1995–96 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team

1995–96 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
1995–96 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Round of 32
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	26–7 (14–4 Big East)
Head coach	Steve Lappas (4th season);
Home arena	The Pavilion (Capacity: 6,500)
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Big East 6
No. 3 Connecticut†	17	–	1	.944	32	–	3	.914
No. 10 Villanova	14	–	4	.778	26	–	7	.788
Boston College	10	–	8	.556	19	–	11	.633
West Virginia	7	–	11	.389	12	–	15	.444
St. John's	5	–	13	.278	11	–	16	.407
Notre Dame	4	–	14	.222	9	–	18	.333
Big East 7
No. 4 Georgetown	13	–	5	.722	29	–	8	.784
No. 15 Syracuse	12	–	6	.667	29	–	9	.763
Providence	9	–	9	.500	18	–	12	.600
Miami	8	–	10	.444	15	–	13	.536
Seton Hall	7	–	11	.389	12	–	16	.429
Rutgers	6	–	12	.333	9	–	18	.333
Pittsburgh	5	–	13	.278	10	–	17	.370

† 1996 Big East tournament winner As of April 1, 1996^[1]^[2]^[3] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1995–96 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team represented Villanova University in the 1995–96 season. Led by consensus First team All-American Senior Kerry Kittles, who became and remains Villanova's all-time leading scorer, the highly ranked Wildcats made their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the departure of Rollie Massimino. With an overall record 24-5 and conference record of 14-4, the Wildcats placed second in the Big East Conference, and after reaching the semifinals of the Big East tournament, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament as a 3 seed. In the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats would gain their first tournament win under Fourth Year head coach Steve Lappas, over 14 seed Portland. In the round of 32, the Wildcats would prove to be competitive, but fall to 6 seed Louisville by four points.

Tournament results

Big East Tournament
First Round vs. (7) Providence @ Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - W, 78-68
Semifinals vs. (3) Georgetown @ Madison Square Garden, New York, NY - L, 76-84
NCAA Tournament
First Round vs. (14) Portland @ Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI - W, 92-58
Round of 32 vs. (6) Louisville @ Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI - L, 68-64

References

[1] sports-reference.com 1995-96 Big East Conference Season Summary

[2] Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.

[3] "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Villanova Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Jake Nevin Field House (1932–1986) William E. Finneran Pavilion (1986–2017, 2018–present) First Union Spectrum (alternate; 1967–2009) Wells Fargo Center (alternate; 1996–present)
Rivalries	Saint Joseph's
Culture & lore	Will D. Cat City 6 Philadelphia Big 5 (Robert V. Geasey Trophy) "V for Villanova"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 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 1999–00 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
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics