Wikipedia

1975–76 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team

The 1975–76 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball team was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball team that played in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The Broncos, representing Western Michigan University (WMU), finished the season 25–3 overall and 15–1 in the conference, won the MAC championship and reached the Sweet Sixteen of the 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. They finished the season ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 19 in the UPI Poll.[1]

1975–76 Western Michigan Broncos men's basketball
Mid-American Conference Champions
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
ConferenceMid-American Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 10
Record25–3 (15–1 MAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaUniversity Arena
Seasons
1975–76 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 10 Western Michigan 15 – 1   .938 25 – 3   .893
Miami 14 – 2   .875 18 – 8   .692
Toledo 13 – 3   .813 18 – 7   .720
Central Michigan 8 – 8   .500 12 – 14   .462
Bowling Green 8 – 8   .500 12 – 15   .444
Kent State 7 – 9   .438 12 – 14   .462
Ohio 7 – 9   .438 11 – 15   .423
Ball State 5 – 11   .313 11 – 14   .440
Northern Illinois 2 – 14   .125 5 – 21   .192
Eastern Michigan 1 – 15   .063 7 – 20   .259
Rankings from AP Poll

Season edit

The Broncos were featured in a Sports Illustrated article in the February 9, 1976, issue.[2] After starting the season 16–0, the Broncos entered the AP Poll as the No. 17-ranked team.[3] In the MAC showdown against Miami in Kalamazoo, a Western Michigan University (WMU) record 10,519 fans attended the game.[2]

In an early-season game, WMU beat Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) 51–50 on a put-back by Jeff Tyson with one second left on the clock. The Broncos led by 10 points early in the second half, but UWGB took the lead by one point with 10 seconds remaining. After a timeout, WMU missed a long 25-foot field goal, but Tyson was able to get the rebound and score.[4]

NCAA tournament edit

In the NCAA tournament, Western Michigan defeated Virginia Tech 77–67 in overtime. They lost to No. 2-ranked Marquette in the Sweet Sixteen by 5 points, 62–57.[5]

Roster edit

The following players were on the 1975–76 team:[6]

  • Dave Carnegie
  • Rod Curry
  • Tom Cutter
  • Dale DeBruin
  • Paul Griffin
  • Jimmie Harvey
  • Jim Kurzen
  • Marty Murray
  • Bob Pyykkonen
  • Herman Randle
  • Mark Rayner
  • Mike Reardon
  • Dave Roland
  • S. L. Sales
  • Marc Throop
  • Jeff Tyson

The team was coached by Eldon Miller, along with assistant coaches Dick Shilts and Rich Walker.[7]

Schedule edit

The Broncos finished the season 25–3 and first place in the MAC with a 15–1 record.[8]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
December 1, 1975*
 Grand Valley State W 107–73  1–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
December 3, 1975*
 Wisconsin–Parkside W 77–74  2–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
December 6, 1975*
 at Wisconsin–Green Bay W 51–50  3–0
 Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena (2,052[4])
Ashwaubenon, WI
December 10, 1975*
 at Northern Iowa W 91–61  4–0
 McElroy Auditorium (~850[9][10])
Waterloo, IA
December 13, 1975*
 Michigan State W 78–68  5–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
December 15, 1975*
 Detroit W 81–71  6–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
December 20, 1975*
 Wisconsin–Oshkosh W 115–83  7–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
January 3, 1976
 at Bowling Green W 67–57  8–0
(1–0) 		Anderson Arena 
Bowling Green, OH
January 7, 1976
 at Eastern Michigan W 78–58  9–0
(2–0) 		Bowen Field House 
Ypsilanti, MI
January 10, 1976
 Toledo W 78–73  10–0
(3–0) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
January 14, 1976*
 Loyola (IL) W 79–77  11–0
 Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
January 17, 1976
 at Northern Illinois W 78–65  12–0
(4–0) 		Chick Evans Field House 
DeKalb, IL
January 21, 1976
 Kent State W 75–53  13–0
(5–0) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
January 24, 1976
 at Ball State W 62–57  14–0
(6–0) 		Irving Gymnasium 
Muncie, IN
January 28, 1976
 Miami W 82–68  15–0
(7–0) 		Read Fieldhouse (10,519[1])
Kalamazoo, MI
January 31, 1976
 Ohio W 75–59  16–0
(8–0) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
February 4, 1976*
 No. 17 at Loyola (IL) W 80–73  17–0
 Alumni Gym 
Chicago, IL
February 7, 1976
 No. 17 at Central Michigan W 76–73  18–0
(9–0) 		Daniel P. Rose Center 
Mount Pleasant, MI
February 11, 1976
 No. 15 Eastern Michigan W 85–73  19–0
(10–0) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
February 14, 1976
 No. 15 at Toledo L 80–88  19–1
(10–1) 		Field House 
Toledo, OH
February 21, 1976
 No. 17 Northern Illinois W 91–74  20–1
(11–1) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
February 25, 1976
 No. 16 at Kent State W 73–63  21–1
(12–1) 		Memorial Gym 
Kent, OH
February 28, 1976
 No. 16 Ball State W 93–67  22–1
(13–1) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
March 1, 1976*
 No. 16 at No. 8 Notre Dame L 86–95 OT 22–2
 Athletic and Convocation Center 
South Bend, IN
March 3, 1976
 No. 14 at Miami W 73–58  23–2
(14–1) 		Millett Hall 
Oxford, OH
March 6, 1976
 No. 14 Bowling Green W 71–58  24–2
(15–1) 		Read Fieldhouse 
Kalamazoo, MI
March 13, 1976*
 No. 16 vs. Virginia Tech
NCAA tournament Round of 32 		W 77–67 OT 25–2
 Athletic and Convocation Center 
South Bend, IN
March 18, 1976*
 No. 10 vs. No. 2 Marquette
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen 		L 57–62  25–3
 LSU Assembly Center (14,150[5])
Baton Rouge, LA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Statistics edit

