1995-96 Men's Basketball Team (Team) (2006) - Hall of Fame

1995-96 Men's Basketball Team (Team)

Induction:
2006
Class:
1996

1995-96 Men’s Basketball- Big Sky Champions In retrospect, it might have been inevitable. From the time the Bobcat basketball team began practicing in October, 1995, until it left the court after a valiant effort in the NCAA Tournament against Syracuse, the 1995-96 Montana State men’s basketball team always had an air of destiny. The team seemed bound for great things. Even a decade later, that team’s accomplishments remain startling. The 21 wins made the Bobcat squad the first since 1952 to win 20 games in back-to-back seasons. It won MSU’s first league championship since 1986 and its first Big Sky regular season title since 1987. MSU finished third in the nation in team field goal percentage in 1996, 13th in scoring margin, and 20th in scoring offense. The Bobcats set eight team or individual records over that two-year period. MSU set the tone for its title run early, getting a December win against Gonzaga in the Fieldhouse and storming Butler in the Holiday Stores Classic. A mid-season slump dropped the team’s record to 7-5, but Montana State foreshadowed its greatest moment with a 90-71 thrashing of Weber State, its chief challenger for the Big Sky crown, to open Big Sky play, and a week later MSU finished a three-game homestand by whipping the Grizzlies. That Bobcat team was sterling at home, but won the league title on the road with a stirring come-from-behind 81-78 victory at Idaho and a 92-64, championship-clinching win at Eastern Washington. With the Bozeman community in a frenzy, MSU welcomed the conference tournament with a sense of urgency, knowing it was the last Big Sky basketball tournament ever featuring ancient rivals Idaho and Boise State. MSU’s senior class had already tied a school record with 65 wins by one senior class, but that group knew that anything short of a league title would end their fine Bobcat careers. Everyone knew what needed to be done. Montana State’s five fine seniors and an outstanding supporting cast made it happen. The ‘Cats dominated Idaho 91-66 in the semifinals, setting up a showdown against defending Big Sky Champion Weber State. While Big Sky MMVP Quadre Lollis battled Weber star Jimmy DeGraffenried, on even terms, the game quickly boiled down to a shootout between a pair of precocious guards. Ryan cuff staked Weber to an early second half lead, and finished the game with 26 points. But for every basket by Cuff or DeGraffenried in the second half, the Bobcats answered. Danny Sprinkle hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 48, and MSU would never again trail. While Lollis and Danny Sprinkle were providing offensive pyrotechnics, Scott Hatler provided peerless play at the point and Adam Leachman played sterling defense. And when it seemed things could turn in Weber’s favor midway through the second half, Mike Elliott had the biggest moment of his career. The senior guard hit a jumper in the lane, then did it again, and after a Lollis layup and two free throws MSU led 60-53. The game, at that point, was essentially over. Hatler hit a three. Lollis converted a three-point play, then hit another layup. Then Sprinkle hit a trey, and another, and a layup, and finished the night by sinking a free throw to give the Bobcats their final margin of victory. In a game that was palpably intense for about 30 minutes, the ultimate team got the ultimate win. Danny Sprinkle was the MVP, but that award could have gone to any of seven or eight Bobcats. Hatler, the face of the program for four years, was carried off the court and into Bobcat immortality. Quadre Lollis proved he was the best little big man in the league that night, and five nights later showed he was the best little big man in college basketball. Nico Harrison’s defense and leadership, the selfless contributions of Elliott and Lance Fay and Nate Holmstadt and Danny Sullivan off the bench, all added up to a season for the ages, and to a season that, from the beginning, felt like destiny.