20	–	11		.645
No. 18 Penn State	12	–	6		.667			21	–	7		.750
No. 21 Iowa^[b]	12	–	6		.667			24	–	8		.750
Minnesota^[c]	11	–	7		.611			20	–	10		.667
Wisconsin^[d]	9	–	9		.500			18	–	14		.563
Michigan State	9	–	9		.500			16	–	16		.500
Illinois	7	–	11		.389			18	–	13		.581
No. 4 Purdue^[e]	6	–	12		.333			7	–	23		.233
Ohio State^[f]	5	–	13		.278			12	–	15		.444
Northwestern^[g]	4	–	14		.222			9	–	18		.333
Michigan^[h]	1	–	8		.111			1	–	10		.091
Rankings from AP Poll Records above are after NCAA sanctions against Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan as noted:^[1] Indiana adjusted from 12–6, 19–12 Iowa adjusted from 11–7, 23–9 Minnesota adjusted from 10–8, 19–13 (vacated 2 games) Wisconsin adjusted from 8–10, 17–15 Purdue adjusted from 15–3, 26–6 (forfeit 18 wins, vacated 2 games) Ohio State adjusted from 3–15, 10–17 Northwestern adjusted from 2–16, 7–20 Michigan adjusted from 10–8/21–11 (vacated 21 games)

Roster

1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 32 Pete Lisicky 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So Whitehall, Pennsylvania C 52 Calvin Booth 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Groveport, Ohio F 33 Glenn Sekunda 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Sr {{{home}}} G 10 Dan Earl 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — Jr {{{home}}} F 24 Matt Gaudio 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — {{{home}}}	Head coach Bruce Parkhill Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 25, 1995*		Morgan State	W 90–65	1–0	Rec Hall  University Park, Pennsylvania
Dec 29, 1995*		vs. Santa Clara Cable Car Classic	W 70–49	8–0	San Jose Arena  San Jose, California
Dec 30, 1995*		vs. Bradley Cable Car Classic	W 75–72	9–0	San Jose Arena  San Jose, California
Big Ten Regular Season
Jan 3, 1996		at Ohio State	W 72–69	10–0 (1–0)	St. John Arena  Columbus, Ohio
Jan 7, 1996		Wisconsin	W 79–50	11–0 (2–0)	Rec Hall  University Park, Pennsylvania
Jan 11, 1996	No. 20	Minnesota	W 76–61^[2]	12–0 (3–0)	Bryce Jordan Center (14,852) University Park, Pennsylvania
Mar 9, 1996	No. 16	Ohio State	W 86–70	21–6 (12–6)	Bryce Jordan Center  University Park, Pennsylvania
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1996*	(5 E) No. 18	vs. (12 E) Arkansas First Round	L 80–86	21–7	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

– Source:^[3][4]

Rankings

Main article: 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	20	14	14	10	10	9	14	12	16	18	Not released
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	25	22	14	14	11	10	8	12	13	17	18	—

^[5]

References

1. "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 56. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
2. "Hoopla Doesn't Affect Penn State in Long Run". Los Angeles Times. January 12, 1996. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
3. "1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
4. "2019-20 Penn State Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Big Ten Conference. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
5. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.