The following table lists the individual player statistics for the season.[11]

Player GP GS Pts Avg FG FGA Pct FT FTA Pct Reb Avg PF FO A
Jeff Tyson 28 28 501 17.9 212 425 .499 77 109 .706 132 4.7 83 3 63
Tom Cutter 28 28 362 12.9 140 217 .645 82 108 .759 298 10.6 84 2 57
Jimmie Harvey 28 28 356 12.7 163 323 .505 30 44 .682 100 3.6 73 1 42
Paul Griffin 28 28 303 10.8 115 192 .599 73 100 .730 277 9.9 82 5 84
Marty Murray 28 0 248 8.9 85 218 .390 78 108 .722 41 1.5 64 2 50
Jim Kurzen 28 28 198 7.1 79 170 .465 40 51 .784 44 1.6 53 0 72
Dave Carnegie 24 0 63 2.6 27 50 .540 9 17 .529 61 2.5 29 0 2
Dale DeBruin 19 0 48 2.5 17 33 .515 14 27 .519 40 2.1 25 0 7
S. L. Sales 18 0 42 2.3 18 40 .450 6 15 .400 19 1.1 15 0 0
Mike Reardon 21 0 40 1.9 17 36 .472 6 11 .545 9 0.4 8 0 0
Herman Randle 21 0 38 1.8 15 50 .300 8 14 .571 9 0.4 7 0 0
Marc Throop 12 0 10 0.8 2 8 .250 6 13 .462 15 1.3 9 0 0
Bob Pyykkonen 5 0 4 0.8 2 6 .333 0 1 .000 3 0.6 1 0 0
Dave Roland 6 0 3 0.5 0 5 .000 3 7 .429 1 0.2 1 0 1
Rod Curry 5 0 2 0.4 1 6 .167 0 0 – 5 1.0 1 0 0
Mark Rayner 1 0 0 0.0 0 0 – 0 0 – 2 2.0 1 0 0
WMU totals 28 2218 79.2 893 1779 .502 432 625 .691 1176 42.0 536 14 392
Opp. totals 28 1898 67.8 776 1817 .427 346 484 .715 – – 581 – 330

Rankings edit

Main article: 1975–76 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References edit

  1. ^ a b "2013–14 WMU Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Western Michigan University. p. 54. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Hannon, Kent (February 9, 1976). "Who's Who In Kalamazoo. Western Michigan (16–0) is a new big shot, but just in its hometown". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  3. ^ "Western Michigan 1976 AP Men's Basketball Rankings". College Poll Archive. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  4. ^ a b McGinn, Bob (December 7, 1975). "Last Shot Tips UWGB". Green Bay Press Gazette. p. D-1. Retrieved March 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ a b "Official Basketball Box Score – Marquette vs Western Michigan – 3/18/76" (PDF). Western Michigan University. March 18, 1976. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  6. ^ "Statistics Summary for 1975–76". Western Michigan University. July 2, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  7. ^ "NCAA Tournament Team". Western Michigan University. October 23, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  8. ^ "2013–14 WMU Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Western Michigan University. pp. 85–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
  9. ^ Evans, Burke (December 10, 1975). "UNI outclassed by Broncos 91–61". The Courier. p. 23. Retrieved March 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.  
  10. ^ Evans, Burke (December 10, 1975). "UNI outclassed by Broncos 91–61". The Courier. p. 24. Retrieved March 16, 2018 – via newspapers.com.  
  11. ^ "1975–76 Men's Basketball Stats". Western Michigan University. July 2, 2009. Retrieved January 24, 2014.

External links edit

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