1995–96 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

1995–96 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record17-15 (8-10 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaUW Field House
(capacity: 11,500)
Seasons
1995–96 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Indiana[a] 13 – 5   .722 20 – 11   .645
No. 18 Penn State 12 – 6   .667 21 – 7   .750
No. 21 Iowa[b] 12 – 6   .667 24 – 8   .750
Minnesota[c] 11 – 7   .611 20 – 10   .667
Wisconsin[d] 9 – 9   .500 18 – 14   .563
Michigan State 9 – 9   .500 16 – 16   .500
Illinois 7 – 11   .389 18 – 13   .581
No. 4 Purdue[e] 6 – 12   .333 7 – 23   .233
Ohio State[f] 5 – 13   .278 12 – 15   .444
Northwestern[g] 4 – 14   .222 9 – 18   .333
Michigan[h] 1 – 8   .111 1 – 10   .091
Rankings from AP Poll
Records above are after NCAA sanctions against Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan as noted:[1]
  1. ^ Indiana adjusted from 12–6, 19–12
  2. ^ Iowa adjusted from 11–7, 23–9
  3. ^ Minnesota adjusted from 10–8, 19–13 (vacated 2 games)
  4. ^ Wisconsin adjusted from 8–10, 17–15
  5. ^ Purdue adjusted from 15–3, 26–6 (forfeit 18 wins, vacated 2 games)
  6. ^ Ohio State adjusted from 3–15, 10–17
  7. ^ Northwestern adjusted from 2–16, 7–20
  8. ^ Michigan adjusted from 10–8/21–11 (vacated 21 games)

The 1995–96 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1995-96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It was head coach Dick Bennett's first season leading the Badgers. The team played its home games in Madison, Wisconsin at the UW Field House. Wisconsin finished the season 17–15, 8–10 in Big Ten play to finish in eighth place. The Badgers returned to the postseason by accepting a bid to the National Invitation Tournament, in which they beat Manhattan before falling to Illinois State in the second round.

Offseason

[edit]

Head coach Stan Van Gundy was fired on March 14, 1995, after one season that ended in a disappointing 13–14 record. The university announced the hiring of Dick Bennett as the 13th head coach in program history on March 31, 1995. Bennett had compiled a 361-188 (.658) record over 19 collegiate seasons at UW-Stevens Point and UW-Green Bay. Just prior to taking his "dream job" in Madison,[2] Bennett had led UW-Green Bay to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances out of the Mid-Continent Conference and Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Though 6-foot-7 Sam Okey had verbally committed to Van Gundy the previous year, the McDonald's All-American honored his commitment to play in-state for the Badgers. Okey was regarded across the country as a top 15 recruit despite hailing from tiny Cassville (pop. 1,025) in southwest Wisconsin.[3]

Season summary

[edit]

Wisconsin started the Bennett-era with losses to a pair of top teams at the Maui Invitational, No. 3 Villanova and defending national champion UCLA (No. 4). In the midst of attrition, the Badgers still put together two separate four-game winning streaks during non-conference play, including a home defeat of Temple, 57–54, in overtime.

Incumbent point guard Darnell Hoskins started the first nine games, then transferred to his hometown University of Dayton in mid-December[4] with the team's record at 5–4. Freshman Duany Duany suffered a season-ending injury to his right foot during practice the weekend of Thanksgiving and played only two games before taking a medical redshirt. Sophomore guard Sean Mason also suffered a season-ending right knee injury[5] late in a win over No. 21 Michigan, 51–46. In that game, the Badgers held the Wolverines to three second-half field goals to make Bennett the first Wisconsin coach to win his Big Ten opener since Walter "Doc" Meanwell in 1912.

The benefits of Bennett's defense-first mentality were evident on other occasions. Wisconsin finished the season 10–1 when holding opponents to fewer than 60 points. The Badgers also held Michigan State scoreless for the first 9:38 of the teams' game in Madison.

Wisconsin managed to go above .500 in conference play (3–2) for the first time after consecutive wins with only seven scholarship players available. First the Badgers beat No. 11 Iowa, 80–71, on January 13, 1996, behind 23 points from Okey. It was the third of 12 sellouts the team took part in away from Maui. The next game, defense and Mosezell Peterson's 23–11 double-double spurred Wisconsin to the aforementioned 61–48 win over visiting Michigan State.

