1996–97 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

1996–97 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
1996–97 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	19–11 (9–7 Big 12)
Head coach	Kelvin Sampson (3rd season);
Home arena	Lloyd Noble Center (Capacity: 10,871)

1996–97 Big 12 men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 Kansas †	15	–	1	.938	34	–	2	.944
No. 24 Colorado	11	–	5	.688	22	–	10	.688
Texas	10	–	6	.625	18	–	12	.600
No. 18 Iowa State	10	–	6	.625	22	–	9	.710
Texas Tech	10	–	6	.625	19	–	9	.679
	9	–	7	.563	19	–	11	.633
Nebraska	7	–	9	.438	18	–	15	.545
Oklahoma State	7	–	9	.438	17	–	15	.531
Baylor	6	–	10	.375	18	–	12	.600
Missouri	5	–	11	.313	16	–	17	.485
Texas A&M	3	–	13	.188	9	–	18	.333
Kansas State	3	–	13	.188	10	–	17	.370

† 1997 Big 12 Tournament winner Rankings from AP poll ^[1]

The 1996–97 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team represented the University of Oklahoma in competitive college basketball during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team played its home games in the Lloyd Noble Center and was a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Big 12 Conference.

The team posted a 19–11 overall record (9–7 Big 12). The Sooners received a bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament as No. 11 seed in the West region. The Sooners lost to No. 6 seed Stanford, 80–67, in the opening round.

Roster

1996–97 Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	21	Eduardo Nájera	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr
G	31	Corey Brewer	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	West Memphis, Arkansas
C	32	Evan Wiley	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Jr

Head coach

Kelvin Sampson

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 23, 1996*		Northeast Louisiana	W 95–68	1–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
November 27, 1996*		Sam Houston State	W 84–51	2–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
November 30, 1996*		Coppin State	W 88–64	3–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
December 4, 1996*		Delaware State	W 83–56	4–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
December 7, 1996*		Southeast Missouri State	W 83–52	5–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
December 14, 1996*		Centenary	W 89–45	6–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
December 21, 1996*		Purdue	W 82–58	7–0	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
December 23, 1996*		at Memphis	L 47–61	7–1	The Pyramid Memphis, Tennessee
December 27, 1996*		vs. Western Illinois All-College Basketball Classic	W 74–62	8–1	Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
December 28, 1996*		vs. Tulsa All-College Basketball Classic	L 75–78	8–2	Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Big 12 Regular Season
January 5, 1997		at Texas A&M	W 78–59	9–2 (1–0)	G. Rollie White Coliseum College Station, Texas
January 11, 1997		at No. 4 Iowa State	L 55–82	9–3 (1–1)	Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa
January 15, 1997		No. 25 Texas Tech	L 62–67	9–4 (1–2)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
January 18, 1997		Baylor	W 84–67	10–4 (2–2)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
January 22, 1997		at No. 23 Texas	L 66–76	10–5 (2–3)	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
January 25, 1997		Nebraska	W 84–77	11–5 (3–3)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
January 27, 1997		at Oklahoma State Bedlam Series	L 72–73 ^OT	11–6 (3–4)	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma
February 1, 1997		No. 23 Texas	W 83–69	12–6 (4–4)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
February 4, 1997		Texas A&M	W 62–59 ^OT	13–6 (5–4)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
February 8, 1997		at Kansas State	L 63–67	13–7 (5–5)	Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, Kansas
February 12, 1997		No. 15 Colorado	W 91–66	14–7 (6–5)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
February 15, 1997		at Missouri	L 73–80	14–8 (6–6)	Hearnes Center Columbia, Missouri
February 19, 1997		at Texas Tech	W 66–60	15–8 (7–6)	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum Lubbock, Texas
February 22, 1997		Oklahoma State Bedlam Series	W 80–64	16–8 (8–6)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
February 24, 1997*		No. 1 Kansas	L 68–70	16–9 (8–7)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
March 1, 1997		at Baylor	W 72–61	17–9 (9–7)	Ferrell Center Waco, Texas
Big 12 Tournament
March 6, 1997*		vs. Texas A&M First round	W 67–58	18–9	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
March 7, 1997*		vs. No. 18 Colorado Quarterfinals	W 55–41	19–9	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
March 8, 1997*		vs. Missouri Semifinals	L 80–89	19–10	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
March 14, 1997*	(11 W)	vs. (6 W) No. 21 Stanford First round	L 67–80	19–11	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed within region W=West.

^[3]

Rankings

^[4]

References

^ 2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^ "1996-97 Oklahoma Sooners Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
^ "2019-20 Oklahoma Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[Standings-1] 2019-20 Big 12 Men's Basketball Record Book (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 26–30. Retrieved June 18, 2020.

[2] "1996-97 Oklahoma Sooners Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[3] "2019-20 Oklahoma Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Oklahoma Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[ESPN-4] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball
Venues	Oklahoma Gymnasium (1907–1919) University of Oklahoma R.O.T.C. Armory (1919–1928) McCasland Field House (1928–1975) Lloyd Noble Center (1975–present)
Rivalries	Oklahoma State
Culture & lore	Boomer and Sooner RUF/NEKS Jumpman Invitational
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 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 2025–26
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics