1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team

1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record23–11 (12–6 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coachMonte Towe (7th season)
Home arenaO'Connell Center
Seasons
1986–87 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Alabama 16 2   .889 28 5   .848
Florida 12 6   .667 23 11   .676
Georgia 10 8   .556 18 12   .600
Kentucky 10 8   .556 18 11   .621
Auburn 9 9   .500 18 13   .581
Ole Miss 8 10   .444 15 14   .517
LSU 8 10   .444 24 15   .615
Tennessee 7 11   .389 14 15   .483
Vanderbilt 7 11   .389 18 16   .529
Mississippi State 3 15   .167 7 21   .250
1987 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team represented the University of Florida as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1986–87 NCAA men's basketball season. Led by head coach Norm Sloan, the team played their home games at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, Florida. After finishing second in the SEC regular season standings, Florida was bounced in the quarterfinal round of the SEC Tournament by LSU. The Gators received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the school's (technically) first appearance in the tournament, where they made a run to the Sweet Sixteen. In the opening round, Florida defeated NC State[1] and followed that by knocking off No. 3 seed Purdue.[2] The run ended in the East Regional semifinal,[3] where Florida was beaten by eventual National runner-up Syracuse, 87–81.[4] The team finished with a record of 23–11 (12–6 SEC).

Roster

1986–87 Florida Gators men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 11 Vernon Maxwell 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Buchholz Gainesville, Florida
G 23 Clifford Lett 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Pensacola Pensacola, Florida
C 33 Dwayne Schintzius 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Brandon Brandon, Florida
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 28, 1986*
at Florida State L 76–80  0–1
Donald L. Tucker Center 
Tallahassee, Florida
Dec 1, 1986*
vs. Stetson W 98–75  1–1
 
 
Dec 2, 1986*
Western Carolina W 116–68  2–1
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Dec 4, 1986*
vs. SMU W 110–70  3–1
 
 
Dec 10, 1986*
Central Florida W 89–54  4–1
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Dec 13, 1986*
at South Florida W 68–62  5–1
Sun Dome 
Tampa, Florida
Dec 16, 1986
LSU W 96–75  6–1
(1–0)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Dec 19, 1986*
vs. Virginia Tech
Gator Bowl Tournament
W 82–60  7–1
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum 
Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 20, 1986*
vs. Ohio State
Gator Bowl Tournament
W 82–72  8–1
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum 
Jacksonville, Florida
Dec 27, 1986*
No. 20 vs. California
Rainbow Classic
L 80–83  8–2
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 29, 1986*
No. 20 at Hawaii
Rainbow Classic
W 110–83  9–2
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
Dec 30, 1986*
No. 20 vs. Ohio State
Rainbow Classic
L 84–88  9–3
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 3, 1987
3:00 p.m., JPT
at Georgia W 87–80  10–3
(2–0)
Stegeman Coliseum 
Athens, Georgia
Jan 7, 1987
Mississippi State W 100–56  11–3
(3–0)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Jan 10, 1987
at Ole Miss W 80–72  12–3
(4–0)
Tad Smith Coliseum 
Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 14, 1987
at Kentucky L 62–67  12–4
(4–1)
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 17, 1987
Tennessee W 97–90  13–4
(5–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Jan 21, 1987
at LSU W 75–51  14–4
(6–1)
Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 24, 1987
Vanderbilt W 85–81  15–4
(7–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Jan 28, 1987
No. 19 No. 9 Alabama W 90–80  16–4
(8–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Jan 31, 1987
No. 19 at No. 18 Auburn L 68–81  16–5
(8–2)
Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, Alabama
Feb 4, 1987
Georgia W 66–52  17–5
(9–2)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Feb 7, 1987
at Mississippi State W 84–56  18–5
(10–2)
Humphrey Coliseum 
Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 9, 1987
No. 19 Auburn L 70–84  18–6
(10–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Feb 11, 1987
No. 19 Ole Miss W 85–62  19–6
(11–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Feb 14, 1987
3:00 p.m., JPT
No. 19 Kentucky W 74–56  20–6
(12–3)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Feb 18, 1987
8:00 p.m., JPT
No. 18 at Tennessee L 71–81  20–7
(12–4)
Stokely Athletics Center 
Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 21, 1987*
No. 18 Miami (FL) W 99–60  21–7
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Feb 25, 1987
No. 18 at Vanderbilt L 76–84  21–8
(12–5)
Memorial Gymnasium 
Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 28, 1987
3:00 p.m., JPT
No. 18 at No. 10 Alabama L 85–86  21–9
(12–6)
Coleman Coliseum 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 1987*
 JPT
vs. LSU
Quarterfinals
L 66–72  21–10
The Omni 
Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1987*
(6 E) vs. (11 E) NC State
First round
W 82–70  22–10
Carrier Dome 
Syracuse, New York
Mar 15, 1987*
(6 E) vs. (3 E) No. 7 Purdue
Second round
W 85–66  23–10
Carrier Dome 
Syracuse, New York
Mar 19, 1987*
 CBS
(6 E) vs. (2 E) No. 10 Syracuse
East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
L 81–87  23–11
Brendan Byrne Arena 
East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
The NCAA tournament results were vacated.

[5]

Rankings

References

  1. ^ "NCAA Tournament Roundup". UPI Archives. March 14, 1987. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  2. ^ "Florida Gives Purdue a 'Big Ten' Whipping". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1987. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  3. ^ "Florida Finally Invited and Shows No Respect for Established Teams". The Los Angeles Times. March 19, 1987. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  4. ^ "SEIKALY, SYRACUSE TOP FLORIDA". The Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1987. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  5. ^ 2017–18 Florida Gators men's basketball media guide. p. 92–93. Retrieved 2017-Nov-23.