# 1975–76 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University in the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Tom Young, then in his third season with the Scarlet Knights. The team played its home games in College Avenue Gymnasium in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and was an NCAA Division I Independent. The Scarlet Knights played an exciting, up-tempo brand of basketball, averaging a school-record of 93.3 points per game. They entered the NCAA tournament with a perfect record (28–0), and went on to defeat Princeton, Connecticut, and VMI to reach the only Final Four in school history. After 31 consecutive wins, Rutgers fell to Michigan, 86–70, in the national semifinals, then to UCLA, 106–92, in the consolation game.
Guard Mike Dabney is Maya Moore's father.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1975* | | Bentley | W 100–60 | 1–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Dec 4, 1975* | | vs. Purdue | W 81–73 | 2–0 | |
| Dec 6, 1975* | | Seton Hall | W 119–93 | 3–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Dec 9, 1975* | | at Boston College | W 105–82 | 4–0 | Roberts Center Boston, Massachusetts |
| Dec 11, 1975* | | vs. Pennsylvania | W 95–80 | 5–0 | |
| Dec 13, 1975* | | Connecticut | W 96–83 | 6–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Dec 20, 1975* | No. 15 | at Temple | W 95–62 | 7–0 | McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 29, 1975* | No. 15 | vs. The Citadel Poinsettia Classic | W 96–73 | 8–0 | Greenville Memorial Auditorium Greenville, South Carolina |
| Dec 30, 1975* | No. 15 | vs. Georgia Tech Poinsettia Classic | W 94–87 | 9–0 | Greenville Memorial Auditorium Greenville, South Carolina |
| Jan 2, 1976* | No. 15 | at Stetson | W 91–70 | 10–0 | Edmunds Center DeLand, Florida |
| Jan 10, 1976* | No. 12 | at Fordham | W 93–55 | 11–0 | Rose Hill Gym Bronx, New York |
| Jan 14, 1976* | No. 10 | at Columbia | W 94–65 | 12–0 | Levien Gymnasium New York, New York |
| Jan 17, 1976* | No. 10 | Bucknell | W 105–82 | 13–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Jan 20, 1976* | No. 7 | at Lehigh | W 102–87 | 14–0 | Taylor Gym Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 24, 1976* | No. 7 | at Lafayette | W 113–79 | 15–0 | Kirby Sports Center Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 27, 1976* | No. 5 | Pittsburgh | W 102–71 | 16–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Feb 2, 1976* | No. 7 | at No. 15 Princeton | W 75–62 | 17–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 5, 1976* | No. 7 | vs. West Virginia | W 86–76 | 18–0 | Madison Square Garden New York, New York |
| Feb 7, 1976* | No. 7 | Navy | W 86–71 | 19–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Feb 9, 1976* | No. 5 | Delaware | W 110–87 | 20–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Feb 14, 1976* | No. 5 | Manhattan | W 92–81 | 21–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Feb 18, 1976* | No. 4 | Syracuse | W 93–80 | 22–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Feb 21, 1976* | No. 4 | vs. American | W 94–79 | 23–0 | |
| Feb 25, 1976* | No. 3 | at William & Mary | W 100–90 | 24–0 | Kaplan Arena Williamsburg, Virginia |
| Feb 28, 1976* | No. 3 | at Long Island | W 103–87 | 25–0 | Schwartz Athletic Center Brooklyn, New York |
| Mar 1, 1976* | No. 3 | St. Bonaventure | W 85–80 | 26–0 | College Avenue Gymnasium New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| ECAC Metro Tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 1976* | No. 3 | vs. Long Island Semifinal | W 104–76 | 27–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Mar 6, 1976* | No. 3 | vs. No. 16 St. John's Championship | W 70–67 | 28–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1976* | No. 3 | vs. Princeton East Regional Quarterfinal | W 54–53 | 29–0 | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| Mar 18, 1976* | No. 4 | vs. Connecticut East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 93–79 | 30–0 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 20, 1976* | No. 4 | vs. VMI East Regional final – Elite Eight | W 91–75 | 31–0 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 27, 1976* | No. 4 | vs. No. 9 Michigan National semifinal – Final Four | L 70–86 | 31–1 | The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 29, 1976* | No. 4 | vs. No. 5 UCLA National 3rd-place game | L 92–106 | 31–2 | The Spectrum Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | 15 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 (1) | 4 (2) |
| Coaches | Not released | Not released | 17 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Not released |

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 3 | 38 | Phil Sellers | Detroit Pistons |