Beyond Okey's all-around brilliance, the emergence of freshman guard Hennssy Auriental eased the loss of Hoskins. After scoring in double figures in nine of 11 contests earlier in the year, Auriental made a game-tying three-pointer with under a minute left to help Wisconsin outlast Minnesota in overtime on January 24, 1996. The Montreal native also hit the game-winning jumper with seven seconds left at Illinois on February 3 to propel the Badgers to a 57–56 win.

On February 21, 1996, Northwestern completed a season sweep of the Badgers at the Field House when Geno Carlisle hit for 39 points in a game televised by ESPN. The loss was part of a 2–5 closing stretch that put an NCAA Tournament bid out of reach, despite a buzzer-beater by sophomore Sean Daugherty to beat No. 16 Penn State on March 6. Wisconsin settled for an NIT bid.

Postseason

[edit]

The team hosted a first-round NIT game against Manhattan at the UW Field House. The Badgers held the Jaspers without a field goal for the final 11:28 of the game to pull out a 55–42 win. However, Peterson, the team's second-leading scorer, dislocated his left knee cap in the victory, an injury that would ultimately end the sophomore's career.[6]

Wisconsin hosted Illinois State in the second round. Despite 28 points from Okey, a career-high to that point, the Redbirds advanced with a convincing 77–62 win.

Awards

[edit]

Sam Okey

  • Big Ten Freshman of the Year (coaches and media)
  • All-Big Ten Honorable mention (media)

Roster

[edit]
1995–96 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
F 0 Osita Nwachukwu (C) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Awo-Mbieri, Imo, Nigeria
G 3 Duany Duany Injured Current redshirt 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Bloomington, IN
F 4 Sam Okey 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Cassville, WI
G 5 Hennssy Auriantal 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Montreal
G 10 Darnell Hoskins 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Dayton, OH
G 13 Mosezell Peterson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Louisville, KY
G 14 Jeremy Hall 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Garrett, KY
G 20 Shawn Carlin (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Middleton, WI
G 22 Sean Mason Injured 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Country Club Hills, IL
G 23 Mike Kosolcharoen (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Adams, WI
G 25 David Burkemper (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Hubertus, WI
G 32 D.J. Walker 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Milwaukee, WI
F 33 Brian Vraney (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Valders, WI
C 40 Paul Grant (I) Current redshirt 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr West Bloomfield, MI
F 41 Booker Coleman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Jamestown, NY
F 52 Sean Daugherty 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Vincennes, IN
F Donald Hayes (W) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 198 lb (90 kg) So Madison, WI
G/F Adam Shafer (I)(W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Downers Grove, IL
F Erik Malinowski (W)
—
—
 Watertown, WI
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: 2019-08-05

[7]

