1995-96

HIGHLIGHTS:                 Coaches:

ROSTER:

PRESEASON OUTLOOK:

RETURNEES (Stats):

PLAYER LOSSES (' Stats):

SEASON SUMMARY:

With a veteran cast of players returning from a fast finish the previous season, it wasn't a surprise when the Hawkeyes started fast in 1995-96. A strong performance in the Great Alaska Shootout to open the season showed just how fast the Hawkeyes could go.

After a 78-51 win over Ohio University in the first round, Iowa earned the attention of college basketball fans around the nation with a 101-95 overtime win over Connecticut in the semi-finals. The Hawkeyes raced to a 19-point advantage in the first half and then controlled the overtime session to advance to the finals.

Iowa didn't start as well in the championship game against Duke, but the Hawkeyes led late in the second half before the Blue Devils rallied to take an 88-81 win and Iowa had to settle for second place. Russ Millard and Chris Kingsbury were named to the all-tournament team.

The loss to Duke was Iowa's only setback in non-conference action. The Hawkeyes opened the home season with a 98-66 rout of Drake and then won their own Super Chevy Shootout with wins over East Tennessee State (104-58) and Colgate (79-59). Russ Millard was the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Kenyon Murray, Andre Woolridge and Chris Kingsbury.

Iowa earned the mythical state title with road wins at Northern Iowa (78-73) and Iowa State (56-50). The victory at Ames ended Iowa State's 41-game home court winning streak over non-conference opponents. The Hawkeyes concluded the non-conference schedule with an impressive 100-85 win at Colorado.

Hawks rally after slow start in Big Ten

The Hawkeyes started slow in Big Ten play, posting a 3-3 record in their first six games. Iowa started league play at Purdue, and after battling to a first half tie Iowa was beaten 85-61. Home victories over Minnesota, Ohio State, and Illinois were wrapped around disappointing losses at Wisconsin and Michigan State, with the 62-60 loss to the Spartans coming on a last-second rebound basket.

Following a three-point loss at Indiana and an overtime defeat at home to 10th ranked Penn State, Iowa was just 4-5 at the midway point of the Big Ten season with just four home games remaining on the schedule.

Iowa responded to the challenge with a sudden four-game winning streak. The Hawkeyes won their first Big Ten road game at Northwestern (88-77) and returned home to face Indiana. The Hawkeyes raced past the Hoosiers 76-50 and faced a critical battle at Michigan.

Having lost 14 straight games in Ann Arbor since last winning there in 1981, Iowa was up to the challenge. Behind the strong play of Russ Millard (18 points, 15 rebounds) and Andre Woolridge (20 points, six assists), Iowa scored a 62-55 victory in a key game for both teams.

The Hawkeyes won their fourth straight game, earning a measure of revenge with an 83-47 win over Michigan State. Following a 91-86 loss at Illinois Iowa earned a season split with Wisconsin, defeating the Badgers 69-54 in Iowa City.

Iowa clinched a winning season in Big Ten play with a 73-64 victory at Ohio State before dropping a 72-64 contest at Minnesota in the last road game of the season. All that was left was a showdown with Purdue, which had already clinched its third straight Big Ten title.

In front of a deafening Saturday afternoon sellout crowd, Iowa gained control in the final minute to defeat the 4th-ranked Boilermakers, 56-52, earning win No. 22 on the season. Iowa rallied for a 7-2 mark in the second half of Big Ten play and placed fourth in the league standings with an 11-7 record.

Junior forward Jess Settles and junior guard Andre Woolridge were both named first team all-Big Ten, while senior Russ Millard gathered third team honors. With the 22-8 overall record Iowa earned an NCAA Tournament birth, its 17th overall and seventh under Coach Tom Davis.

Iowa matches third highest win total with NCAA victory

Facing George Washington in the first round of the West Region, Iowa posted one of the top comebacks in NCAA history in its 81-79 victory. Iowa trailed by 17 points with 8:21 remaining before winning in the final seconds on two free throws by Millard. A second round loss to Arizona (87-73) ended the Iowa season with a final mark of 23-9.

The 23 victories equaled the third highest win total in school history. Iowa also won 23 games in 1980, 1989 and 1993. The 22-regular season wins tied for second best under Coach Tom Davis. Iowa won 27 regular season games in 1987 and 22 in 1988, 1989 and 1993.

