# 1995–96 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas in the 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, which was the Jayhawks' 98th basketball season. The head coach was Roy Williams, who served his 8th year at KU. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. It was the Jayhawks final season in the Big Eight Conference, which dissolved at the end of the 1995–1996 school year.

## Roster

| Name | # | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Home Town |
| Joel Branstrom | 20 | Forward | 6-6 | 190 | Senior(RS) | Half Moon Bay, California |
| Jerod Haase | 35 | Guard | 6-3 | 185 | Junior | South Lake Tahoe, California |
| Raef LaFrentz | 45 | Forward | 6–11 | 220 | Sophomore | Hampton, Iowa |
| C.B. McGrath | 24 | Guard | 5-11 | 168 | Sophomore | Topeka, Kansas |
| Sean Pearson | 21 | Forward | 6–5 | 215 | Senior | LaGrange, Illinois |
| Paul Pierce | 34 | Forward | 6–6 | 220 | Freshman | Inglewood, California |
| Scot Pollard | 31 | Center | 6–10 | 250 | Junior | San Diego, California |
| T.J. Pugh | 32 | Forward | 6–9 | 215 | Freshman | Omaha, Nebraska |
| Steve Ransom | 44 | Forward | 6–5 | 210 | Junior | Mission Viejo, California |
| Calvin Rayford | 10 | Guard | 5-7 | 155 | Senior | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Ryan Robertson | 4 | Guard | 6–5 | 170 | Freshman | Saint Charles, Missouri |
| Billy Thomas | 12 | Forward/Guard | 6–4 | 205 | Sophomore | Shreveport, Louisiana |
| Jacque Vaughn | 11 | Guard | 6–1 | 195 | Junior | Pasadena, California |
| T.J. Whatley | 14 | Guard | 6–4 | 180 | Senior | Benton, Arkansas |
| B.J. Williams | 22 | Forward | 6–8 | 205 | Junior | Wichita, Kansas |
| Travis Williams | 54 | Center | 7-0 | 265 | Freshman(RS) | Rozel, Kansas |

## Big Eight Conference standings

| # | Team | Conference | Pct. | Overall | Pct. |
| 1 | Kansas | 12-2 | .857 | 29-5 | .853 |
| 2 | Iowa State | 9-5 | .643 | 24-9 | .727 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 8-6 | .571 | 17-13 | .567 |
| 4 | Kansas State | 7-7 | .500 | 17-12 | .586 |
| 5 | Oklahoma State | 7-7 | .500 | 17-10 | .630 |
| 6 | Missouri | 6-8 | .429 | 18-15 | .545 |
| 7 | Nebraska | 4-10 | .289 | 21-14 | .600 |
| 8 | Colorado | 3-11 | .214 | 9-18 | .333 |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| 11/25/1995* | No. 2 | vs. No. 8 Utah The Classic | W 79–68 | 1–0 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 11/29/1995* | No. 2 | vs. No. 15 Virginia Great Eight | W 72–66 | 2–0 | The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI |
| 12/2/1995* | No. 2 | No. 23 UCLA | W 85–70 | 3–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/7/1995* | No. 1 | at Rice | W 83–63 | 4–0 | Tudor Fieldhouse Houston, TX |
| 12/9/1995* | No. 1 | at San Diego | W 101–71 | 5–0 | San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA |
| 12/16/1995* | No. 1 | vs. Indiana | W 91–83 | 6–0 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 12/18/1995* | No. 1 | Pittsburg State | W 103–48 | 7–0 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 12/22/1995* | No. 1 | vs. Temple Jimmy V Classic | L 66–74 $^{OT}$ | 7–1 | Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford, NJ |
| 1/2/1996* | No. 4 | Cornell | W 100–46 | 8–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/4/1996* | No. 4 | East Tennessee State | W 108–73 | 9–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/6/1996* | No. 4 | SMU | W 83–61 | 10–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/8/1996 | No. 3 | at Oklahoma State | W 76–61 | 11–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, OK |
| 1/11/1996* | No. 3 | at Florida | W 69–54 | 12–1 | O'Connell Center Gainesville, FL |
| 1/15/1996* | No. 4 | Saint Peter's | W 85–71 | 13–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/20/1996 | No. 4 | Colorado | W 80–78 | 14–1 | Coors Events Center Boulder, CO |
| 1/22/1996 | No. 3 | Oklahoma | W 84–66 | 15–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 1/27/1996 | No. 3 | at Nebraska | W 88–73 | 16–1 | Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, NE |
| 1/31/1996 | No. 3 | Oklahoma State | W 84–66 | 17–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/4/1996 | No. 3 | Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 72–62 | 18–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/7/1996 | No. 3 | No. 21 Iowa State | W 89–70 | 19–1 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/10/1996 | No. 3 | at Missouri Border War | L 73–77 | 19–2 | Hearnes Center Columbia, MO |
| 2/14/1996 | No. 5 | Colorado | W 85–70 | 20–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/17/1996 | No. 5 | at No. 22 Iowa State | W 61–50 | 21–2 | Hilton Coliseum Ames, IA |
| 2/19/1996 | No. 5 | Nebraska | W 81–71 | 22–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 2/24/1996 | No. 5 | at Kansas State Sunflower Showdown | W 77–66 | 23–2 | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, KS |
| 2/26/1996 | No. 3 | Missouri Border War | W 87–65 | 24–2 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, KS |
| 3/2/1996 | No. 3 | at Oklahoma | L 79–85 | 24–3 | Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK |
| Big Eight Tournament ||||||
| 3/8/1996 | (1) No. 5 | vs. (8) Colorado First round | W 88–55 | 25–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 3/9/1996 | (1) No. 5 | vs. (4) Kansas State Semifinals | W 61–55 | 26–3 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| 3/10/1996 | (1) No. 5 | vs. (2) No. 23 Iowa State Championship Game | L 55–56 | 26–4 | Kemper Arena Kansas City, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| 3/15/1996* | (2 W) No. 4 | vs. (15 W) South Carolina State First round | W 92–54 | 27–4 | Arizona State University Activity Center Tempe, AZ |
| 3/17/1996* | (2 W) No. 4 | vs. (10 W) Santa Clara Second Round | W 76–51 | 28–4 | Arizona State University Activity Center Tempe, AZ |
| 3/22/1996* | (2 W) No. 4 | vs. (3 W) No. 11 Arizona Regional semifinals | W 83–80 | 29–4 | McNichols Sports Arena Denver, CO |
| 3/24/1996* | (2 W) No. 4 | vs. (4 W) No. 15 Syracuse Regional Finals | L 57–60 | 29–5 | McNichols Sports Arena Denver, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll, NCAA tournament seeds shown in parentheses. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time. ||||||

## Rankings

| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 |
| AP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*There was no coaches poll in week 1.