1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team
American college basketball season
1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
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)
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).
Roster
1995–96 Penn State Nittany Lions men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
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
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ 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
Venues Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA Final Four appearance in italics