1996–97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represented the University of Tulsa as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 1996–97 college basketball season. The Golden Hurricane played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center. Led by head coach Steve Robinson, they finished the season 24–10 overall and 12–4 in conference play to finish second in the WAC Mountain division standings. After losing in the championship game of the WAC tournament, the team defeated Boston University in the opening round^[2] of the NCAA tournament, before falling to No. 4 seed Clemson in the round of 32.^[3]

1996–97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain
Record	24–10 (12–4 WAC)
Head coach	Steve Robinson (2nd season)
Home arena	Tulsa Convention Center
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Mountain
No. 2 Utah †	15	–	1		.938			29	–	4		.879
Tulsa	12	–	4		.750			24	–	10		.706
No. 11 New Mexico	11	–	5		.688			25	–	8		.758
TCU	7	–	9		.438			22	–	13		.629
SMU	7	–	9		.438			16	–	12		.571
Rice	6	–	10		.375			12	–	15		.444
UTEP	6	–	10		.375			13	–	13		.500
BYU	0	–	16		.000			1	–	25		.038
Pacific
Fresno State	12	–	4		.750			20	–	12		.625
Hawaii	12	–	4		.750			21	–	8		.724
UNLV	11	–	5		.688			22	–	10		.688
Colorado State	10	–	6		.625			20	–	9		.690
Wyoming	8	–	8		.500			12	–	16		.429
San Jose State	5	–	11		.313			13	–	14		.481
San Diego State	4	–	12		.250			12	–	15		.444
Air Force	2	–	14		.125			7	–	19		.269
† 1997 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll[1]

Roster

1996–97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 21 Shea Seals 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Tulsa, Oklahoma F/C 51 Michael Ruffin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Denver, Colorado	Head coach Steve Robinson Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

^[4]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 20, 1996*		at No. 5 UCLA Preseason NIT	W 77–76 OT	1–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
Nov 22, 1996*		Oklahoma State Preseason NIT	W 72–54	2–0	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Nov 27, 1996*	No. 22	vs. No. 6 Duke Preseason NIT	L 67–72	2–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Nov 29, 1996*	No. 22	vs. Evansville Preseason NIT	W 55–51	3–1	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Dec 2, 1996*	No. 21	Delaware State	W 79–50	4–1	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 4, 1996*	No. 21	at Houston	L 77–79 2OT	4–2	Hofheinz Pavilion  Houston, Texas
Dec 7, 1996*		vs. Saint Joseph's	L 64–67	4–3	Boardwalk Hall  Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dec 14, 1996*		Temple	W 67–60	5–3	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 19, 1996*		at Wichita State	W 56–53	6–3	Levitt Arena  Wichita, Kansas
Dec 27, 1996*		vs. Southwest Texas State All-College Tournament	W 76–60[5]	7–3	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 28, 1996*		vs. Oklahoma All-College Tournament	W 78–75	8–3	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
WAC Tournament
Mar 6, 1997*		at UNLV Quarterfinals	W 68–65	23–8	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 7, 1997*		vs. TCU Semifinals	L 59–64	23–9	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1997*	(5 MW)	vs. (12 MW) Boston University First round	W 81–52	24–9	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 16, 1997*	(5 MW)	vs. (4 MW) No. 14 Clemson Second round	L 59–65	24–10	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

^[6]

Rankings

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

^[7]

Awards and honors

• Shea Seals – Third-team All-American, First-team All-WAC

References

1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
2. "Call TU the Boston Strangler". Tulsa World. March 15, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
3. "Minnesota Cruises Past Temple; Clemson Ousts Tulsa". The New York Times. March 17, 1997. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
4. "1996-97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
5. "Sealed and Delivered: Guard Scores 24 as Tulsa Outmuscles Southwest Texas". The Oklahoman. December 28, 1996. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
6. "1996-97 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
7. • ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.