1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team represented Boston College as members of the Big East Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by 11th-year head coach Jim O'Brien and played their home games at the Silvio O. Conte Forum in Boston, Massachusetts.

1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball
Big East regular season co-champion Big East tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 23
Record	22–9 (12–6 Big East)
Head coach	Jim O'Brien (11th season)
Home arena	Silvio O. Conte Forum
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

After finishing tied atop the Big East regular season standings, the Eagles won the Big East tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 5 seed in the West region. After defeating a game Valparaiso team in the opening round,^[4] the Eagles were eliminated in overtime by Saint Joseph's, 81–77, in the round of 32.^[5]

Roster

1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 11 Scoonie Penn 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Salem, Massachusetts C 14 Mickey Curley 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Jr Duxbury, Massachusetts G 20 Duane Woodward 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr New York, New York F 24 Danya Abrams 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Westchester, New York	Head coach Jim O'Brien (Boston College) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1996*	No. 21	Brown	W 89–72	1–0	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 25, 1996*	No. 23	New Hampshire	W 82–40	2–0	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 4, 1996	No. 20	Rutgers	W 73–64	3–0 (1–0)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 7, 1996	No. 20	at Connecticut	L 54–61	3–1 (1–1)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, Connecticut
Dec 9, 1996*	No. 25	Vanderbilt	W 59–52	4–1	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 21, 1996*		at Holy Cross	W 92–76	5–1	Hart Center  Worcester, Massachusetts
Dec 27, 1996*	No. 25	Central Connecticut State	W 63–53	6–1	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 29, 1996*	No. 25	at No. 16 Louisville	L 85–89 ^2OT	6–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 2, 1997	No. 25	Miami (FL)	W 65–62	7–2 (2–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 4, 1997	No. 25	at Seton Hall	W 80–64	8–2 (3–1)	Continental Airlines Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Jan 7, 1997	No. 23	at Syracuse	W 94–83	9–2 (4–1)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Jan 11, 1997	No. 23	at Notre Dame	W 73–61	10–2 (5–1)	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 13, 1997	No. 19	Georgetown	W 81–74	11–2 (6–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 15, 1997*	No. 19	at Fairfield	W 81–79 ^OT	12–2	Alumni Hall  Fairfield, Connecticut
Jan 18, 1997*	No. 19	vs. UMass	L 78–90	12–3	TD Garden  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 21, 1997	No. 22	Pittsburgh	W 81–61	13–3 (7–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 25, 1997	No. 22	No. 12 Villanova	L 66–84	13–4 (7–2)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 29, 1997		at West Virginia	L 76–89	13–5 (7–3)	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 1, 1997		at Providence	L 71–83	13–6 (7–4)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 4, 1997		Syracuse	W 79–71	14–6 (8–4)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 9, 1997		St. John's	W 81–80 ^OT	15–6 (9–4)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 12, 1997		Connecticut	L 56–61	15–7 (9–5)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 16, 1997		Seton Hall	W 74–57	16–7 (10–5)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 19, 1997		at Miami (FL)	W 59–57	17–7 (11–5)	Miami Arena  Miami, Florida
Feb 23, 1997		at Pittsburgh	L 71–75	17–8 (11–6)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 1, 1997		Notre Dame	W 76–74	18–8 (12–6)	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
Big East tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	(3)	vs. (6) Pittsburgh Quarterfinals	W 76–68	19–8	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Mar 7, 1997*	(3)	vs. (2) Georgetown Semifinals	W 70–58	20–8	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Mar 8, 1997*	(3)	vs. (1) No. 21 Villanova Championship game	W 70–58	21–8	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(5 W) No. 23	vs. (12 W) Valparaiso First round	W 73–66	22–8	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 15, 1997*	(5 W) No. 23	vs. (4 W) No. 12 Saint Joseph's Second round	L 77–81 ^OT	22–9	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Sources ^[6]

Rankings

Main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
2. Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
3. "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
4. "Boston College Rallies Past Valparaiso". The Washington Post. March 13, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
5. "St. Joseph's, Bey Use Long Ball to Keep Boston College at Bay in 81-77 Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
6. "1996-97 Boston College Eagles Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 9, 2022.