# 1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's basketball team represented Wake Forest University as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference during the 1995–96 men's college basketball season. The team was led by 7th year head coach Dave Odom, and played their home games at LJVM Coliseum.
Entering league play as the defending regular season champions, the Deacons finished second in the ACC regular season standings. The team then defeated Virginia, Clemson, and Georgia Tech to capture the ACC tournament crown for the second straight season. Wake Forest was assigned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA tournament. After defeating No. 15 seed Louisiana–Monroe, No. 10 seed Texas, and No. 6 seed Louisville to reach the Elite Eight, the team was blown out by No. 1 seed and eventual National champion Kentucky in the regional final. Wake Forest finished the season with a 26–6 and a No. 9 ranking in both major polls.
Junior forward/center Tim Duncan was named ACC Player of the Year and a Consensus First-team All-American.

## Previous season

Wake Forest finished in a four-way tie for the ACC regular season title with a 12–4 conference record. The team defeated Duke, Virginia, and North Carolina (in OT) to win the ACC tournament and receive the No. 1 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament. After defeating No. 16 seed North Carolina A&T and No. 9 seed Saint Louis to reach the Sweet Sixteen, Wake Forest was knocked off by No. 4 seed and eventual Final Four participant Oklahoma State, 71–66, to finish the season with a 26–6 record. The Demon Deacons were No. 3 in the final AP poll and No. 9 in the final Coaches poll.
Senior guard Randolph Childress was named a consensus second-team All-American and ACC Athlete of the Year. Coach Odom was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second season in a row and third time overall.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 1995* | No. 11 | Mount St. Mary's | W 75–62 | 1–0 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Nov 29, 1995* | No. 10 | vs. Oklahoma State Great 8 | W 69–53 | 2–0 | Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, Michigan |
| Dec 2, 1995* | No. 10 | Lehigh | W 68–53 | 3–0 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Dec 6, 1995* | No. 10 | at No. 3 UMass | L 46–60 | 3–1 | Mullins Center (9,493) Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Dec 9, 1995* | No. 10 | at Florida | W 77–53 | 4–1 | Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida |
| Dec 18, 1995* | No. 12 | Appalachian State | W 91–50 | 5–1 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Dec 21, 1995* | No. 12 | No. 13 Utah | W 60–56 | 6–1 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 2, 1996* | No. 12 | Furman | W 81–49 | 7–1 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 6, 1996 | No. 12 | at Florida State | W 75–73 $^{OT}$ | 8–1 (1–0) | Donald L. Tucker Center Tallahassee, Florida |
| Jan 10, 1996* | No. 8 | at Duke | W 57–54 | 9–1 (2–0) | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Jan 13, 1996* | No. 8 | Maryland | W 77–64 | 10–1 (3–0) | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 15, 1996* | No. 6 | Richmond | W 71–60 | 11–1 | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 17, 1996* | No. 6 | Georgia Tech | W 66–63 | 12–1 (4–0) | LJVM Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
| Jan 21, 1996* | No. 6 | at No. 19 Clemson | L 41–55 | 12–2 (4–1) | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina |
| Mar 2, 1996* | No. 13 | at NC State | W 72–70 | 20–5 (12–4) | Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 1996* | No. 12 | Virginia ACC Tournament Quarterfinal | W 70–60 | 21–5 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 9, 1996* | No. 12 | vs. Clemson ACC Tournament Semifinal | W 68–60 | 22–5 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| Mar 10, 1996* | No. 12 | No. 18 Georgia Tech ACC tournament championship | W 75–74 | 23–5 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1996* | (2 MW) No. 9 | vs. (15 MW) Northeast Louisiana First round | W 62–50 | 24–5 | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Mar 17, 1996* | (2 MW) No. 9 | vs. (10 MW) Texas Second round | W 65–62 | 25–5 | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Mar 21, 1996* | (2 MW) No. 9 | vs. (6 MW) No. 24 Louisville Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 60–59 | 26–5 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Mar 23, 1996* | (2 MW) No. 9 | vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Kentucky Regional final – Elite Eight | L 63–83 | 26–6 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | 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 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 9 | Not released |
| Coaches | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 |

## Awards and honors

* Tim Duncan – ACC Player of the Year, Consensus First-team All-American