Schedule

[edit]
Date
time, TV 		Opponent Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular Season
11/20/1995*
 vs. No. 3 Villanova
Maui Invitational 		L 58-66  0-1
  17 – Peterson   9 – Daugherty   7 – Hoskins  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Maui, HI
11/21/1995*
 vs. No. 4 UCLA
Maui Invitational 		L 57-68  0-2
  21 – Okey   9 – Okey   4 – Peterson  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Maui, HI
11/22/1995*
 vs. Chaminade
Maui Invitational 		W 104-66  1-2
  17 – Nwachukwu   10 – Nwachukwu   6 – Okey  Lahaina Civic Center (2,400)
Maui, HI
11/28/1995*
 Northern Illinois W 89-55  2-2
  18 – Peterson   11 – Daugherty   3 – Okey  UW Field House (10,827)
Madison, WI
12/2/1995*
 Temple W 57-54 OT 3-2
  16 – Hoskins   6 – Mason, Okey   2 – Auriental, Mason, Okey  UW Field House (11,218)
Madison, WI
12/5/1995*
 at Wright State W 94-91  4-2
  22 – Hoskins   6 – Daugherty   9 – Hoskins  Ervin J. Nutter Center (8,032)
Dayton, OH
12/9/1995*
 St. Bonaventure L 62-76  4-3
  27 – Okey   14 – Okey   3 – Okey  UW Field House (10,967)
Madison, WI
12/11/1995*
 Providence L 57-58  4-4
  19 – Auriental   10 – Okey   5 – Hoskins  Providence Civic Center (8,222)
Providence, RI
12/14/1995*
 Valparaiso W 90-73  5-4
  23 – Okey   9 – Okey   5 – Okey  UW Field House (11,015)
Madison, WI
12/23/1995*
 UW-Milwaukee W 94-63  6-4
  20 – Mason   9 – Nwachukwu   3 – Carlin, Hall, Okey  UW Field House (11,128)
Madison, WI
12/28/1995
 Eastern Illinois W 105-70  7-4
  19 – Hall   8 – Daugherty   6 – Okey  UW Field House (10,913)
Madison, WI
12/31/1995*
 Marquette W 55-46  8-4
  16 – Nwachukwu   12 – Nwachukwu   3 – Okey  UW Field House (11,719)
Madison, WI
1/3/1996
 No. 21 Michigan W 51-46  9-4
(1-0)
  17 – Peterson   12 – Daugherty   4 – Okey  UW Field House (11,859)
Madison, WI
1/7/1996
 at Penn State L 50-79  9-5
(1-1)
  10 – Auriental   6 – Daugherty, Okey   2 – Auriental, Carlin  Rec Hall (6,288)
University Park, PA
1/10/1996
 at Indiana L 55-81  9-6
(1-2)
  13 – Hall   9 – Okey   7 – Hall  Assembly Hall (16,674)
Bloomington, IN
1/13/1996
 No. 11 Iowa W 80-71  10-6
(2-2)
  23 – Okey   9 – Peterson   8 – Hall  UW Field House (11,924)
Madison, WI
1/17/1996
 Michigan State W 61-48  11-6
(3-2)
  23 – Peterson   11 – Peterson   4 – Okey  UW Field House (10,975)
Madison, WI
1/20/1996
 at Northwestern L 52-62  11-7
(3-3)
  12 – Peterson   8 – Nwachukwu, Okey   3 – Hall  Welsh-Ryan Arena (6,716)
Evanston, IL
1/24/1996
 Minnesota W 73-65 OT 12-7
(4-3)
  17 – Daugherty   12 – Daugherty   4 – Auriental, Okey, Peterson  UW Field House (11,483)
Madison, WI
1/31/1996
 ESPN2 		at Ohio State L 55-63  12-8
(4-4)
  16 – Okey   6 – Okey   4 – Hall  St. John Arena (11,917)
Columbus, OH
2/3/1996
 Illinois W 57-56  13-8
(5-4)
  15 – Hall   13 – Daugherty   3 – Hall  Assembly Hall (16,450)
Champaign, IL
2/7/1996
 No. 14 Purdue L 42-75  13-9
(5-5)
  13 – Daugherty   7 – Daugherty   2 – Carlin  UW Field House (11,713)
Madison, WI
2/10/1996
 Ohio State W 62-56  14-9
(6-5)
  18 – Auriental   7 – Nwachukwu   4 – Auriental, Okey, Peterson  UW Field House (11,500)
Madison, WI
2/17/1996
 at Minnesota L 66-70  14-10
(6-6)
  14 – Okey   8 – Okey   5 – Okey  Williams Arena (14,379)
Minneapolis, MN
2/26/1996
 ESPN 		Northwestern L 71-82  14-11
(6-7)
  17 – Okey   10 – Nwachukwu   7 – Okey  UW Field House (11,266)
Madison, WI
2/24/1996
 at Michigan State W 73-52  15-11
(7-7)
  16 – Daugherty   7 – Daugherty   5 – Hall  Breslin Student Events Center (15,138)
East Lansing, MI
2/28/1996
 at No. 20 Iowa L 54-69  15-12
(7-8)
  22 – Daugherty   10 – Okey   4 – Auriental, Okey  Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500)
Iowa City, IA
3/2/1996
 Indiana L 68-76  15-13
(7-9)
  16 – Okey, Peterson   6 – Okey   4 – Auriental, Okey  UW Field House (11,993)
Madison, WI
3/6/1996
 No. 16 Penn State W 54-52  16-13
(8-9)
  17 – Okey   11 – Nwachukwu   5 – Okey  UW Field House (11,732)
Madison, WI
3/9/1996
 at Michigan L 54-69  16-14
(8-10)
  12 – Peterson   7 – Peterson   4 – Hall, Okey  Crisler Arena (13,562)
Ann Arbor, MI
National Invitation Tournament
3/13/1996*
 Manhattan
NIT First Round 		W 55-42  17-14
(8-10)
  15 – Auriental   10 – Okey   6 – Okey  UW Field House (8,913)
Madison, WI
3/18/1996*
 Illinois State
NIT Second Round 		L 62-77  17-15
(8-10)
  28 – Okey   10 – Okey   6 – Okey  UW Field House (11,111)
Madison, WI
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Player statistics

