1996–97 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 1996–97 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1996–97 men's college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Eddie Fogler and played their home games at Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, South Carolina. The team finished first in the SEC regular season standings and received an at-large bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament as No. 2 seed in the East region. The Gamecocks lost to 15 seed Coppin State in the first round to finish the season with a record of 24–8 (15–1 SEC).

1996–97 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
SEC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, round of 64
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 14
AP	No. 6
Record	24–8 (15–1 SEC)
Head coach	Eddie Fogler (4th season)
Assistant coach	Barclay Radebaugh (3rd season)
Home arena	Carolina Coliseum
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
No. 6 South Carolina	15	–	1		.938			24	–	8		.750
No. 5 Kentucky†	13	–	3		.813			35	–	5		.875
No. 17 Georgia	10	–	6		.625			24	–	9		.727
Vanderbilt	9	–	7		.563			19	–	12		.613
Florida	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
Tennessee	4	–	12		.250			11	–	16		.407
West
Ole Miss	11	–	5		.688			20	–	9		.690
Arkansas	8	–	8		.500			18	–	14		.563
Auburn	6	–	10		.375			16	–	15		.516
Alabama	6	–	10		.375			17	–	14		.548
Mississippi State	6	–	10		.375			12	–	18		.400
LSU	3	–	13		.188			10	–	20		.333
† 1997 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1996–97 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 10 BJ McKie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Irmo, South Carolina	Head coach Eddie Fogler Assistant coach(es) Barclay Radebaugh (East Tennessee State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

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Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 25, 1996*		vs. Virginia Maui Invitational	L 70–93	0–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Nov 26, 1996		at Chaminade Maui Invitational	W 64–55	1–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Nov 27, 1996*		vs. LSU Maui Invitational	W 74–68	2–1	Lahaina Civic Center  Lahaina, Hawaii
Dec 2, 1996*		Wofford	W 64–41	3–1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 6, 1996*		at UNC Charlotte	W 75–60	4–1	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 7, 1996*		at No. 14 North Carolina	L 75–86	4–2	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 17, 1996*		No. 8 Clemson	L 39–58	4–3	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 19, 1996*		UNC Asheville	L 74–80	4–4	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 21, 1996*		South Carolina State	W 79–60	5–4	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 28, 1996*		Charleston Southern	L 81–85	5–5	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 30, 1996*		Furman	W 100–62	6–5	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 4, 1997*		Auburn	W 66–56	7–5 (1–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 8, 1997		Tennessee	W 73–41	8–5 (2–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 11, 1997		at Mississippi State	W 73–65	9–5 (3–0)	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 15, 1997		at Florida	W 80–79	10–5 (4–0)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Jan 18, 1997		No. 21 Georgia	W 82–71	11–5 (5–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 22, 1997		at Alabama	W 62–60	12–5 (6–0)	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 25, 1997 1:00 p.m., JP Sports		Ole Miss	W 86–63	13–5 (7–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 29, 1997	No. 25	at Vanderbilt	W 65–64	14–5 (8–0)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 1, 1997	No. 25	at LSU	W 80–65	15–5 (9–0)	Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 4, 1997	No. 19	No. 3 Kentucky	W 84–79 OT	16–5 (10–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 8, 1997	No. 19	Florida	W 76–68	17–5 (11–0)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 12, 1997	No. 12	at Georgia	L 74–77	17–6 (11–1)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Feb 15, 1997*	No. 12	at No. 8 Cincinnati	W 97–83	18–6	Fifth Third Arena  Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 18, 1997	No. 9	Arkansas	W 78–65	19–6 (12–1)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 20, 1997*	No. 9	at The Citadel	W 85–55	20–6	McAlister Field House  Charleston, South Carolina
Feb 22, 1997	No. 9	at Tennessee	W 69–58	21–6 (13–1)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 26, 1997	No. 6	Vanderbilt	W 74–53	22–6 (14–1)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Mar 2, 1997	No. 6	at No. 3 Kentucky	W 72–66	23–6 (15–1)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
SEC Tournament
Mar 7, 1997*  JP Sports	(E1) No. 4	vs. (W4) Alabama Quarterfinals	W 72–61	24–6	Memphis Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 8, 1997*  JP Sports	(E1) No. 4	vs. (E3) No. 24 Georgia Semifinals	L 63–78	24–7	Memphis Pyramid  Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1997*  CBS	(2 E) No. 6	vs. (15 E) Coppin State First round	L 65–78	24–8	Civic Arena  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

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Rankings

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

References

1. "1996-97 South Carolina Gamecocks Roster and Stats". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
2. "1996-97 South Carolina Gamecocks Schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
3. "2019-20 South Carolina Men's Basketball Records & History" (PDF). University of South Carolina Athletics. Retrieved June 13, 2020.