1996–97 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

1996–97 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1997 Mid-Con Tournament winner; Rankings from AP Poll

1996–97 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
1996–97 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball
Mid-Con Regular season champions; Mid-Con tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Mid-Continent Conference
Record	24–7 (13–3 Mid-Con)
Head coach	Homer Drew (9th season);
Home arena	Athletics–Recreation Center
	Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The 1996–97 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by ninth-year head coach Homer Drew, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as members of the Mid-Continent Conference. The Crusaders won Mid-Con regular season and tournament titles, and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 12 seed in the West region. In the opening round, Valpo was beaten by No. 5 seed Boston College, 73–66.^[2] The team finished with a record of 24–7 (13–3 Mid-Con).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G		Jamie Sykes	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Jr
G	24	Bryce Drew	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Jr	Valparaiso	Valparaiso, Indiana
C	33	Zoran Viskovic	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	So		Croatia
F	44	Bill Jenkins	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr

Head coach

Homer Drew (William Jewell)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 20, 1996*		at Vanderbilt	L 66–74	0–1	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Nov 25, 1996*		at Canisius	W 66–52	1–1	Koessler Athletic Center Buffalo, New York
Nov 27, 1996*		at Northern Illinois	W 88–83	2–1	Chick Evans Field House DeKalb, Illinois
Dec 4, 1996*		Indiana Wesleyan	W 92–69	3–1	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 7, 1996*		Wisconsin–Milwaukee	W 71–46	4–1	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 10, 1996*		Wisconsin–Green Bay	W 50–44	5–1	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 14, 1996*		Illinois-Chicago	W 77–68	6–1	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Dec 27, 1996*		vs. Army Union Federal Hoosier Classic	W 88–48	7–1	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 28, 1996*		vs. No. 13 Indiana Union Federal Hoosier Classic	L 51–72	7–2	Market Square Arena Indianapolis, Indiana
Jan 2, 1997		at Troy State	W 76–70	8–2 (1–0)	Trojan Arena Troy, Alabama
Jan 4, 1997		at UMKC	W 81–66	9–2 (2–0)	Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri
Jan 6, 1997*		Youngstown State	W 57–46	10–2 (3–0)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 8, 1997		Buffalo	W 72–55	11–2 (4–0)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 11, 1997		at Northeastern Illinois	W 82–80 ^OT	12–2 (5–0)	NEIU Physical Education Complex Chicago, Illinois
Jan 14, 1997		at Chicago State	W 76–59	13–2 (6–0)	Dickens Athletic Center Chicago, Illinois
Jan 18, 1997*		Central Connecticut State	W 61–54	14–2 (7–0)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 20, 1997*		at Oral Roberts	L 72–76	14–3	Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 25, 1997		Western Illinois	L 78–84	14–4 (7–1)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Jan 27, 1997*		Northland	W 110–77	15–4	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 1, 1997		at Buffalo	W 64–62	16–4 (8–1)	Alumni Arena Buffalo, New York
Feb 3, 1997		at Youngstown State	L 64–66	16–5 (8–2)	Beeghly Center Youngstown, Ohio
Feb 6, 1997*		Chicago State	W 85–58	17–5 (9–2)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 8, 1997		Northeastern Illinois	W 102–84	18–5 (10–2)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 12, 1997		at Central Connecticut State	W 71–59	19–5 (11–2)	Detrick Gymnasium New Britain, Connecticut
Feb 15, 1997		at Western Illinois	W 83–74	20–5 (12–2)	Western Hall Macomb, Illinois
Feb 22, 1997		UMKC	W 90–63	21–5 (12–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Feb 24, 1997		Troy State	L 69–72 ^OT	21–6 (13–3)	Athletics-Recreation Center Valparaiso, Indiana
Mid-Con tournament
Mar 2, 1997*		vs. Central Connecticut State Quarterfinals	W 97–73	22–6	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Mar 3, 1997*		vs. Northeastern Illinois Semifinals	W 88–82 ^OT	23–6	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
Mar 4, 1997*		vs. Western Illinois Championship game	W 63–59	24–6	The MARK of the Quad Cities Moline, Illinois
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(12 W)	vs. (5 W) No. 23 Boston College First round	L 66–73	24–7	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[3]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1996-97 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary
^ "Boston College Rallies Past Valparaiso". The Washington Post. March 13, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
^ "Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[1] sports-reference.com 1996-97 Mid-Continent Conference Season Summary

[2] "Boston College Rallies Past Valparaiso". The Washington Post. March 13, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[3] "Men's Basketball All-Time Results" (PDF). Valparaiso University Athletics. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Valparaiso Beacons men's basketball
Venues	Hilltop Gym (1939–1984) ARC (1984–present)
Culture & lore	"The Shot"
People	Head coaches
Seasons	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 1996–97 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

1996–97 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Valparaiso †	13	–	5	.722	24	–	7	.774
Buffalo	11	–	5	.688	17	–	11	.607
Western Illinois	11	–	5	.688	19	–	10	.655
Troy State	10	–	6	.625	16	–	11	.593
Northeastern Illinois	8	–	8	.500	16	–	12	.571
Missouri-Kansas City	7	–	9	.438	10	–	17	.370
Chicago State	4	–	12	.250	4	–	23	.148
Central Connecticut State	4	–	12	.250	8	–	19	.296
Youngstown State	4	–	12	.250	9	–	18	.333

† 1997 Mid-Con Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

1996–97 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

Roster

Schedule and results

References

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