Iowa led the Big Ten in scoring for the second straight season and ranked fourth nationally in rebound margin. The Hawkeyes during the regular season defeated two teams (Connecticut and Purdue) who earned No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Jess Settles earned honorable mention All-America honors and was a second team GTE Academic All-American. Andre Woolridge set a single-season record for assists (193), Kenyon Murray became Iowa's all-time career leader with 200 steals and Russ Millard set a single-season mark for field goal percentage (.609)

Source: Hawkeyebasketball.com

1996  FINAL TEAM STATISTICS:

  Source:  

GAME-BY-GAME

 

Date	Opponent	Result
*11/22	Ohio University	W	78-51
*11/24	Connecticut (OT)	W	101-95
*11/25	Duke	L	81-88
11/28	Drake	W	98-66
#12/1	East Tennessee State	W	104-58
#12/2	Colgate	W	79-59
12/5	at Northern Iowa	W	78-73
12/9	at Iowa State	W	56-50
12/16	Texas Southern	W	110-67
12/20	Western Illinois	W	93-41
12/23	Morehead State	W	82-57
12/28	at Colorado	W	100-85
1/3	at Purdue	L	61-85
1/6	Minnesota	W	92-63
1/10	Ohio State	W	81-53
1/13	at Wisconsin	L	71-80
1/18	Illinois	W	82-79
1/20	at Michigan State	L	60-62
1/28	Michigan	W	70-61
1/30	at Indiana	L	73-76
2/3	Penn State (OT)	L	87-95
2/7	at Northwestern	W	88-77
2/11	Indiana	W	76-50
2/13	at Michigan	W	62-55
2/21	Michigan State	W	83-47
2/24	at Illinois	L	86-91
2/28	Wisconsin	W	69-54
3/2	at Ohio State	W	73-64
3/6	at Minnesota	L	64-72
3/9	Purdue	W	56-52
%3/15	George Washington (n)	W	81-79
%3/17	Arizona (n)	L	73-87

* - - Great Alaska Shootout
# - - Super Chevy Shootout
% - - NCAA Tournament

BIG 10 CONFERENCE:

 

		Big Ten			Overall
	School	Won	Lost	Pct.	Won	Lost	Pct.
1.	Purdue	15	3	.833	26	6	.813
2.	Penn State	12	6	.667	21	7	.750
	Indiana	12	6	.667	19	12	.613
4.	Iowa	11	7	.611	23	9	.719
5.	Michigan	10	8	.556	20	12	.625
	Minnesota	10	8	.556	19	13	.594
7.	Michigan State	9	9	.500	16	16	.500
8.	Wisconsin	8	10	.444	17	15	.531
9.	Illinois	7	11	.389	18	13	.581
10.	Ohio State	3	12	.167	10	17	.370
	Northwestern	2	16	.111	7	20	.259

All-Big Ten

 

First Team	Media	Coaches
	Brian Evans, Indiana	Brian Evans, Indiana
	Jess Settles, Iowa	Jess Settles, Iowa
	Andre Woolridge, Iowa	Andre Woolridge, Iowa
	Geno Carlisle, Northwestern	Geno Carlisle, Northwestern
	Kiwane Garris, Illinois	Matt Gaudio, Penn State
Second Team
	Maurice Taylor, Michigan	Maurice Taylor, Michigan
	Chad Austin, Purdue	Chad Austin, Purdue
	Quinton Brooks, Michigan St.	Quinton Brooks, Michigan St.
	Matt Gaudio, Penn State	Kiwane Garris, Illinois
	Dan Earl, Penn State	Porter Roberts, Purdue
Third Team
	Russ Millard, Iowa	Russ Millard, Iowa
	Glenn Sekunda, Penn State	Glenn Sekunda, Penn State
	Porter Roberts, Purdue	Brad Miller, Purdue
	Roy Hairston, Purdue	Dan Earl, Penn State
	Pete Lisicky, Penn State	Andrae Patterson, Indiana

Player of the Year:Brian Evans, Indiana (media & coaches)
Freshman of the Year:Sam Okey, Wisconsin (media & coaches)
Coach of the Year:Gene Keady, Purdue (selected by media)
Defensive Player of the Year:Porter Roberts, Purdue (selected by coaches)

Iowa Honors

All-Big Ten
First Team: Jess Settles, Andre Woolridge
Third Team: Russ Millard
Academic All-Big Ten:Jess Settles

GTE Academic All-American
Second Team:Jess Settles

All-American
Honorable Mention:Jess Settles

Regional Honors
Basketball Weekly All-Midwest Team
Honorable Mention: Jess Settles, Andre Woolridge

USBWA District Five Team
All-District: Jess Settles, Andre Woolridge

Most Valuable Player: Russ Millard, Jess Settles, Andre Woolridge

Chris Street Award: Jess Settles

National Rankings

Team
Rebounding Margin +9.1 (4th)
Scoring Margin +11.7 (9th)
Field Goal Percentage .480% (16th)