The 1995–96 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

during the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

was

Pete Carril Peter Joseph Carril (July 10, 1930 – August 15, 2022) was an American basketball coach. He is best known as head coach of Princeton University for 30 years and for his use of the "Princeton offense". He also coached at Lehigh University an ...

and the team captain was Sydney Johnson. The team played its home games in the

Jadwin Gymnasium The L. Stockwell Jadwin Gymnasium is a 6,854-seat multi-purpose arena at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the Princeton Tigers college basketball teams. It replaced Dillon Gymnasium, the home ...

on the University campus in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. The team was the champion of the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

, which earned them an invitation to the 64-team

1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the champions ...

where they were seeded thirteenth in the Southeast Region. This was the final year that Carril coached the men's basketball team. He would be succeeded by assistant coach

Bill Carmody William D. Carmody (born December 4, 1951) is a retired American men's college basketball coach, formerly the head coach at the College of the Holy Cross. He was the head coach of the Wildcats men's basketball team at Northwestern University ...

. Carrill retired as the Ivy League's winningest coach in terms of overall victories, conference victories and conference championships. By the end of the decade, Princeton achieved a 76.1% (210–66) winning percentage, which was the eighth best in the nation. Using the

Princeton offense The Princeton offense is an offensive basketball strategy which emphasizes constant motion, back-door cuts, picks on and off the ball, and disciplined teamwork. It was used and perfected at Princeton University by Pete Carril, though its roots ma ...

, the team posted a 22–7 overall record and a 13–2 conference record. Even after Jerome Allen and Matt Maloney who led the Penn Quakers to Ivy titles in the prior four seasons graduated, Princeton's only two losses were to . After losing the regular season finale at

The Palestra The Palestra, often called the Cathedral of College Basketball, is a historic arena and the home gym of the Penn Quakers men's and women's basketball teams, volleyball teams, wrestling team, and Philadelphia Big 5 basketball. Located at 235 Sou ...

against Penn to finish the regular season tied for the conference championship on March 5, the team won its March 9, 1996, one-game Ivy League playoff game against Penn in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, Pennsylvania, at the Stabler Arena by a 63–56 margin in

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

for the Ivy League Championship and an invitation to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The win ended an eight-game losing streak to Penn. The win earned the team the conference automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA tournament and following the game

announced his retirement. On March 14, the 13th seeded team was matched against the defending national champion and fourth seeded

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Southeast Regional first round game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team fell behind 41–34 with over six minutes remaining, but held UCLA scoreless the rest of the game, winning 43–41 on the strength of a typical

, Steve Goodrich to Gabe Lewullis bounce pass backdoor basket. During the game, Sydney Johnson's leadership held the team together early when the UCLA team looked strong. It was the final upset the team produced in Carril's career, as two days later, the Tigers season ended with a 63–41 loss to

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

in the second round. The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selections Steve Goodrich and Johnson. The team won the eighth of twelve consecutive national statistical championships in

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

defense with a 51.7 points allowed average. Goodrich led the Ivy League with a 60.3

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the genera ...

Schedule and results

, - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Ivy League Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, Ivy League Playoff , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995-96 Princeton Tigers Men's Basketball Team Princeton Tigers men's basketball seasons

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...