1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball
Atlantic 10 Regular season co-champions Atlantic 10 tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Atlantic 10
Ranking
Coaches	No. 17
AP	No. 12
Record	26–7 (13–3 Atlantic 10)
Head coach	Phil Martelli (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Matt Brady (4th season) Monté Ross (1st season) Carlin Warley
Home arena	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
Seasons ← 1995–96 1997–98 →

1996–97 Atlantic 10 men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
No. 12 Saint Joseph's †	13	–	3	.813	26	–	7	.788
Rhode Island	12	–	4	.750	20	–	10	.667
UMass	11	–	5	.688	19	–	14	.576
Temple	10	–	6	.625	20	–	11	.645
St. Bonaventure	5	–	11	.313	14	–	14	.500
Fordham	1	–	15	.063	6	–	21	.222
West
No. 13 Xavier	13	–	3	.813	23	–	6	.793
George Washington	8	–	8	.500	15	–	14	.517
Virginia Tech	7	–	9	.438	15	–	16	.484
Dayton	6	–	10	.375	13	–	14	.481
La Salle	5	–	11	.313	10	–	17	.370
Duquesne	5	–	11	.313	9	–	18	.333

† 1997 Atlantic 10 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team represented Saint Joseph's University as a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by 2nd year head coach Phil Martelli, the Hawks finished with an overall record of 26–7 (13–3 in A-10 play). Saint Joseph's won both regular season and A-10 Tournament titles, and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 4 seed in the West Regional. The team defeated Pacific^[1] and Boston College^[2] to advance to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to No. 1 seed Kentucky in the regional semifinal.

Roster

1996–97 Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
PG	11	Rashid Bey	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	154 lb (70 kg)	Jr	Saint John Neumann HS	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Head coach

Phil Martelli (Widener)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 20, 1996*		at No. 10 Duke Preseason NIT	L 60–89	0–1	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina
Dec 3, 1996*		Wyoming	W 71–57	1–1	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 7, 1996*		vs. No. 21 Tulsa Coaches vs. Cancer Classic	W 67–64	2–1	Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, New Jersey
Dec 16, 1996*		DePaul	W 71–58	3–1	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 19, 1996*		at East Carolina	L 64–68	3–2	Minges Coliseum Greenville, North Carolina
Dec 23, 1996*		No. 10 Villanova Philadelphia Big 5	L 65–81	3–3	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dec 30, 1996*		vs. Austin Peay Pepsi-Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic	W 74–58	4–3	Brown County Arena Green Bay, Wisconsin
Dec 31, 1996*		at Green Bay Pepsi-Oneida Bingo & Casino Classic	W 64–59	5–3	Brown County Arena Green Bay, Wisconsin
Jan 5, 1997		at UMass	W 72–68	6–3 (1–0)	Mullins Center Amherst, Massachusetts
Jan 9, 1997		St. Bonaventure	W 82–80 ^2OT	7–3 (2–0)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 11, 1997		at Rhode Island	L 70–74	7–4 (2–1)	Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island
Jan 15, 1997		at George Washington	W 55–53	8–4 (3–1)	Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C.
Jan 18, 1997		at Penn	W 66–61	9–4	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 21, 1997		Duquesne	W 82–74	10–4 (4–1)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 25, 1997		Virginia Tech	W 68–50	11–4 (5–1)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 30, 1997		Temple	L 59–68	11–5 (5–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 2, 1997		Rhode Island	W 79–77	12–5 (6–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 4, 1997		Dayton	W 89–82	13–5 (7–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 6, 1997		Fordham	W 71–53	14–5 (8–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 8, 1997		No. 17 Xavier	W 79–65	15–5 (9–2)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 11, 1997*		Drexel	W 63–62	16–5	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 13, 1997		at Temple	L 62–64	16–6 (9–3)	McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 16, 1997		at Fordham	W 77–66	17–6 (10–3)	Rose Hill Gym Bronx, New York
Feb 18, 1997*		Delaware	W 77–65	18–6	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 22, 1997		at St. Bonaventure	W 86–50	19–6 (11–3)	Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York
Feb 25, 1997	No. 23	UMass	W 78–63	20–6 (12–3)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 1, 1997	No. 23	at La Salle Philadelphia Big 5	W 62–59	21–6 (13–3)	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A-10 Tournament
Mar 6, 1997*	No. 19	St. Bonaventure Quarterfinals	W 75–59	22–6	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 7, 1997*	No. 19	George Washington Semifinals	W 78–70	23–6	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 8, 1997*	No. 19	Rhode Island Championship Game	W 61–56	24–6	The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (13 W) Pacific First round	W 75–65	25–6	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 15, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (5 W) No. 23 Boston College Second Round	W 81–77 ^{OT^[2]}	26–6	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 20, 1997*	(4 W) No. 12	vs. (1 W) No. 5 Kentucky West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 68–83	26–7	San Jose Arena (18,543) San Jose, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

^[3]

Rankings

^[4]

References

^ "St. Joseph's guards go on scoring binge, gobble Pacific, 75-65". The Baltimore Sun. March 14, 1997. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
^ ^a ^b "St. Joseph's, Bey Use Long Ball to Keep Boston College at Bay in 81-77 Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1997. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^ "2018-19 Saint Joseph's Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Saint Joseph's Hawks. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1053–1054. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

v t e Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball
Venues	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (1949–2008) Palestra (2008–2009) Hagan Arena (2009–present)
Rivalries	Temple Villanova
Culture & lore	History The Hawk City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) Vacated third-place quadruple-overtime finish 1961 gambling scandal Undefeated regular season
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 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 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearance in italics