1976–77 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

The 1976–77 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa as members of the Big Ten Conference. The team was led by head coach Lute Olson, coaching in his 3rd season at the school, and played their home games at the Iowa Field House. They finished the season 18–9 overall and 10–8 in Big Ten play (later changed to 20–7, 12–6).

1976–77 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	20–7 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Lute Olson (3rd season)
Assistant coach	Jim Rosborough
MVP	Bruce King
Home arena	Iowa Field House (Capacity: 13,365)
Seasons ← 1975–76 1977–78 →

1976–77 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 Michigan	16	–	2		.889			26	–	4		.867
Purdue	14	–	4		.778			20	–	8		.714
Iowa	12	–	6		.667			20	–	7		.741
Indiana	11	–	7		.611			16	–	11		.593
Michigan State	9	–	9		.500			12	–	15		.444
Illinois	8	–	10		.444			16	–	14		.533
Wisconsin	7	–	11		.389			11	–	16		.407
Northwestern	7	–	11		.389			9	–	18		.333
Ohio State	6	–	12		.333			11	–	16		.407
No. 13 Minnesota*	0	–	18		.000			0	–	27		.000
Rankings from AP Poll *Minnesota forfeited all games due to NCAA sanctions. Disputed record (15–3, 24–3)

Roster

1976–77 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 10 Cal Wulfsberg 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — Sr G 12 Ronnie Lester 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — Fr Chicago, Illinois G 20 Dick Peth 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So Tomah, Wisconsin G 23 Kirk Speraw 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — So Sioux City, Iowa F 24 William Mayfield 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Detroit, Michigan F 40 Terry Drake 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr Elgin, Illinois F 44 Clay Hargrave 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — So Iowa City, Iowa F/C 54 Bruce "Sky" King 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Sr Dayton, Ohio	Head coach Lute Olson Assistant coach(es) Jim Rosborough Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule/results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-Conference Regular Season
11/27/1976*		at Nebraska	W 71-57[1]	1-0	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, NE
11/29/1976*		Kent State	W 84-55	2-0	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
12/4/1976*		at Drake	W 86-71[2]	3-0	Veteran's Memorial Auditorium (12,000) Des Moines, IA
12/6/1976*		Bradley	W 90-77	4-0	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
12/10/1976*		California	W 94-73[3]	5-0	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
12/18/1976*		Iowa State Rivalry	W 85-64	6-0	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
12/21/1976*		Drake	W 82-69	7-0	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
12/29/1976*		at New Mexico	L 83-96	7-1	The Pit  Albuquerque, NM
12/30/1976*		vs. Pittsburgh	W 103-80	8-1
Big Ten Conference Season
1/8/1977		at No. 13 Minnesota	L 68-78	8-2 (0-1)	Williams Arena  Minneapolis, MN
1/13/1977		at Purdue	L 76-87	8-3 (0-2)	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
1/15/1977		at Illinois	W 84-81 OT	9-3 (1-2)	Assembly Hall  Champaign, IL
1/17/1977		No. 6 Michigan	L 75-99	9-4 (1-3)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
1/22/1977		Northwestern	W 76-74	10-4 (2-3)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
1/27/1977		Ohio State	W 84-66	11-4 (3-3)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
1/29/1977		at Indiana	L 65-81	11-5 (3-4)	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
2/5/1977		Wisconsin	W 90-73	12-5 (4-4)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
2/7/1977		Michigan State	W 87-79	13-5 (5-4)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
2/12/1977		No. 8 Minnesota	L 58-61	13-6 (5-5)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
2/14/1977		at Ohio State	W 74-70	14-6 (6-5)	St. John Arena  Columbus, OH
2/17/1977		at No. 5 Michigan	L 75-99	14-7 (6-6)	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, MI
2/19/1977		at Michigan State	L 79-81	14-8 (6-7)	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, MI
2/24/1977		Illinois	W 76-64	15-8 (7-7)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
2/26/1977		Purdue	L 70-81	15-9 (7-8)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
2/28/1977		Indiana	W 80-73[4]	16-9 (8-8)	Iowa Field House  Iowa City, IA
3/3/1977		at Northwestern	W 78-60[5]	17-9 (9-8)	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, IL
3/5/1977		at Wisconsin	W 94-93[6]	18-9 (10-8)	Wisconsin Field House  Madison, WI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Rankings

Main article: 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. "Hawkeyes crash Nebraska debut" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. November 29, 1976. p. 7. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
2. "King's 'best game' besets Drake" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 6, 1976. p. 10. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
3. "Guards combine to bury California, 98-73" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. December 13, 1976. p. 7. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
4. "Hawkeyes savor revenge" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 1, 1977. p. 8. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
5. "Hawks incite NIT hopes" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 4, 1977. p. 10. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
6. "Hawks edge Wisconsin; claim fourth" (PDF). The Daily Iowan. March 7, 1977. p. 8. Retrieved April 20, 2017.