# 1975–76 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team co-captains were Armond Hill and Michael Steuerer. The team played its home games in the Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. It was the undefeated Ivy League and earned birth in the 32-team 1976 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
The team posted a 22–5 overall record and a 14–0 conference record. No Ivy League team would go 14–0 again until the 1990–91 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team. The team lost its March 13, 1976 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament East Regional first-round game against the No. 3 Rutgers Scarlett Knights 54–53 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
During the season, the team spent two weeks of the seventeen-week season ranked in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll, peaking at number fifteen and ending the season unranked. However, the team finished the season ranked tied at number nineteen in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. The team was the first of nineteen Princeton teams to win the national statistical championship in scoring defense with an average of 52.9 points allowed. That was an NCAA record (since 1965) that the team would break the following season. Ilan Ramati posted seven blocked shots against William & Mary on January 6, 1976, which established an Ivy League record that would stand until Chris Dudley had nine on February 14, 1987. It remains a league record for non-conference games. In the same game, Frank Sowinski made all twelve of his free throws to find his way into the Ivy League's record books although short of Bill Bradley's perfect 16 free throw night and the Ivy League record of 21. Michael Steurer had eight steals against Columbia on February 6, 1976, which established an Ivy League record that would stand until March 5, 1983.
The team was led by first team All-Ivy League selection Armond Hill, who was named Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year, and by fellow first team selection Barnes Hauptfuhrer. Hill was selected in the 1976 NBA draft with the 9th overall selection in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks, while Hauptfuhrer was selected with the 43rd overall selection in the third round by the Houston Rockets. Hill repeated as the free throw percentage statistical champion with an 84.8% average. He also surpassed Tim van Blommesteyn's Ivy League single-season steals record set the prior season by one with 73, establishing a record that would last twenty-four years.

## Schedule and results

The team posted a 22–5 (14–0 Ivy League) record.
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1975* | | Drexel | W 67–48 | 1–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Dec 3, 1975* | | at Navy | W 60–59 | 2–0 | Dahlgren Hall Annapolis, Maryland |
| Dec 6, 1975* | | Lafayette | W 84–65 | 3–0 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Dec 9, 1975* | | Villanova | L 49–51 | 3–1 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Dec 19, 1975* | | vs. Miami (OH) Michigan Invitational | L 61–66 | 3–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 20, 1975* | | vs. Southern Illinois Michigan Invitational | W 69–58 | 4–2 | Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Dec 29, 1975* | | vs. No. 8 Alabama Maryland Invitational | W 61–59 | 5–2 | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Dec 30, 1975* | | at No. 2 Maryland Maryland Invitational | L 59–66 | 5–3 | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Jan 3, 1976 | | Penn | W 63–39 | 6–3 (1–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Jan 6, 1976* | | William & Mary | W 64–63 | 7–3 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Jan 9, 1976 | | at Harvard | W 62–57 | 8–3 (2–0) | Lavietes Pavilion Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Jan 10, 1976 | | at Dartmouth | W 59–38 | 9–3 (3–0) | Alumni Gym Hanover, New Hampshire |
| Jan 13, 1976* | | at Saint Joseph's | W 56–46 | 10–3 | Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 24, 1976* | | No. 9 St. John's | W 58–55 $^{OT}$ | 11–3 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Jan 27, 1976 | No. 17 | at Penn | W 69–52 | 12–3 (4–0) | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 2, 1976* | No. 15 | No. 7 Rutgers | L 62–75 | 12–4 | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 6, 1976* | No. 15 | Columbia | W 69–53 | 13–4 (5–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 7, 1976* | No. 15 | Cornell | W 53–35 | 14–4 (6–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 13, 1976 | | at Brown | W 56–47 | 15–4 (7–0) | Marvel Gymnasium Providence, Rhode Island |
| Feb 14, 1976 | | at Yale | W 49–48 | 16–4 (8–0) | John J. Lee Ampitheater New Haven, Connecticut |
| Feb 20, 1976 | | Dartmouth | W 74–51 | 17–4 (9–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 21, 1976 | | Harvard | W 69–48 | 18–4 (10–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 27, 1976* | | Yale | W 68–53 | 19–4 (11–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Feb 28, 1976 | | Brown | W 70–59 | 20–4 (12–0) | Jadwin Gymnasium Princeton, New Jersey |
| Mar 5, 1976 | | at Cornell | W 72–58 | 21–4 (13–0) | Barton Hall Ithaca, New York |
| Mar 6, 1976 | | at Columbia | W 46–44 | 22–4 (14–0) | Levien Gymnasium New York, New York |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1976* | | vs. No. 3 Rutgers First round | L 53–54 | 22–5 | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. :
| 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 | Final |
| AP Top 20 Poll | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 19 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - |

## NCAA tournament

The team won the 1976 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
    3/13/76 in Providence, R.I.: Rutgers 54, Princeton 53

## Awards and honors

* Armond Hill
** Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year
** First Team All-Ivy League
** All-East
* Barnes Hauptfuhrer
** First Team All-Ivy League
* Bob Slaughter
** Second Team All-Ivy League

## Team players drafted into the NBA

Three players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.
| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1976 | 1 | 9 | Armond Hill | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1976 | 3 | 10 | Barnes Hauptfuhrer | Houston Rockets |
| 1978 | 9 | 1 | Frank Sowinski | New Jersey Nets |