1976–77 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

1976–77 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Metro Conference Champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Metro Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 19
Record	21–7 (6–1 Metro)
Head coach	Denny Crum (6th season)
Assistant coaches	Bill Olsen Wade Houston Jerry Jones
Home arena	Freedom Hall

1976–77 Metro Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 19 Louisville	6	–	1		.857			21	–	7		.750
Cincinnati †	4	–	2		.667			25	–	5		.833
Georgia Tech	3	–	3		.500			13	–	10		.565
Tulane	3	–	3		.500			10	–	17		.370
Memphis State	3	–	4		.429			20	–	9		.690
Saint Louis	1	–	5		.167			7	–	19		.269
Florida State	0	–	2		.000			16	–	11		.593
† 1977 Metro Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976–77 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville during the 1976–77 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, Louisville's 63rd season of intercollegiate competition. The Cardinals competed in the Metro Conference and were coached by Denny Crum. The team played home games at Freedom Hall.

The team completed a 21–7 record and reached the 1977 NCAA Tournament.

Roster

1976–77 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 13 Ricky Gallon 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — Jr Tampa, Florida G 23 Tony Branch 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Elston Michigan City, Indiana G 30 Phil Bond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr duPont Manual Louisville, Kentucky G 35 Darrell Griffith 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Louisville Male Louisville, Kentucky G 42 Rick Wilson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Atherton Louisville, Kentucky	Head coach Denny Crum (UCLA) Assistant coach(es) Jerry Jones Bill Olsen Wade Houston Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1976*	No. 7	at Vanderbilt	W 81–76	1–0	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Dec 4, 1976*	No. 7	Syracuse	L 75–76	1–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 6, 1976*	No. 14	VCU	W 89–60	2–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 8, 1976*	No. 14	Idaho State	W 89–68	3–1	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 11, 1976*	No. 14	at Purdue	L 70–72	3–2	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, Indiana
Dec 18, 1976*	No. 17	at No. 2 Marquette	W 78–75 ^OT	4–2	MECCA Arena  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Dec 22, 1976*	No. 13	Chattanooga	W 81–71	5–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 28, 1976*	No. 14	Rutgers	W 76–68	6–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Dec 29, 1976*	No. 14	Creighton	W 69–66	7–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 3, 1977*	No. 14	Florida State	W 78–75	8–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 8, 1977*	No. 14	at Tulane	W 90–81	9–2	Avron B. Fogelman Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 15, 1977*	No. 13	Marshall	W 104–85	10–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 19, 1977*	No. 12	No. 2 Cincinnati	W 83–77	11–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 25, 1977	No. 10	Georgia Tech	W 91–80	21–4 (6–1)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 27, 1977*	No. 10	at No. 9 North Carolina	L 89–96	21–5	Carmichael Auditorium  Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Metro Conference Tournament
Mar 4, 1977*	No. 10	vs. Georgia Tech Semifinals	L 55–56	21–6	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, Tennessee
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1977*	No. 14	vs. No. 2 UCLA First round	L 79–87	21–7	ISU Minidome  Pocatello, Idaho
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern.

^[1]

Rankings

See also: 1976-77 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[2]

References

1. "1976-77 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Louisville Athletics. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
2. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 836–837. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.