1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
C-USA regular season champions; C-USA tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Conference USA
Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 7
Record	28–5 (11–3 C-USA)
Head coach	Bob Huggins (7th season);
Assistant coaches	Larry Harrison; Steve Moeller; John Loyer;
Home arena	Myrl Shoemaker Center
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Conference USA men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Blue
No. 7 Cincinnati †	11	–	3	.786	28	–	5	.848
No. 20 Marquette	10	–	4	.714	23	–	8	.742
Saint Louis	4	–	10	.286	16	–	14	.533
DePaul	2	–	12	.143	11	–	18	.379
Red
Tulane	9	–	5	.643	22	–	10	.688
UAB	6	–	8	.429	16	–	14	.533
Southern Miss	6	–	8	.429	12	–	15	.444
South Florida	2	–	12	.143	12	–	16	.429
White
No. 16 Memphis	11	–	3	.786	22	–	8	.733
No. 24 Louisville	10	–	4	.714	22	–	12	.647
UNC Charlotte	6	–	8	.429	14	–	15	.483

† 1996 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in NCAA Division I competition in the 1995–96 season. The Bearcats, coached by Bob Huggins, won Conference USA and reached the Elite Eight of the 1996 NCAA tournament. The team finished with an overall record of 28–5 (11–3 GMWC) and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP poll.

Roster[edit]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	34	Bobby Brannen	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	So	Cincinnati
G	33	Darnell Burton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Jr	Lexington, Kentucky
G	--	Terrence Davis	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr
F	--	Ryan Fletcher	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Jr	Franklin, Ohio
G	3	Damon Flint	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Jr	Cincinnati
PF	25	Danny Fortson	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	So	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
F	21	Keith Gregor	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	--	Julson Jackson	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	So
G		Keith LeGree	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Sr
G		Melvin Levett	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Fr	Cleveland, Ohio
C	00	Art Long	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Rochester, New York
F	--	Rod Monroe (W)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	So

Head coach

Bob Huggins (West Virginia)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule[edit]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 29, 1995*	No. 21	Wyoming	W 101–51	1–0	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 30, 1995*	No. 17	UNC Wilmington	W 82–47	2–0	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 8, 1995*	No. 17	Wagner	W 100–64	3–0	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 9, 1995*	No. 17	at Arkansas	W 82–67	4–0	Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
Dec 12, 1995*	No. 12	Minnesota	W 84–50	5–0	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 16, 1995*	No. 12	vs. Temple	W 70–49	6–0	Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio
Dec 20, 1995*	No. 9	at No. 24 California	W 77–70	7–0	Harmon Gym Berkeley, California
Dec 30, 1995*	No. 5	McNeese State	W 103–69	8–0	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
C-USA Regular Season
Jan 6, 1996	No. 5	at South Florida	W 71–69	9–0 (1–0)	Sun Dome Tampa, Florida
Jan 11, 1996	No. 4	at Southern Miss	W 75–70	10–0 (2–0)	Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jan 13, 1996	No. 4	Marquette	W 91–70	11–0 (3–0)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 17, 1996*	No. 3	at Xavier	W 99–90	12–0	Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 21, 1996	No. 3	at UAB	L 68–70	12–1 (3–1)	UAB Arena Birmingham, Alabama
Jan 25, 1996	No. 5	DePaul	W 71–61	13–1 (4–1)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 28, 1996*	No. 5	USC	W 85–53	14–1	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Jan 31, 1996	No. 5	UNC Charlotte	W 78–64	15–1 (5–1)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 2, 1996*	No. 5	Illinois State	W 91–57	16–1	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 4, 1996	No. 5	South Florida	W 79–60	17–1 (6–1)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 7, 1996	No. 5	Saint Louis	W 81–49	18–1 (7–1)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 11, 1996*	No. 5	vs. No. 16 Arizona	L 76–79	18–2	Veterans Memorial Coliseum Phoenix, Arizona
Feb 17, 1996	No. 6	at DePaul	W 87–60	19–2 (8–1)	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
Feb 19, 1996	No. 6	at Saint Louis	W 69–64	20–2 (9–1)	Kiel Arena St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 22, 1996	No. 6	No. 21 Louisville	L 66–72	20–3 (9–2)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Feb 25, 1996	No. 6	at Tulane	W 65–63	21–3 (10–2)	Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana
Feb 29, 1996	No. 7	No. 14 Memphis	W 71–66	22–3 (11–2)	Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 2, 1996	No. 7	at Marquette	L 72–74	22–4 (11–3)	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
C-USA Tournament
Mar 7, 1996	(1) No. 8	vs. (9) Saint Louis Quarterfinals	W 62–59 ^OT	23–4	Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 8, 1996	(1) No. 8	vs. (4) No. 22 Louisville Semifinals	W 92–81	24–4	Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee
Mar 9, 1996	(1) No. 8	vs. (3) No. 21 Marquette Championship Game	W 85–84 ^OT	25–4	Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA Tournament
Mar 15, 1996*	(2 SE) No. 7	vs. (15 SE) UNC Greensboro First round	W 66–61	26–4	Orlando Arena Orlando, Florida
Mar 17, 1996	(2 SE) No. 7	vs. (7 SE) Temple Second Round	W 78–65^[2]	27–4	Orlando Arena Orlando, Florida
Mar 22, 1996	(2 SE) No. 7	vs. (3 SE) No. 13 Georgia Tech Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 87–70	28–4	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 24, 1996	(2 SE) No. 7	vs. (5 SE) No. 19 Mississippi State Southeast Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 63–73	28–5	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast.

^[3]

Rankings[edit]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	21	21	21	17	12	9	5	5	4	3	5	5	5	6	6	7	8	7	Not released
Coaches	20	21	21	17	10	9	6	4	4	4	3	5	5	4	6	6	9	6	6

Awards and honors[edit]

Danny Fortson – C-USA Player of the Year, Consensus Second-Team All-American

References[edit]

^ sports-reference.com 1995-96 Conference USA Season Summary
^ "Cincinnati Gets Past Temple Zone Again". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1996. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
^ "2020-21 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Cincinnati Bearcats. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

[1] sports-reference.com 1995-96 Conference USA Season Summary

[2] "Cincinnati Gets Past Temple Zone Again". The Los Angeles Times. March 18, 1996. Retrieved February 18, 2022.

[3] "2020-21 Cincinnati Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Cincinnati Bearcats. Retrieved June 20, 2021.

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[2]

[3]

v t e Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball
Venues	Schmidlapp Gymnasium (1901–1954) Cincinnati Gardens (1949–1954; 1987–1989) Armory Fieldhouse (1954–1976) Riverfront Coliseum (1976–1987) Fifth Third Arena (1989–2017; 2018–present) BB&T Arena (2017–2018)
Rivalries	Louisville Memphis West Virginia Xavier
Culture & lore	Bearcat "Cheer Cincinnati" 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl Longest game in Division I history UC Pep Band
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics