The 1985–86 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils basketball team represented Mississippi Valley State University during the

1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season Season headlines * Blocked shots and steals both became official statistics tracked by the NCAA. David Robinson of Navy became the first national blocked shot champion, averaging 5.91 per game for the season. The first steals champion was Darr ...

. The Delta Devils, led by head coach

Lafayette Stribling Lafayette Stribling (June 1, 1934 – October 30, 2021) was an American basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete wi ...

, played their home games at Harrison HPER Complex as members of the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in t ...

. The Delta Devils finished the season 20–11, 10–4 in SWAC play to finish in 3rd pace. They won the SWAC Basketball tournament to earn the conference's automatic bid into the 1986 NCAA tournament – the first appearance in school history. As the No. 16 seed in the East Region, the Delta Devils played a tough game before falling to No. 1 overall seed and eventual National runner-up Duke in the opening round, 85–78.

Roster

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, SWAC tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, 1986 NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1985-86 Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils basketball team Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils basketball seasons Mississippi Valley State Mississippi Valley State Mississippi Valley Mississippi Valley