1986–87 Providence Friars men's basketball team

1986–87 Providence Friars men's basketball
1986–87 Providence Friars men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Big East Conference
Record	25–9 (10–6 Big East)
Head coach	Rick Pitino (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Gordon Chiesa; Stu Jackson; Herb Sendek; Jeff Van Gundy (GA);
Home arena	Providence Civic Center
	Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

The 1986–87 Providence Friars men's basketball team represented Providence College during the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by second-year head coach Rick Pitino, the Friars finished the season 25–9 (10–6 Big East) and made a Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament to the Final Four.

1986–87 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Georgetown†	12	–	4	.750	29	–	5	.853
No. 12 Pittsburgh	12	–	4	.750	25	–	8	.758
No. 10 Syracuse	12	–	4	.750	31	–	7	.816
Providence	10	–	6	.625	25	–	9	.735
St. John's	10	–	6	.625	21	–	9	.700
Villanova	6	–	10	.375	15	–	16	.484
Seton Hall	4	–	12	.250	15	–	14	.517
Boston College	3	–	13	.188	11	–	18	.379
Connecticut	3	–	13	.188	9	–	19	.321

† 1987 Big East tournament winner As of March 30, 1987^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Ryan Ford	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Olean, New York
G	12	Delray Brooks	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	199 lb (90 kg)	Jr	Michigan City, Indiana
F	15	David Kipfer	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	212 lb (96 kg)	Sr	Kitchener, Ontario
G	20	Carlton Screen	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	158 lb (72 kg)	Fr	Brooklyn, New York
G	23	Ernie Lewis	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	Sr	Germantown, Pennsylvania
F	25	Abdul Shamsid-Deen	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Staten Island, New York
C	30	Marty Conlon	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Bronxville, New York
F	32	David Snedeker	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Springfield, Illinois
G	34	Billy Donovan	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	171 lb (78 kg)	Sr	Rockville Centre, New York
F	41	Darryl Wright	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	So	New York City, New York
F	42	Bryan Benham	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Cartersville, Georgia
C	44	Steve Wright	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Syracuse, New York
C	50	Jacek Duda	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	233 lb (106 kg)	Sr	Central Falls, Rhode Island

Head coach

Rick Pitino (UMass)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

^[2]^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1986		American Fleet Classic	W 104–82	1-0	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Nov 29, 1986		Tulsa Fleet Classic	L 74–80	1-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 2, 1986		at Holy Cross	W 90–65	2-1	Hart Center Worcester, MA
Dec 6, 1986		Rhode Island	W 100–90	3-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 9, 1986		at Brown	W 96–65	4-1	Marvel Gymnasium Providence, RI
Dec 11, 1986		Siena	W 75–64	5-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 20, 1986		Rider	W 106–66	6-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 22, 1986		Howard	W 94–83	7-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 27, 1986		Maine	W 113–87	8-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Dec 29, 1986		Hofstra	W 97–61	9-1	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Jan 3, 1987		No. 17 Pittsburgh	L 67–76	9-2 (0-1)	Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 5, 1987		No. 7 Syracuse	L 85–89	9-3 (0-2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Jan 10, 1987		Villanova	W 96–78	10-3 (1-2)	The Pavilion Philadelphia, PA
Jan 14, 1987		Connecticut	W 103–89	11-3 (2-2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Jan 17, 1987		Boston College	W 96–78	12-3 (3-2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Jan 20, 1987*		at Miami (FL)	W 92–88	13-3	Knight Center Miami, FL
Jan 24, 1987		Connecticut	W 61–53	14-3 (4-2)	Hartford Civic Center Hartford, CT
Jan 28, 1987		No. 11 Georgetown	W 82–79	15-3 (5-2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Jan 31, 1987		No. 15 St. John's	W 93–81	16-3 (6-2)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Feb 3, 1987	No. 17	at Boston College	L 66–67	16-4 (6-3)	Roberts Center Boston, MA
Feb 7, 1987	No. 17	No. 13 Pittsburgh	L 81–87	16-5 (6-4)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Feb 14, 1987	No. 20	No. 16 St. John's	W 79–78	17-5 (7-4)	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Feb 17, 1987	No. 19	Seton Hall	W 91–87	18-5 (8-4)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Feb 19, 1987	No. 19	at No. 9 Syracuse	L 81–90	18-6 (8-5)	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY
Feb 25, 1987	No. 20	vs. Seton Hall	W 85–72	19-6 (9-5)	Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, NJ
Feb 28, 1987	No. 20	No. 8 Georgetown	L 79–90	19-7 (9-6)	Capital Centre Washington, D.C.
Mar 2, 1987		Villanova	W 97–80	20–7 (10–6)	Providence Civic Center Providence, RI
Big East tournament
Mar 6, 1987*		vs. St. John's Big East tournament Quarterfinal	W 80–51	21–7	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
Mar 7, 1987*		vs. No. 7 Georgetown Big East tournament Semifinal	L 66–84	21–8	Madison Square Garden New York, NY
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1987* CBS	(6)	vs. (11) UAB NCAA tournament first round	W 90–68	22–8	Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, AL
Mar 14, 1987* CBS	(6)	vs. (14) Austin Peay NCAA tournament second round	W 90–87 ^{OT^[4]}	23–8	Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, AL
Mar 19, 1987* CBS	(6)	vs. (2) No. 9 Alabama Southeast Regional semifinal	W 103–82^[5]	24–8	Freedom Hall Louisville, KY
Mar 21, 1987* CBS	(6)	vs. (1) No. 4 Georgetown Southeast Regional final	W 88–73^[6]	25–8	Freedom Hall (16,944) Louisville, KY
Mar 28, 1987* CBS	(SE 6)	vs. (E 2) No. 10 Syracuse Final Four	L 63–77^[7]	25–9	Louisiana Superdome (64,959) New Orleans, LA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[8]

Rankings

^[9]

References

^ "1986-87 Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
^ "1987 NCAA Final Four program". March 1987. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
^ "1986-87 Providence Friars Roster and Stats". Retrieved March 3, 2019.
^ "Providence Rallies, 90-87". The Washington Post. March 15, 1987. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
^ "Long Shot Providence Shoots Down Alabama". Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
^ "Friars Stun Hoyas, 88-73, by Relying on Inside Game". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
^ "Providence Goes Cold, and Syracuse Is in Title Game, 77-63". Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
^ "1986-87 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". Retrieved March 3, 2019.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 910–911. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "1986-87 Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.

[2] "1987 NCAA Final Four program". March 1987. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)

[3] "1986-87 Providence Friars Roster and Stats". Retrieved March 3, 2019.

[4] "Providence Rallies, 90-87". The Washington Post. March 15, 1987. Retrieved February 5, 2022.

[5] "Long Shot Providence Shoots Down Alabama". Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 5, 2022.

[6] "Friars Stun Hoyas, 88-73, by Relying on Inside Game". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2019.

[7] "Providence Goes Cold, and Syracuse Is in Title Game, 77-63". Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2019.

[8] "1986-87 Providence Friars Schedule and Results". Retrieved March 3, 2019.

[ESPN-9] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 910–911. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

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