# 1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team

The 1995–96 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in NCAA Division I competition in the 1995–96 season. The Bearcats, coached by Bob Huggins, won Conference USA and reached the Elite Eight of the 1996 NCAA tournament. The team finished with an overall record of 28–5 (11–3 GMWC) and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP poll.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1995* | No. 21 | Wyoming | W 101–51 | 1–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nov 30, 1995* | No. 17 | UNC Wilmington | W 82–47 | 2–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 8, 1995* | No. 17 | Wagner | W 100–64 | 3–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 9, 1995* | No. 17 | at Arkansas | W 82–67 | 4–0 | Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Dec 12, 1995* | No. 12 | Minnesota | W 84–50 | 5–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Dec 16, 1995* | No. 12 | vs. Temple | W 70–49 | 6–0 | Gund Arena Cleveland, Ohio |
| Dec 20, 1995* | No. 9 | at No. 24 California | W 77–70 | 7–0 | Harmon Gym Berkeley, California |
| Dec 30, 1995* | No. 5 | McNeese State | W 103–69 | 8–0 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| C-USA Regular Season ||||||
| Jan 6, 1996 | No. 5 | at South Florida | W 71–69 | 9–0 (1–0) | Sun Dome Tampa, Florida |
| Jan 11, 1996 | No. 4 | at Southern Miss | W 75–70 | 10–0 (2–0) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
| Jan 13, 1996 | No. 4 | Marquette | W 91–70 | 11–0 (3–0) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 17, 1996* | No. 3 | at Xavier | W 99–90 | 12–0 | Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 21, 1996 | No. 3 | at UAB | L 68–70 | 12–1 (3–1) | UAB Arena Birmingham, Alabama |
| Jan 25, 1996 | No. 5 | DePaul | W 71–61 | 13–1 (4–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 28, 1996* | No. 5 | USC | W 85–53 | 14–1 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Jan 31, 1996 | No. 5 | UNC Charlotte | W 78–64 | 15–1 (5–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 2, 1996* | No. 5 | Illinois State | W 91–57 | 16–1 | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 4, 1996 | No. 5 | South Florida | W 79–60 | 17–1 (6–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 7, 1996 | No. 5 | Saint Louis | W 81–49 | 18–1 (7–1) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 11, 1996* | No. 5 | vs. No. 16 Arizona | L 76–79 | 18–2 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum Phoenix, Arizona |
| Feb 17, 1996 | No. 6 | at DePaul | W 87–60 | 19–2 (8–1) | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Feb 19, 1996 | No. 6 | at Saint Louis | W 69–64 | 20–2 (9–1) | Kiel Arena St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 22, 1996 | No. 6 | No. 21 Louisville | L 66–72 | 20–3 (9–2) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Feb 25, 1996 | No. 6 | at Tulane | W 65–63 | 21–3 (10–2) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Feb 29, 1996 | No. 7 | No. 14 Memphis | W 71–66 | 22–3 (11–2) | Myrl Shoemaker Center Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 2, 1996 | No. 7 | at Marquette | L 72–74 | 22–4 (11–3) | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| C-USA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1996 | (1) No. 8 | vs. (9) Saint Louis Quarterfinals | W 62–59 $^{OT}$ | 23–4 | Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee |
| Mar 8, 1996 | (1) No. 8 | vs. (4) No. 22 Louisville Semifinals | W 92–81 | 24–4 | Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee |
| Mar 9, 1996 | (1) No. 8 | vs. (3) No. 21 Marquette Championship Game | W 85–84 $^{OT}$ | 25–4 | Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 1996* | (2 SE) No. 7 | vs. (15 SE) UNC Greensboro First round | W 66–61 | 26–4 | Orlando Arena Orlando, Florida |
| Mar 17, 1996 | (2 SE) No. 7 | vs. (7 SE) Temple Second Round | W 78–65 | 27–4 | Orlando Arena Orlando, Florida |
| Mar 22, 1996 | (2 SE) No. 7 | vs. (3 SE) No. 13 Georgia Tech Southeast Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | W 87–70 | 28–4 | Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky |
| Mar 24, 1996 | (2 SE) No. 7 | vs. (5 SE) No. 19 Mississippi State Southeast Regional Final – Elite Eight | L 63–73 | 28–5 | Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. ||||||

## 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 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | Not released |
| Coaches | 20 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 6 |

## Awards and honors

* Danny Fortson – C-USA Player of the Year, Consensus Second-Team All-American