1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball

Big East regular season co-champion Big East tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Second round
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 23
Record	22–9 (12–6 Big East)
Head coach	Jim O'Brien (11th season)
Home arena	Silvio O. Conte Forum
Seasons← 1995–961997–98 →

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6	.667	24	–	10	.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6	.667	22	–	9	.710
West Virginia	11	–	7	.611	21	–	10	.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10	.444	16	–	14	.533
St. John's	8	–	10	.444	13	–	15	.464
Connecticut	7	–	11	.389	18	–	15	.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7	.611	20	–	10	.667
Providence	10	–	8	.556	24	–	12	.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8	.556	18	–	15	.545
Miami	9	–	9	.500	16	–	13	.552
Syracuse	9	–	9	.500	19	–	13	.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13	.278	10	–	18	.357
Rutgers	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407

† 1997 Big East tournament winner As of March 31, 1997 Rankings from AP poll

The 1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team represented Boston College as members of the Big East Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by 11th-year head coach Jim O'Brien and played their home games at the Silvio O. Conte Forum in Boston, Massachusetts.

After finishing tied atop the Big East regular season standings, the Eagles won the Big East tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 5 seed in the West region. After defeating a game Valparaiso team in the opening round, the Eagles were eliminated in overtime by Saint Joseph's, 81–77, in the round of 32.

Roster

1996–97 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	11	Scoonie Penn	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Salem, Massachusetts
C	14	Mickey Curley	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Jr	Duxbury, Massachusetts
G	20	Duane Woodward	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	New York, New York
F	24	Danya Abrams	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Westchester, New York

Head coach

Jim O'Brien (Boston College)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1996*	No. 21	Brown	W 89–72	1–0	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Nov 25, 1996*	No. 23	New Hampshire	W 82–40	2–0	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 4, 1996	No. 20	Rutgers	W 73–64	3–0 (1–0)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 7, 1996	No. 20	at Connecticut	L 54–61	3–1 (1–1)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Connecticut
Dec 9, 1996*	No. 25	Vanderbilt	W 59–52	4–1	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 21, 1996*		at Holy Cross	W 92–76	5–1	Hart Center Worcester, Massachusetts
Dec 27, 1996*	No. 25	Central Connecticut State	W 63–53	6–1	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Dec 29, 1996*	No. 25	at No. 16 Louisville	L 85–89	6–2	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 2, 1997	No. 25	Miami (FL)	W 65–62	7–2 (2–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 4, 1997	No. 25	at Seton Hall	W 80–64	8–2 (3–1)	Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Jan 7, 1997	No. 23	at Syracuse	W 94–83	9–2 (4–1)	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Jan 11, 1997	No. 23	at Notre Dame	W 73–61	10–2 (5–1)	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 13, 1997	No. 19	Georgetown	W 81–74	11–2 (6–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 15, 1997*	No. 19	at Fairfield	W 81–79	12–2	Alumni Hall Fairfield, Connecticut
Jan 18, 1997*	No. 19	vs. UMass	L 78–90	12–3	TD Garden Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 21, 1997	No. 22	Pittsburgh	W 81–61	13–3 (7–1)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 25, 1997	No. 22	No. 12 Villanova	L 66–84	13–4 (7–2)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 29, 1997		at West Virginia	L 76–89	13–5 (7–3)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 1, 1997		at Providence	L 71–83	13–6 (7–4)	Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island
Feb 4, 1997		Syracuse	W 79–71	14–6 (8–4)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 9, 1997		St. John's	W 81–80	15–6 (9–4)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 12, 1997		Connecticut	L 56–61	15–7 (9–5)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 16, 1997		Seton Hall	W 74–57	16–7 (10–5)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 19, 1997		at Miami (FL)	W 59–57	17–7 (11–5)	Miami Arena Miami, Florida
Feb 23, 1997		at Pittsburgh	L 71–75	17–8 (11–6)	Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Mar 1, 1997		Notre Dame	W 76–74	18–8 (12–6)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Big East tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	(3)	vs. (6) Pittsburgh Quarterfinals	W 76–68	19–8	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 7, 1997*	(3)	vs. (2) Georgetown Semifinals	W 70–58	20–8	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 8, 1997*	(3)	vs. (1) No. 21 Villanova Championship game	W 70–58	21–8	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(5 W) No. 23	vs. (12 W) Valparaiso First round	W 73–66	22–8	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 15, 1997*	(5 W) No. 23	vs. (4 W) No. 12 Saint Joseph's Second round	L 77–81	22–9	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Sources

Rankings

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

References

sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
"PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
"Boston College Rallies Past Valparaiso". The Washington Post. March 13, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
"St. Joseph's, Bey Use Long Ball to Keep Boston College at Bay in 81-77 Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
"1996-97 Boston College Eagles Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 9, 2022.

v t e Boston College Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Roberts Center (1958–1988) Conte Forum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Boston University UMass
Culture & lore	Baldwin the Eagle "For Boston" 1978–79 point-shaving scandal
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–10 1910–11 1911–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–45 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

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