1995–96 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2

The 1995–96 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Kentucky in the 1995–96 college basketball season. Coached by Rick Pitino, the team finished the season with a 34–2 record and won the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship over the Syracuse University Orangemen, 76–67.

Also known as "The Untouchables",^[1] nine players from the 95–96 team eventually played in the NBA. These players were Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, Nazr Mohammed, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, and Antoine Walker. The 1995-96 Kentucky team is widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in NCAA Division I Men's Basketball history.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	00	Tony Delk	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	—	Sr	Brownsville, TN
G/F	3	Allen Edwards	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	So	Miami, FL
G	5	Wayne Turner	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Fr	Boston, MA
C	13	Nazr Mohammed	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Fr	Chicago, IL
G	15	Jeff Sheppard	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Jr	Peachtree City, GA
G	21	Cameron Mills	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	So	Lexington, KY
G/F	23	Derek Anderson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr	Louisville, KY
F	24	Antoine Walker	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Chicago, IL
G	25	Anthony Epps	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	—	Jr	Lebanon, KY
F	32	Jared Prickett	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	—	Jr	Fairmont, WV
F	33	Ron Mercer	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Fr	Nashville, TN
F	40	Walter McCarty	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	—	Sr	Evansville, IN
C	41	Mark Pope	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Sr	Bellevue, WA
F	43	Jason Lathrem	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	Fr	Bowling Green, KY
G	51	Oliver Simmons	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Fr	Nashville, TN

