1996–97 Pacific Tigers men's basketball team

The 1996–97 Pacific Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of the Pacific during the 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers were led by ninth-year head coach Bob Thomason and played their home games at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, California as members of the Big West Conference.

1996–97 Pacific Tigers men's basketball
Big West regular season co-champions Big West tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	24–6 (12–4 Big West)
Head coach	Bob Thomason (9th season)
Home arena	Alex G. Spanos Center

1996–97 Big West men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East Division
Utah State	12	–	4		.750			20	–	9		.690
New Mexico State	12	–	4		.750			19	–	9		.679
Nevada	12	–	4		.750			21	–	10		.677
Boise State	9	–	7		.563			14	–	13		.519
Idaho	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
North Texas	5	–	11		.313			10	–	16		.385
West Division
Pacific †	12	–	4		.750			24	–	6		.800
Long Beach State	9	–	7		.563			13	–	14		.481
UC Santa Barbara	7	–	9		.438			12	–	15		.444
Cal State Fullerton	6	–	10		.375			13	–	14		.481
Cal Poly	6	–	10		.375			14	–	16		.467
UC Irvine	1	–	15		.063			1	–	25		.038
† 1997 Big West tournament winner As of April 1, 1997 Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1996–97 Pacific Tigers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 55 Michael Olowokandi 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Jr Lagos, Nigeria	Head coach Bob Thomason (Pacific) 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 22, 1996*		at No. 14 Fresno State	L 71–75	0–1	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Nov 26, 1996*		Stanislaus State	W 91–51	1–1	Alex G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Nov 30, 1996*		at BYU	W 80–58	2–1	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
Dec 5, 1996*		at San Diego	W 63–57	3–1	USD Sports Center  San Diego, California
Dec 7, 1996*		at Pepperdine	W 54–52	4–1	Firestone Fieldhouse  Malibu, California
Dec 14, 1996*		Chico State	W 90–55	5–1	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Dec 21, 1996*		Santa Clara	W 77–59	6–1	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Dec 23, 1996*		Sacramento State	W 95–50	7–1	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Dec 28, 1996*		vs. Georgetown	W 73–56	8–1	Halifax Metro Center  Halifax, Nova Scotia
Jan 4, 1997*		at Sacramento State	W 73–47	9–1	Hornets Nest  Sacramento, California
Jan 9, 1997		at UC Irvine	W 63–52	10–1 (1–0)	Bren Events Center  Irvine, California
Jan 11, 1997		at Cal State Fullerton	W 67–60	11–1 (2–0)	Titan Gym  Fullerton, California
Jan 16, 1997*		Idaho	W 64–54	12–1 (3–0)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Jan 18, 1997*		Long Beach State	W 74–57	13–1 (4–0)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Jan 23, 1997		Cal Poly	W 68–64	14–1 (5–0)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Jan 25, 1997		UC Santa Barbara	W 69–51	15–1 (6–0)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Jan 30, 1997*		at North Texas	W 55–52	16–1 (6–1)	Super Pit  Denton, Texas
Feb 1, 1997		at New Mexico State	L 76–80 OT	16–2 (7–1)	Pan American Center  Las Cruces, New Mexico
Feb 6, 1997		Utah State	W 77–71 OT	17–2 (8–1)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Feb 9, 1997		Nevada	W 63–60	18–2 (9–1)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Feb 13, 1997		at UC Santa Barbara	L 69–75	18–3 (9–2)	The Thunderdome  Santa Barbara, California
Feb 15, 1997		at Cal Poly	L 92–93	18–4 (9–3)	Mott Gym  San Luis Obispo, California
Feb 20, 1997		Cal State Fullerton	W 81–57	19–4 (10–3)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Feb 22, 1997		UC Irvine	W 96–46	20–4 (11–3)	A.G. Spanos Center  Stockton, California
Feb 27, 1997		at Boise State	W 63–53	21–4 (12–3)	BSU Pavilion  Boise, Idaho
Mar 1, 1997		Long Beach State	L 75–79	21–5 (12–4)	The Walter Pyramid  Long Beach, California
Big West tournament
Mar 7, 1997*		vs. Boise State Quarterfinals	W 68–52	22–5	Lawlor Events Center  Reno, Nevada
Mar 8, 1997*		vs. Utah State Semifinals	W 71–54	23–5	Lawlor Events Center  Reno, Nevada
Mar 9, 1997*		at Nevada Championship game	W 63–55	24–5	Lawlor Events Center  Reno, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1997*	(13 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 12 Saint Joseph's First round	L 65–75	24–6	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Pacific Time.

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