1995–96 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 98th basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who served his 8th year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the Jayhawks final season in the Big Eight Conference, which dissolved at the end of the 1995–1996 school year.

1995–96 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball
Big Eight regular season champions
NCAA men's Division I tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 4
Record	29–5 (12–2 Big Eight)
Head coach	Roy Williams (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Doherty (4th season) Neil Dougherty (1st season) Joe Holladay (2nd season)
Captains	Sean Pearson Calvin Rayford T.J. Whatley
Home arena	Allen Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Kansas	12	–	2		.857			29	–	5		.853
No. 17 Iowa State †	9	–	5		.643			24	–	9		.727
Oklahoma[a]	8	–	6		.571			18	–	12		.600
Kansas State	7	–	7		.500			17	–	12		.586
Oklahoma State	7	–	7		.500			17	–	10		.630
Missouri	6	–	8		.429			18	–	15		.545
Nebraska	4	–	10		.286			21	–	14		.600
Colorado	3	–	11		.214			9	–	18		.333
† 1996 Big Eight tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1] Adjusted from 17–13 as Purdue forfeited 18 wins

Roster

Name	#	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Home Town
Joel Branstrom	20	Forward	6-6	190	Senior(RS)	Half Moon Bay, California
Jerod Haase	35	Guard	6-3	185	Junior	South Lake Tahoe, California
Raef LaFrentz	45	Forward	6–11	220	Sophomore	Hampton, Iowa
C.B. McGrath	24	Guard	5-11	168	Sophomore	Topeka, Kansas
Sean Pearson	21	Forward	6–5	215	Senior	LaGrange, Illinois
Paul Pierce	34	Forward	6–6	220	Freshman	Inglewood, California
Scot Pollard	31	Center	6–10	250	Junior	San Diego, California
T.J. Pugh	32	Forward	6–9	215	Freshman	Omaha, Nebraska
Steve Ransom	44	Forward	6–5	210	Junior	Mission Viejo, California
Calvin Rayford	10	Guard	5-7	155	Senior	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Ryan Robertson	4	Guard	6–5	170	Freshman	Saint Charles, Missouri
Billy Thomas	12	Forward/Guard	6–4	205	Sophomore	Shreveport, Louisiana
Jacque Vaughn	11	Guard	6–1	195	Junior	Pasadena, California
T.J. Whatley	14	Guard	6–4	180	Senior	Benton, Arkansas
B.J. Williams	22	Forward	6–8	205	Junior	Wichita, Kansas
Travis Williams	54	Center	7-0	265	Freshman(RS)	Rozel, Kansas

Big Eight Conference standings

#	Team	Conference	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
1	Kansas	12-2	.857	29-5	.853
2	Iowa State	9-5	.643	24-9	.727
3	Oklahoma	8-6	.571	17-13	.567
4	Kansas State	7-7	.500	17-12	.586
5	Oklahoma State	7-7	.500	17-10	.630
6	Missouri	6-8	.429	18-15	.545
7	Nebraska	4-10	.289	21-14	.600
8	Colorado	3-11	.214	9-18	.333

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Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
11/25/1995*	No. 2	vs. No. 8 Utah The Classic	W 79–68	1–0	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
11/29/1995*	No. 2	vs. No. 15 Virginia Great Eight	W 72–66	2–0	The Palace of Auburn Hills  Auburn Hills, MI
12/2/1995*	No. 2	No. 23 UCLA	W 85–70	3–0	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
12/7/1995*	No. 1	at Rice	W 83–63	4–0	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, TX
12/9/1995*	No. 1	at San Diego	W 101–71	5–0	San Diego Sports Arena  San Diego, CA
12/16/1995*	No. 1	vs. Indiana	W 91–83	6–0	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
12/18/1995*	No. 1	Pittsburg State	W 103–48	7–0	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
12/22/1995*	No. 1	vs. Temple Jimmy V Classic	L 66–74 OT	7–1	Meadowlands Arena  East Rutherford, NJ
1/2/1996*	No. 4	Cornell	W 100–46	8–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
1/4/1996*	No. 4	East Tennessee State	W 108–73	9–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
1/6/1996*	No. 4	SMU	W 83–61	10–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
1/8/1996	No. 3	at Oklahoma State	W 76–61	11–1	Gallagher-Iba Arena  Stillwater, OK
1/11/1996*	No. 3	at Florida	W 69–54	12–1	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
1/15/1996*	No. 4	Saint Peter's	W 85–71	13–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
1/20/1996	No. 4	Colorado	W 80–78	14–1	Coors Events Center  Boulder, CO
1/22/1996	No. 3	Oklahoma	W 84–66	15–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
1/27/1996	No. 3	at Nebraska	W 88–73	16–1	Bob Devaney Sports Center  Lincoln, NE
1/31/1996	No. 3	Oklahoma State	W 84–66	17–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
2/4/1996	No. 3	Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 72–62	18–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
2/7/1996	No. 3	No. 21 Iowa State	W 89–70	19–1	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
2/10/1996	No. 3	at Missouri Border War	L 73–77	19–2	Hearnes Center  Columbia, MO
2/14/1996	No. 5	Colorado	W 85–70	20–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
2/17/1996	No. 5	at No. 22 Iowa State	W 61–50	21–2	Hilton Coliseum  Ames, IA
2/19/1996	No. 5	Nebraska	W 81–71	22–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
2/24/1996	No. 5	at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown	W 77–66	23–2	Bramlage Coliseum  Manhattan, KS
2/26/1996	No. 3	Missouri Border War	W 87–65	24–2	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, KS
3/2/1996	No. 3	at Oklahoma	L 79–85	24–3	Lloyd Noble Center  Norman, OK
Big Eight Tournament
3/8/1996	(1) No. 5	vs. (8) Colorado First round	W 88–55	25–3	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
3/9/1996	(1) No. 5	vs. (4) Kansas State Semifinals	W 61–55	26–3	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
3/10/1996	(1) No. 5	vs. (2) No. 23 Iowa State Championship Game	L 55–56	26–4	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, MO
NCAA tournament
3/15/1996*	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (15 W) South Carolina State First round	W 92–54	27–4	Arizona State University Activity Center  Tempe, AZ
3/17/1996*	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (10 W) Santa Clara Second Round	W 76–51[3]	28–4	Arizona State University Activity Center  Tempe, AZ
3/22/1996*	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (3 W) No. 11 Arizona Regional semifinals	W 83–80[4]	29–4	McNichols Sports Arena  Denver, CO
3/24/1996*	(2 W) No. 4	vs. (4 W) No. 15 Syracuse Regional Finals	L 57–60	29–5	McNichols Sports Arena  Denver, CO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parentheses. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

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Rankings

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17
AP	2	2	2	1	1	1	4	4	3	4	3	3	3	5	5	3	5	4
Coaches

*There was no coaches poll in week 1.

References

1. sports-reference.com 1995-96 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
2. "Big 12 Record Book (PDF)" (PDF) (Press release). Big 12 Conference. August 1, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
3. "Vaughn Shuts Down Nash, Kansas Wins". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1996. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
4. "Kansas scores last 7 points to knock out Arizona, 83-80". The Baltimore Sun. March 22, 1996. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
5. "Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball 1995-96 Season Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (English) on March 6, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2013.