[edit]
Individual player statistics (Final)[8]
Minutes Scoring Total FGs 3-point FGs Free Throws Rebounds
Player GP GS Tot Avg Pts Avg FG FGA Pct 3FG 3FA Pct FT FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg A TO Blk Stl PF
Okey, Sam 32 32 1024 32.0 423 13.2 151 343 .440 21 72 .292 100 142 .704 218 6.8 100 77 42 35 101
Peterson, Mosezell 30 21 824 27.5 344 11.5 118 282 .418 29 96 .302 79 107 .738 113 3.8 50 62 1 18 62
Daugherty, Sean 32 31 996 31.1 332 10.4 125 272 .460 12 39 .308 70 96 .729 202 6.3 33 56 13 22 95
Hoskins, Darnell 9 9 277 30.8 85 9.4 26 57 .456 9 27 .333 24 31 .774 18 2.0 35 23 0 15 17
Auriental, Hennssy 32 21 904 28.3 277 8.7 96 213 .451 35 88 .398 50 76 .658 76 2.4 67 77 1 43 71
Mason, Sean 13 10 340 26.2 112 8.6 37 93 .398 10 31 .323 28 33 .848 31 2.4 22 27 6 15 29
Duany, Duany 2 0 22 11.0 15 7.5 4 7 .571 3 4 .750 4 4 1.000 3 1.5 0 0 0 0 1
Hall, Jeremy 28 9 526 18.8 195 7.0 60 155 .387 49 132 .371 26 33 .788 36 1.3 58 57 2 9 25
Nwachukwu, Osita 31 16 702 22.6 181 5.8 59 119 .496 0 0 .000 63 108 .583 167 5.4 11 46 5 21 87
Carlin, Shawn 29 10 470 16.2 89 3.1 26 75 .347 21 56 .375 16 20 .800 33 1.1 36 34 2 18 49
Vraney, Brian 13 0 30 2.3 23 1.8 9 14 .643 0 0 .000 5 6 .833 13 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
Coleman, Booker 25 1 216 8.6 26 1.0 10 21 .476 0 0 .000 6 18 .333 59 2.4 0 12 18 3 36
Hayes, Donald 2 0 6 3.0 2 1.0 1 1 1.000 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 2 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
Kosolcharoen, Mike 18 0 108 6.0 10 0.6 4 20 .200 0 6 .000 2 6 .333 16 0.9 3 7 1 2 18
Burkemper, David 3 0 3 1.0 0 0.0 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0.0 0 1 0 0 0
Malinowski, Erik 2 0 2 1.0 0 0.0 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 32 - 6450 40.3 2114 66.1 726 1672 .434 189 551 .343 473 680 .696 363 708 1071 33.5 415 486 91 201 594
Opponents 32 - 6450 40.3 2073 64.8 733 1704 .430 199 564 .353 408 610 .669 362 689 1051 32.8 408 488 118 225 728
Legend
  GP  Games played   GS  Games started  Avg  Average per game
  FG  Field goals made  FGA  Field-goal attempts  Off  Offensive rebounds
 Def  Defensive rebounds   A  Assists   TO Turnovers
 Blk  Blocks  Stl  Steals  High  Team high

Records & trivia

[edit]

Okey became the first player in Big Ten history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots over a full season.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 56. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  2. ^ Myslenski, Skip (November 22, 1995). "FOR YEARS DICK BENNETT, WHO GREW UP IN WISCONSIN, DREAMED OF BEING WISCONSIN'S BASKETBALL COACH AND MICHIGAN NATIVE TOM IZZO DREAMED OF HAVING THE HEAD JOB AT MICHIGAN STATE. AS THE 1995-96 SEASON BEGINS, THOSE DREAMS ARE A REALITY". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  3. ^ Gates, A.J. (August 20, 2015). ""Slammin" Sam Okey takes his rightful spot in WBCA Hall of Fame". www.swnews4u.com. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  4. ^ Feuerherd, Vic (December 19, 1995). "UW's Hoskins calls it quits". Journal Times. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  5. ^ Feuerherd, Vic (January 5, 1996). "UW loses Mason due to knee injury". Journal Times. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "UW's Peterson calls it quits". Journal Times. April 12, 1997. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  7. ^ "1995-96 Wisconsin Badgers Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "The University of Wisconsin Collection: Wisconsin 1996-97: Wisconsin 1996-97". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  9. ^ "It's All Okey-Dokey for Wisconsin". Los Angeles Times. January 24, 1999. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
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