The 1996–97 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

as a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

during the 1996-97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Head coach

Dick Bennett Richard A. Bennett (born April 20, 1943) is an American former college basketball coach who is best known for building the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix men's basketball program into a mid-major power and revitalizing the Wisconsin Badgers basket ...

completed his second season coaching with the Badgers. The team played its home games in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

at the UW Field House. Wisconsin finished the season 18–10, 11–7 in Big Ten play to finish tied for fourth place. The Badgers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed in the East Region, where they were defeated in the first round by No. 10 seed

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Season summary

Wisconsin won 18 regular season games for only the second time in school history and recorded a winning Big Ten record for the first time since 1974. The Badgers finished as the Big Ten's top defensive squad, surrendering only 55.3 points-per-game over the entire season and 56.8 points-per-game on 39.7 percent shooting during conference play. They overcame the absence of two promising wing players with a strong frontcourt featuring lone senior Paul Grant, a 7-foot transfer from Boston College, at center. Grant led the team in scoring (12.5 ppg), while leading rebounder Sam Okey (8.5 rpg) and junior Sean Daugherty manned the forward spots as the second and third leading scorers, respectively. A highlight of a 6–0 start was when junior guard Sean Mason scored all 18 of his points in the second half and overtime to win at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, 64–57. The Badgers dropped two contests when Okey and guard Ty Calderwood took turns missing one game apiece, but the team's first loss at full strength came on the road to No. 15

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

in the 10th game of the season. Wisconsin responded two nights later by using a 17–0 opening run to topple No. 12

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, 71–58, to snap a 31-game losing streak to the Hoosiers. Calderwood made a pair of memorable game-winning plays during his junior year. On February 26, 1997, he hit a three-pointer with seven seconds remaining to beat

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, 49–48, to extend Wisconsin's Big Ten winning streak to six games. In the regular season finale, Calderwood sank two free throws and then poked the ball away on the following defensive possession to upset No. 2 Minnesota, 66–65. Wisconsin earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, only its second bid in 56 years, but the Badgers lost to No. 10 seed Texas, 71–58, in a first-round game in Pittsburgh.

Notable injuries

Mason was Wisconsin's leading scorer (12.3 ppg) through three games when he went down with a season-ending ACL injury to his left knee in the opening minutes against Brown on December 7, 1996. He then

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. It was the second straight year Mason's season ended early due to an ACL injury. Still recovering from the severely dislocated left knee cap he suffered in Wisconsin's first round NIT game the previous season, junior Mosezell Peterson sat the entire year as a medical redshirt. Peterson never suited up for the Badgers again as a result of the

foot drop Foot drop is a gait abnormality in which the dropping of the forefoot happens out of weakness, irritation or damage to the deep fibular nerve (deep peroneal), including the sciatic nerve, or paralysis of the muscles in the anterior portion of th ...

he developed, accepting a student assistant role the following season.

Awards

All-Big Ten * Sam Okey - 2nd team (media) and 3rd team (coaches) * Paul Grant - Honorable mention (media and coaches) Big Ten Player of the Week * Sam Okey - Week of December 16

Roster

*Earned 1-year scholarship for '96-97 ''*awarded one-year scholarship prior to season''

Schedule

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Player statistics

Records and trivia

Wisconsin went 5–2 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25. Calderwood tallied 63 steals in 27 games to lead the Big Ten with a 2.33 steals-per-game average. Prior to the season, Bennett awarded one-year scholarships to four walk-ons from the 1995-96 roster: juniors David Burkemper, Adam Schafer, Brian Vraney, and sophomore Mike Kosolcharoen. This brought the number of scholarship athletes on the 1996-97 roster to the allowed maximum of 13.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1996-97 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball seasons

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