1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team represented Saint Joseph's University as a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by 2nd year head coach Phil Martelli, the Hawks finished with an overall record of 26–7 (13–3 in A-10 play). Saint Joseph's won both regular season and A-10 Tournament titles, and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 4 seed in the West Regional. The team defeated Pacific^[1] and Boston College^[2] to advance to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky in the regional semifinal.

1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball
Atlantic 10 Regular season co-champions Atlantic 10 tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Atlantic 10
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 12
Record	26–7 (13–3 Atlantic 10)
Head coach	Phil Martelli (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Brady (4th season) Monté Ross (1st season) Carlin Warley
Home arena	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
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 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown PG 11 Rashid Bey 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 154 lb (70 kg) Jr Saint John Neumann HS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Head coach Phil Martelli (Widener) Assistant coach(es) Matt Brady (Siena) Monté Ross (Winston-Salem State) Carlin Warley (Saint Joseph's) 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 20, 1996*		at No. 10 Duke Preseason NIT	L 60–89	0–1	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1996*		Wyoming	W 71–57	1–1	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 7, 1996*		vs. No. 21 Tulsa Coaches vs. Cancer Classic	W 67–64	2–1	Boardwalk Hall  Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dec 16, 1996*		DePaul	W 71–58	3–1	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 19, 1996*		at East Carolina	L 64–68	3–2	Minges Coliseum  Greenville, North Carolina
Dec 23, 1996*		No. 10 Villanova Philadelphia Big 5	L 65–81	3–3	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 30, 1996*		vs. Austin Peay Pepsi-Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic	W 74–58	4–3	Brown County Arena  Green Bay, Wisconsin
Dec 31, 1996*		at Green Bay Pepsi-Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic	W 64–59	5–3	Brown County Arena  Green Bay, Wisconsin
Jan 5, 1997		at UMass	W 72–68	6–3 (1–0)	Mullins Center  Amherst, Massachusetts
Jan 9, 1997		St. Bonaventure	W 82–80 ^2OT	7–3 (2–0)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 11, 1997		at Rhode Island	L 70–74	7–4 (2–1)	Keaney Gymnasium  Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 15, 1997		at George Washington	W 55–53	8–4 (3–1)	Charles E. Smith Center  Washington, D.C.
Jan 18, 1997		at Penn	W 66–61	9–4	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 21, 1997		Duquesne	W 82–74	10–4 (4–1)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 25, 1997		Virginia Tech	W 68–50	11–4 (5–1)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 30, 1997		Temple	L 59–68	11–5 (5–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 2, 1997		Rhode Island	W 79–77	12–5 (6–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 4, 1997		Dayton	W 89–82	13–5 (7–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 6, 1997		Fordham	W 71–53	14–5 (8–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 8, 1997		No. 17 Xavier	W 79–65	15–5 (9–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 11, 1997*		Drexel	W 63–62	16–5	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 13, 1997		at Temple	L 62–64	16–6 (9–3)	McGonigle Hall  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 16, 1997		at Fordham	W 77–66	17–6 (10–3)	Rose Hill Gym  Bronx, New York
Feb 18, 1997*		Delaware	W 77–65	18–6	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 22, 1997		at St. Bonaventure	W 86–50	19–6 (11–3)	Reilly Center  St. Bonaventure, New York
Feb 25, 1997	No. 23	UMass	W 78–63	20–6 (12–3)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 1, 1997	No. 23	at La Salle Philadelphia Big 5	W 62–59	21–6 (13–3)	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A-10 Tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	No. 19	St. Bonaventure Quarterfinals	W 75–59	22–6	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 7, 1997*	No. 19	George Washington Semifinals	W 78–70	23–6	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 8, 1997*	No. 19	Rhode Island Championship Game	W 61–56	24–6	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (13 W) Pacific First round	W 75–65	25–6	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 15, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (5 W) No. 23 Boston College Second Round	W 81–77 ^OT[2]	26–6	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 20, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (1 W) No. 5 Kentucky West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 68–83	26–7	San Jose Arena (18,543) San Jose, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[3]

Rankings

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

^[4]

References

1. "St. Joseph's guards go on scoring binge, gobble Pacific, 75-65". The Baltimore Sun. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
2. "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 June 6, 2021.
3. "2018-19 Saint Joseph's Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Saint Joseph's Hawks. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
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.