1996–97 Chattanooga Mocs basketball team

The 1996–97 Chattanooga Mocs basketball team represented the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as a member of the Southern Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Mack McCarthy and the team played their home games at UTC Arena. The Mocs won the regular season and SoCon tournament titles, the latter earning the Mocs an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament. Participating in the Big Dance for the fourth time in five years, Chattanooga made a run to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating No. 3 seed Georgia[1] and No. 6 seed Illinois[2] before falling to No. 10 seed Providence in the Southeast Regional semifinals.[3]

1996–97 Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball
SoCon regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceSouthern Conference
DivisionSouth
Record24–11 (11–3 SoCon)
Head coach
Home arenaUTC Arena
Seasons
← 1995–96
1997–98 →
1996–97 Southern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North
Marshall 10 4   .714 20 9   .690
Davidson 10 4   .714 18 10   .643
Appalachian State 8 6   .571 14 14   .500
VMI 7 7   .500 12 16   .429
East Tennessee State 2 12   .143 7 20   .259
South
Chattanooga 11 3   .786 24 11   .686
Western Carolina 7 7   .500 14 13   .519
The Citadel 6 8   .429 13 14   .481
Georgia Southern 5 9   .357 10 18   .357
Furman 4 10   .286 10 17   .370
SoCon Tournament winner
As of April 30, 1997
Rankings from AP poll

Roster

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1996–97 Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 3 Willie Young 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Norfolk, VA
G 10 Wes Moore 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)
So Lookout Mountain, GA
F 23 Johnny Taylor 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Chattanooga, TN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster
Last update: 2021-Jun-6

Source:[4]

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 22, 1996*
Tennessee Wesleyan W 113–46  1–0
UTC Arena (3,641)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Nov 23, 1996*
South Carolina-Aiken W 110–61  2–0
UTC Arena (3,007)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Nov 29, 1996*
vs. Missouri
San Juan Shootout
L 74–83  2–1
Caguas Municipal Complex (200)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nov 30, 1996*
vs. Delaware
San Juan Shootout
L 74–83  2–2
Caguas Municipal Complex (300)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 1, 1996*
at Puerto Rico-Mayagüez
San Juan Shootout
W 83–74  3–2
Caguas Municipal Complex (175)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 3, 1996*
Penn State L 63–73  3–3
UTC Arena (7,940)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dec 14, 1996*
at Middle Tennessee L 73–83  3–4
Murphy Athletic Center (3,114)
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Dec 18, 1996*
at Alabama-Birmingham L 65–75  3–5
UAB Arena (3,130)
Birmingham, Alabama
Dec 21, 1996*
Tennessee State W 67–49  4–5
UTC Arena (5,297)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dec 23, 1996
at Marshall L 83–90  4–6
(0–1)
Henderson Center (4,217)
Huntington, West Virginia
Dec 28, 1996*
Coastal Carolina
Dr. Pepper Classic
W 75–69 OT 5–6
UTC Arena (4,119)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dec 29, 1996*
Canisius
Dr. Pepper Classic
L 49–63  5–7
UTC Arena (3,987)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 6, 1997*
Wofford W 83–46  6–7
UTC Arena (3,819)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 9, 1997
at Furman W 81–45  7–7
(1–1)
Physical Activity Center (1,000)
Greenville, South Carolina
Jan 11, 1997
at VMI W 91–76  8–7
(2–1)
Cameron Hall (1,116)
Lexington, Virginia
Jan 18, 1997
at Davidson W 74–63  9–7
(3–1)
Belk Arena (2,489)
Davidson, North Carolina
Jan 20, 1997
Furman W 68–47  10–7
(4–1)
UTC Arena (5,280)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 25, 1997
Western Carolina W 87–60  11–7
(5–1)
UTC Arena (5,943)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 27, 1997
Georgia Southern W 76–55  12–7
(6–1)
UTC Arena (5,231)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Jan 29, 1997
East Tennessee State W 83–53  13–7
(7–1)
UTC Arena (5,670)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Feb 1, 1997
Appalachian State W 70–57  14–7
(8–1)
UTC Arena (6,911)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Feb 3, 1997
at The Citadel W 72–66  15–7
(9–1)
McAlister Field House (764)
Charleston, South Carolina
Feb 6, 1997*
Alabama-Birmingham W 64–59  16–7
UTC Arena (7,590)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Feb 8, 1997
at East Tennessee State L 69–70 OT 16–8
(9–2)
Memorial Center (4,150)
Johnson City, Tennessee
Feb 10, 1997
The Citadel W 71–59  17–8
(10–2)
UTC Arena (8,005)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Feb 15, 1997
at Western Carolina L 66–68  17–9
(10–3)
Ramsey Center (2,662)
Cullowhee, North Carolina
Feb 17, 1997
at Georgia Southern L 67–70  17–10
(10–4)
Hanner Fieldhouse (1,908)
Statesboro, Georgia
Feb 22, 1997
Marshall W 92–72  18–10
(11–4)
UTC Arena (9,211)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Feb 24, 1997*
Cumberland University W 92–60  19–10
UTC Arena (4,783)
Chattanooga, Tennessee
SoCon tournament
Feb 28, 1997*
(S1) vs. (N4) VMI
Quarterfinals
W 84–62  20–10
Greensboro Coliseum (1,756)
Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 1, 1997*
(S1) vs. (N2) Davidson
Semifinals
W 77–70  21–10
Greensboro Coliseum (4,297)
Greensboro, North Carolina
Mar 2, 1997*
(S1) vs. (N1) Marshall
Championship
W 71–70 OT 22–10
Greensboro Coliseum (5,390)
Greensboro, North Carolina
NCAA tournament
Mar 14, 1997*
(14 SE) vs. (3 SE) No. 17 Georgia
First round
W 73–70[1]  23–10
Charlotte Coliseum (11,206)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 16, 1997*
(14 SE) vs. (6 SE) No. 19 Illinois
Second Round
W 75–63[2]  24–10
Charlotte Coliseum (14,864)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 21, 1997*
(14 SE) vs. (10 SE) Providence
Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
L 65–71[3]  24–11
Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center (17,647)
Birmingham, Alabama
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
SE=Southeast.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Source:[5] [6]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Moccasins Show Venom In 73-70 Upset Of Georgia". The Spokesman-Review. March 15, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Tennessee-Chattanooga 75, Illinois 63". Chicago Tribune. March 17, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Providence Gets Help from God". The Washington Post. March 22, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "1996-97 Men's Basketball Roster". UT Chattanooga Athletics. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "1996 Men's Basketball Schedule". UT Chattanooga Athletics. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "1996-1997 Chattanooga Mocs Men's Basketball Stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Statistics.