1995–96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team

1995–96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
1995–96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball
MVC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	22–8 (12–6 MVC)
Head coach	Steve Robinson (1st season);
Home arena	Tulsa Convention Center
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

The 1995–96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's basketball team represented the University of Tulsa as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1995–96 college basketball season. The Golden Hurricane played their home games at the Tulsa Convention Center. Led by first-year head coach Steve Robinson, they finished the season 22–8 overall and 12–6 in conference play to finish third in the MVC standings. Tulsa won the MVC tournament to receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, the team was defeated by Louisville, 82–80 in OT, in the opening round.^[2]

1995–96 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Bradley	15	–	3	.833	22	–	8	.733
Illinois State	13	–	5	.722	22	–	12	.647
Tulsa †	12	–	6	.667	22	–	8	.733
Southwest Missouri State	11	–	7	.611	16	–	12	.571
Creighton	9	–	9	.500	14	–	15	.483
Evansville	9	–	9	.500	13	–	14	.481
Northern Iowa	8	–	10	.444	14	–	13	.519
Drake	8	–	10	.444	12	–	15	.444
Indiana State	6	–	12	.333	10	–	16	.385
Wichita State	4	–	14	.222	8	–	21	.276
Southern Illinois	4	–	14	.222	11	–	18	.379

† 1996 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

1995–96 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)	Jr	Tulsa, Oklahoma
F/C	51	Michael Ruffin	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	Denver, Colorado

Head coach

Steve Robinson

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1995*		North Carolina A&T	W 100–51	1–0	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 4, 1995*		at Western Kentucky	W 73–65	2–0	E. A. Diddle Arena Bowling Green, Kentucky
Dec 9, 1995*		at Temple	W 64–60	3–0	McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 17, 1995*		Prairie View	W 141–50	4–0	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 20, 1995*		New Mexico State	W 73–57	5–0	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 30, 1995*		at Oral Roberts	L 78–90	5–1	Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 2, 1996*		Oklahoma State	W 57–53	6–1	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 6, 1996		at Evansville	W 67–57	7–1 (1–0)	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana
Jan 8, 1996*		UAB	W 70–55	8–1	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 11, 1996		Drake	W 86–64	9–1 (2–0)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 14, 1996		Illinois State	L 71–74	9–2 (2–1)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 17, 1996		at Creighton	L 59–72	9–3 (2–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 20, 1996		at SW Missouri State	W 75–65	10–3 (3–2)	Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri
Jan 24, 1996		Creighton	W 55–52	11–3 (4–2)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 27, 1996		at Drake	W 79–73	12–3 (5–2)	Knapp Center Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 29, 1996		at Northern Iowa	W 89–79	13–3 (6–2)	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan 31, 1996		SW Missouri State	L 61–66	13–4 (6–3)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 4, 1996		at Bradley	L 72–85 ^OT	13–5 (6–4)	Carver Arena Peoria, Illinois
Feb 10, 1996		at Wichita State	W 75–47	14–5 (7–4)	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Feb 12, 1996		Evansville	W 74–53	15–5 (8–4)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 14, 1996		at Southern Illinois	W 84–75 ^OT	16–5 (9–4)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 17, 1996		Bradley	L 73–74 ^OT	16–6 (9–5)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, OK
Feb 19, 1996		Indiana State	W 111–75	17–6 (10–5)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, OK
Feb 21, 1996		at Illinois State	L 64–69	17–7 (10–6)	Redbird Arena Normal, Illinois
Feb 24, 1996		Wichita State	W 72–66	18–7 (11–5)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, OK
Feb 26, 1996*		Northern Iowa	W 95–88	19–7 (12–6)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
MVC tournament
Mar 2, 1996*	(3)	vs. (6) Evansville Quarterfinals	W 65–55	20–7	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 3, 1996*	(3)	vs. (2) Illinois State Semifinals	W 69–52	21–7	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 4, 1996*	(3)	vs. (1) Bradley Championship	W 60–46	22–7	Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1996*	(11 MW)	vs. (6 MW) No. 24 Louisville First Round	L 80–82 ^{OT^[2]}	22–8	Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central.

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Rankings

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References

^ sports-reference.com 1995-96 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
^ ^a ^b "Down by 12, Louisville Wins in Overtime". The New York Times. March 16, 1996. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
^ "1995-96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
^ "1995-96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

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

[louisville-2] "Down by 12, Louisville Wins in Overtime". The New York Times. March 16, 1996. Retrieved May 3, 2023.

[3] "1995-96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 3, 2023.

[4] "1995-96 Tulsa Golden Hurricane Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved May 3, 2023.

[ESPN-5] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1042–1043. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

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