Head coach

Rick Pitino

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

^[2]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/7/1995* no, UKTV		Cagiva Varese	W 98-74		Rupp Arena (-) Lexington, KY
11/17/1995* no, UKTV		Athletes in Action	W 119-80		Rupp Arena (-) Lexington, KY
Regular Season
11/24/1995* no, ESPN	No. 1	vs. No. 14 Maryland Tip-off Classic	W 96-84	1-0	Springfield Civic Center (8,999) Springfield, MA
11/28/1995* no, ESPN	No. 1	vs. No. 5 Massachusetts Great Eight	L 82-92	1-1	The Palace (15,454) Auburn Hills, MI
12/2/1995* no, CBS	No. 1	vs. Indiana	W 89-82	2-1	RCA Dome (41,071) Indianapolis, IN
12/6/1995* no, UKTV	No. 5	Wisconsin-Green Bay	W 74-62	3-1	Rupp Arena (22,825) Lexington, KY
12/9/1995* no, ESPN	No. 5	No. 16 Georgia Tech	W 83-60	4-1	Rupp Arena (24,238) Lexington, KY
12/16/1995* no, UKTV	No. 5	Morehead State	W 96-32	5-1	Rupp Arena (24,065) Lexington, KY
12/19/1995* no, UKTV	No. 5	vs. Marshall	W 118-99	6-1	Freedom Hall (19,795) Louisville, KY
12/23/1995* no, CBS	No. 4	No. 25 Louisville	W 89-66	7-1	Rupp Arena (24,340) Lexington, KY
12/27/1995* no, UKTV	No. 2	vs. Rider ECAC Holiday Festival	W 90-65	8-1	Madison Square Garden (13,175) New York, NY
12/29/1995* no, UKTV	No. 2	vs. Iona ECAC Holiday Festival	W 106-79	9-1	Madison Square Garden (13,659) New York, NY
01/03/1996 no, JP	No. 2	at South Carolina	W 89-60	10-1 (1-0)	Frank McGuire Arena (12,068) Columbia, SC
01/06/1996 no, UKTV	No. 2	Mississippi	W 90–60	11-1 (2-0)	Rupp Arena (21,275) Lexington, KY
01/09/1996 no, ESPN	No. 2	at No. 12 Mississippi State	W 74-56	12-1 (3-0)	Humphrey Coliseum (10,315) Starkville, MS
01/13/1996 no, UKTV	No. 2	Tennessee	W 61-44	13-1 (4-0)	Rupp Arena (24,247) Lexington, KY
01/16/1996 no, ESPN	No. 2	at Louisiana State	W 129-97	14-1 (5-0)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (12,684) Baton Rouge, LA
01/20/1996* no, ESPN	No. 2	Texas Christian	W 124-80	15-1	Rupp Arena (24,189) Lexington, KY
01/24/1996 no, JP	No. 2	at Georgia	W 82-77	16-1 (6-0)	Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) Athens, GA
01/27/1996 no, UKTV	No. 2	South Carolina	W 89-57	17-1 (7-0)	Rupp Arena (24,229) Lexington, KY
02/03/1996 no, JP	No. 2	Florida	W 77-63	18-1 (8-0)	Rupp Arena (24,251) Lexington, KY
02/07/1996 no, JP	No. 2	at Vanderbilt	W 120-81	19-1 (9-0)	Memorial Gymnasium (15,311) Nashville, TN
02/11/1996 no, CBS	No. 2	Arkansas	W 88-73	20-1 (10-0)	Rupp Arena (24,336) Lexington, KY
02/11/1996 no, JP	No. 2	Georgia	W 86-73	21-1 (11-0)	Rupp Arena (24,206) Lexington, KY
02/17/1996 no, JP	No. 2	at Tennessee	W 90-50	22-1 (12-0)	Thompson-Boling Arena (23,115) Knoxville, TN
02/20/1996 no, ESPN	No. 2	Alabama	W 84-65	23-1 (13-0)	Rupp Arena (24,175) Lexington, KY
02/24/1996 no, CBS	No. 2	at Florida	W 94-63	24-1 (14-0)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center (10,697) Gainesville, FL
02/27/1996 no, ESPN	No. 2	at Auburn	W 88-73	25-1 (15-0)	Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum (10,108) Auburn, AL
03/02/1996 no, UKTV	No. 1	Vanderbilt	W 101-63	26-1 (16-0)	Rupp Arena (24,257) Lexington, KY
1996 SEC Tournament
03/08/1996 no, JP	No. 1	vs. Florida Quarterfinals	W 100-76	27-1	Louisiana Superdome (21,248) New Orleans, LA
03/09/1996 no, JP	No. 1	vs. Arkansas Semifinals	W 95-75	28-1	Louisiana Superdome (24,556) New Orleans, LA
03/10/1996 no, CBS	No. 1	vs. No. 25 Mississippi State Finals	L 73-84	28-2	Louisiana Superdome (24,462) New Orleans, LA
1996 NCAA Tournament (Tournament seeding in parentheses)
03/14/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. (16) San Jose State Midwest Regional 1st Round	W 110-72	29-2	Reunion Arena (13,458) Dallas, TX
03/16/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. No. 16 (9) Virginia Tech Midwest Regional 2nd Round	W 84-60	30-2	Reunion Arena (15,469) Dallas, TX
03/21/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. No. 10 (4) Utah Midwest Regional Semifinal	W 101-70	31-2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (30,334) Minneapolis, MN
03/23/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (1)	vs. No. 13 (2) Wake Forest Midwest Regional Final	W 83-63	32-2	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (30,397) Minneapolis, MN
03/30/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (M1)	vs. No. 1 (E1) Massachusetts National Semifinal	W 81-74	33-2	Continental Airlines Arena (19,229) East Rutherford, NJ
04/01/1996* no, CBS	No. 2 (M1)	vs. (W4) Syracuse National Championship	W 76-67	34-2	Continental Airlines Arena (19,229) East Rutherford, NJ
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[3]

Awards and honors

Tony Delk, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[4]

Players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	6	Antoine Walker	Boston Celtics
1	16	Tony Delk	Charlotte Hornets
1	19	Walter McCarty	Portland Trail Blazers
2	23 (52)	Mark Pope	Indiana Pacers

^[5]

References

^ Bradley, Bill (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House, Inc. p. 236. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.
^ http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/roster1995-96.html
^ http://www.bigbluehistory.net
^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
^ http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1996

External links

Official Site

[1] Bradley, Bill (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House, Inc. p. 236. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[2] ttp://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/roster1995-96.html

[3] ttp://www.bigbluehistory.net

[Tourney_History-4] "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Retrieved 31 March 2008.

[5] ttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1996

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[2]

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[5]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Point-shaving scandal Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics