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1976–77 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball
1976–77 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball
MVC regular season and tournament champion
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	22–7 (8–4 MVC)
Head coach	Paul Lambert;
Home arena	SIU Arena
	Seasons ← 1975–76 1977–78 →

1976–77 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Southern Illinois †	8	–	4	.667	22	–	7	.759
New Mexico State	8	–	4	.667	17	–	10	.630
Wichita State	7	–	5	.583	18	–	10	.643
West Texas State	7	–	5	.583	17	–	13	.567
Drake	5	–	7	.417	10	–	17	.370
Bradley	4	–	8	.333	9	–	18	.333
Tulsa	3	–	9	.250	6	–	21	.222
Indiana State		–		–	25	–	3	.893
Creighton		–		–	21	–	7	.750

† 1977 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976–77 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by eighth-year head coach Paul Lambert and played their home games at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 22–7, 8–4 in MVC play to finish in first place. The Salukis won the MVC tournament to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – the first appearance in the Division I tournament in program history.

Roster

1976–77 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
C	10	Al Grant	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	217 lb (98 kg)	Fr	Cedartown	Cedartown, Georgia
G	12	Tom Harris	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Jr	Dunbar Vocational	Chicago, Illinois
G	14	Gary Fitzsimmons	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	168 lb (76 kg)	Jr	McClintock HS Nebraska	Chamblee, Georgia
F	25	Richard Ford	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Parker	Birmingham, Alabama
F	30	Gary Wilson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Carver	Columbus, Georgia
G	31	Mark Winter	—	180 lb (82 kg)	So	Carmi	Carmi, Illinois
G	32	Milt Huggins	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	191 lb (87 kg)	So	Palmetto	Palmetto, Georgia
G	34	Mike Glenn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Coosa	Rome, Georgia
G	35	Jerry Kellum	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Murphysboro John A. Logan College	Murphysboro, Illinois
F	40	Corky Abrams	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	211 lb (96 kg)	Sr	Douglass	Atlanta, Georgia
G	41	Wayne Abrams	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Douglass	Atlanta, Georgia
F	42	Barry Smith	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Eldorado	Eldorado, Illinois
G/F	43	Al Williams	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Hamilton	Memphis, Tennessee
F/C	44	Dan Kieszkowski	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Fr	Rogers	Michigan City, Indiana
F/C	54	Mel Hughlett	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	226 lb (103 kg)	RS Sr	Carbondale Vincennes Southeastern Louisiana	Carbondale, Illinois

Head coach

Paul Lambert

Assistant coach(es)

George Iubelt
Herman Williams

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 11, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		Brazilian National Team	W 87–59		SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Regular season
Nov 26, 1976* 7:00 p.m.		vs. No. 20 Missouri Arch Classic	W 68–55	1–0
Nov 29, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		William Jewell	W 73–60	2–0	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 4, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		UMKC	W 96–78	3–0	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 6, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		Northeastern State	W 63–61	4–0	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 8, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		Millikin	W 82–45	5–0	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 10, 1976* 8:00 p.m.		at Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Classic	W 72–67	6–0	Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dec 11, 1976* 8:00 p.m.		vs. Hofstra Pittsburgh Classic	L 66–67	6–1	Fitzgerald Field House Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Dec 15, 1976* 7:35 p.m.		Cal Poly	W 79–50	7–1	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 20, 1976* 7:00 p.m.		at Georgia Southern	L 67–83	7–2	Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia
Jan 3, 1977* 7:35 p.m.		Benedictine (KS)	W 100–51	8–2	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 8, 1977 7:35 p.m.		Bradley	L 58–65	8–3 (0–1)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 13, 1977 7:35 p.m.		Wichita State	W 60–59	9–3 (1–1)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 20, 1977 7:30 p.m.		at West Texas A&M	L 74–78 ^OT	9–4 (1–2)
Jan 22, 1977 8:30 p.m.		at New Mexico State	W 71–69	10–4 (2–2)	Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico
Jan 29, 1977 7:35 p.m.		Tulsa	W 85–51	11–4 (3–2)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Jan 31, 1977* 8:00 p.m.		at Saint Louis	W 76–73	12–4	Kiel Auditorium St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 5, 1977 7:30 p.m.		at Wichita State	L 90–91 ^2OT	12–5 (3–3)	Charles Koch Arena Wichita, Kansas
Feb 7, 1977* 7:35 p.m.		Roosevelt	W 95–58	13–5	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 10, 1977 7:35 p.m.		West Texas A&M	W 76–58	14–5 (4–3)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 12, 1977 7:30 p.m.		at Bradley	W 82–81	15–5 (5–3)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 14, 1977* 7:35 p.m.		Evansville	W 79–67	16–5	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 17, 1977 7:35 p.m.		New Mexico State	W 93–64	17–5 (6–3)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Feb 19, 1977 7:35 p.m.		at Drake	W 66–57	18–5 (7–3)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa
Feb 21, 1977* 7:35 p.m.		Evansville	W 72–60	19–5	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, Indiana
Feb 24, 1977 7:30 p.m.		at Tulsa	L 91–99 ^OT	19–6 (7–4)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 26, 1977 7:35 p.m.		Drake	W 80–61	20–6 (8–4)	SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois
Missouri Valley tournament
Mar 5, 1977* 8:00 p.m.	(1)	vs. (4) West Texas A&M Championship game	W 82–69	21–6	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1977* 3:35 p.m.		vs. No. 20 Arizona First round	W 81–77	22–6	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Mar 17, 1977* 9:35 p.m.		vs. No. 9 Wake Forest Midwest Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 81–86^[1]	22–7	Myriad Convention Center Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[2]^[3]

References

^ "Marquette Advances With Wake Forest". The New York Times. March 18, 1977. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ "2019-20 Southern Illinois Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
^ "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Illinois Salukis. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[1] "Marquette Advances With Wake Forest". The New York Times. March 18, 1977. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[mg-2] "2019-20 Southern Illinois Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

[3] "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Illinois Salukis. Retrieved September 15, 2023.

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