1996–97 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team represented the University of Rhode Island in the 1996–97 college basketball season. Led by head coach Al Skinner, the Rams competed in the Atlantic 10 Conference and played their home games at Keaney Gymnasium. They finished the season 20–10, 12–4 in A-10 play and lost in the championship game of the 1997 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament. They were invited to the 1997 NCAA tournament as the No. 9 seed in the Southeast region. Rhode Island was beaten by No. 8 seed Purdue, 83–76 in overtime, in the opening round.^[1]

1996–97 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Record	20–10 (12–4 A-10)
Head coach	Al Skinner (9th season)
Home arena	Keaney Gymnasium
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 12 Saint Joseph's †	13	–	3		.813			26	–	7		.788
Rhode Island	12	–	4		.750			20	–	10		.667
UMass	11	–	5		.688			19	–	14		.576
Temple	10	–	6		.625			20	–	11		.645
St. Bonaventure	5	–	11		.313			14	–	14		.500
Fordham	1	–	15		.063			6	–	21		.222
West
No. 13 Xavier	13	–	3		.813			23	–	6		.793
George Washington	8	–	8		.500			15	–	14		.517
Virginia Tech	7	–	9		.438			15	–	16		.484
Dayton	6	–	10		.375			13	–	14		.481
La Salle	5	–	11		.313			10	–	17		.370
Duquesne	5	–	11		.313			9	–	18		.333
† 1997 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1996–97 Rhode Island Rams men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 12 Cuttino Mobley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Philadelphia, Pennsylvania G 21 Tyson Wheeler 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr New London, Connecticut F/C 34 Antonio Reynolds-Dean 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Marietta, Georgia	Head coach Jim Harrick 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 (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 23, 1996*		at Siena	W 91–57	1–0	Times Union Center  Loudonville, New York
Nov 27, 1996*		at No. 18 Texas	L 79–86	1–1	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, Texas
Nov 30, 1996*		Fairleigh Dickinson	W 115–66	2–1	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 4, 1996*		Brown	W 86–49	3–1	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 10, 1996*		at Providence	W 96–79	4–1	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Dec 17, 1996*		No. 16 Minnesota	L 72–82^[2]	4–2	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 23, 1996*		Boston University	W 69–61	5–2	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 29, 1996*		vs. San Francisco	W 93–76	6–2	Continental Airlines Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Dec 30, 1996*		at Seton Hall	L 70–72	6–3	Continental Airlines Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Jan 2, 1997*		Iona	L 84–89	6–4	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 4, 1997		Dayton	W 97–68	7–4 (1–0)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 7, 1997		at Temple	W 79–72 ^OT	8–4 (2–0)	McGonigle Hall  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 11, 1997		Saint Joseph's	W 74–70	9–4 (3–0)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 16, 1997		at Duquesne	W 85–83	10–4 (4–0)	A.J. Palumbo Center  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jan 18, 1997		at Virginia Tech	W 73–52	11–4 (5–0)	Cassell Coliseum  Blacksburg, Virginia
Jan 21, 1997		at UMass	L 60–64	11–5 (5–1)	Mullins Center  Amherst, Massachusetts
Jan 25, 1997		St. Bonaventure	W 79–66	12–5 (6–1)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 28, 1997		at No. 20 Xavier	L 79–91^[3]	12–6 (6–2)	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 2, 1997		at Saint Joseph's	L 77–79	12–7 (6–3)	Hagan Arena  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 6, 1997		La Salle	W 92–61	13–7 (7–3)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 8, 1997		UMass	L 61–64	13–8 (7–4)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 11, 1997		Fordham	W 110–72	14–8 (8–4)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 16, 1997		Temple	W 85–82	15–8 (9–4)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Feb 20, 1997		at St. Bonaventure	W 78–73	16–8 (10–4)	Reilly Center  St. Bonaventure, New York
Feb 26, 1997		George Washington	W 83–72	17–8 (11–4)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Mar 1, 1997		at Fordham	W 85–58	18–8 (12–4)	Rose Hill Gym  Bronx, New York
Atlantic 10 tournament
Mar 6, 1997*		vs. Virginia Tech Quarterfinals	W 67–63	19–8	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 7, 1997*		vs. Temple Semifinals	W 69–66 ^OT	20–8	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 8, 1997*		at No. 19 Saint Joseph's Championship game	L 56–61	20–9	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(9 SE)	vs. (8 SE) Purdue First round	L 76–83 ^OT[1]	20–10	The Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in EST.

Rankings

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

^[4]

References

1. "Purdue Escapes Rhode Island in Overtime". The Washington Post. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
2. "Gophers Get Past R. Island". The Chicago Tribune. December 18, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
3. "No. 20 Xavier 91, Rhode Island 79". The Los Angeles Times. January 29, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
4. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.