1986–87 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1986–87 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions Big Ten co-champions
National Championship Game, W 74-73 vs. Syracuse
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 3
Record	30–4 (15–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bobby Knight (16th season)
Assistant coaches	Ron Felling Kohn Smith Royce Waltman Joby Wright
Captain	Steve Alford Todd Meier Daryl Thomas
Home arena	Assembly Hall
Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Indiana	15	–	3	.833	30	–	4	.882
No. 7 Purdue	15	–	3	.833	25	–	5	.833
No. 6 Iowa	14	–	4	.778	30	–	5	.857
No. 11 Illinois	13	–	5	.722	23	–	8	.742
Michigan	10	–	8	.556	20	–	12	.625
Ohio State	9	–	9	.500	20	–	13	.606
Michigan State	6	–	12	.333	11	–	17	.393
Wisconsin	4	–	14	.222	14	–	17	.452
Minnesota	2	–	16	.111	9	–	19	.321
Northwestern	2	–	16	.111	7	–	21	.250

As of March 30, 1987^[1] Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986–87 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented Indiana University. Their head coach was Bobby Knight, who was in his 16th year. The team played its home games in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team is noted for having achieved much success without much NBA talent.

The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an overall record of 24–4 and a conference record of 15–3, finishing 1st in the Big Ten Conference. As Big Ten Conference co-champions with Purdue, IU was named a one-seed in the 1987 NCAA Tournament.^[2] They won solidly over Fairfield, Auburn, and Duke in NCAA play, but they needed Ricky Calloway's rebound lay-in to beat LSU, 77–76, to get to the Final Four. Once there, Indiana beat one-seed UNLV, 97–93, despite ten 3-pointers by UNLV guard Freddie Banks, which is still the Final Four record.

In the championship game versus Syracuse, which featured three future long-time professional players, Indiana trailed 73–70 in the last minute. However, two late shots by Keith Smart, including the last at 0:05, won the game for Indiana.

"The greatness in this team", coach Bob Knight said, "may be the greatness no other team here has had, to the degree that this one did – almost a total resolve not to recognize or be a part of defeat. This team played the last five minutes of critical games as well as I've ever seen a team play."^[3]

Roster

1986–87 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	10	Tony Freeman	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	144 lb (65 kg)	Fr	Westchester, Illinois
F/C	11	Todd Jadlow	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Jr	Salina, Kansas
G	12	Steve Alford	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Sr	New Castle, Indiana
C	14	Magnus Pelkowski	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	218 lb (99 kg)	Jr	Bogota, Colombia
G/F	20	Rick Calloway	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Cincinnati, Ohio
C	22	Dean Garrett	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	222 lb (101 kg)	Jr	San Clemente, California
G	23	Keith Smart	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
F/C	24	Daryl Thomas	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	236 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Westchester, Illinois
F/C	30	Todd Meier	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	222 lb (101 kg)	Sr	Oshkosh, Wisconsin
F	31	Dave Minor	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	203 lb (92 kg)	Fr	Cincinnati, Ohio
F	32	Steve Eyl	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	216 lb (98 kg)	Jr	Hamilton, Ohio
G	35	Jeff Oliphant	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	So	Lyons, Indiana
G/F	42	Kreigh Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	221 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Tipton, Indiana
G	44	Joe Hillman	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	Jr	Glendale, California
F/C	45	Brian Sloan	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	McLeansboro, Illinois

Head coach

Bob Knight (Ohio State)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: 2019-Mar-16

^[4]

Schedule/Results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
11/29/1986*	No. 3	Montana State Billings	W 90–55	1–0	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/2/1986*	No. 3	at Notre Dame	W 67–62	2–0	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
12/6/1986*	No. 3	No. 13 Kentucky Indiana–Kentucky rivalry	W 71–66	3–0	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/9/1986*	No. 2	at Vanderbilt	L 75–79	3–1	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
12/12/1986*	No. 2	UNC-Wilmington Indiana Classic	W 73–72	4–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/13/1986*	No. 2	East Carolina Indiana Classic	W 96–68	5–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/20/1986*	No. 8	Morehead State	W 84–62	6–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/23/1986*	No. 8	Louisville	W 67–58	7–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
12/26/1986*	No. 8	vs. Princeton Hoosier Classic	W 83–54	8–1	Market Square Arena Indianapolis
12/27/1986*	No. 8	vs. Illinois State Hoosier Classic	W 82–58	9–1	Market Square Arena Indianapolis
1/4/1987	No. 6	at Ohio State	W 92–80	10–1 (1–0)	St. John Arena Columbus, Ohio
1/8/1987	No. 4	at Michigan State	W 79–60	11–1 (2–0)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan
1/12/1987	No. 4	at Michigan	W 85–84	12–1 (3–0)	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, Michigan
1/15/1987	No. 4	Wisconsin	W 103–65	13–1 (4–0)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
1/17/1987	No. 4	Northwestern	W 95–43	14–1 (5–0)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
1/22/1987	No. 3	at No. 1 Iowa	L 88–101	14–2 (5–1)	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
1/24/1987	No. 3	at Minnesota	W 77–53	15–2 (6–1)	Williams Arena Minneapolis
1/28/1987	No. 4	No. 12 Illinois Rivalry	W 69–66	16–2 (7–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
1/31/1987	No. 4	No. 4 Purdue Rivalry	W 88–74	17–2 (8–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
2/4/1987	No. 2	Michigan State	W 84–80	18–2 (9–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
2/8/1987	No. 2	Michigan	W 83–67	19–2 (10–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
2/11/1987	No. 2	at Northwestern	W 77–75	20–2 (11–1)	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois
2/16/1987	No. 2	at Wisconsin	W 86–85 ^3OT	21–2 (12–1)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, Wisconsin
2/19/1987	No. 2	Minnesota	W 72–70	22–2 (13–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
2/21/1987	No. 2	No. 7 Iowa	W 84–75	23–2 (14–1)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
2/26/1987	No. 3	at No. 6 Purdue Rivalry	L 64–75	23–3 (14–2)	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, Indiana
3/1/1987	No. 3	at No. 14 Illinois Rivalry	L 67–69	23–4 (14–3)	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
3/7/1987	No. 4	Ohio State	W 90–81	24–4 (15–3)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
NCAA Tournament
3/12/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (16 MW) Fairfield First Round	W 92–58	25–4 (15–3)	Hoosier Dome Indianapolis
3/14/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (8 MW) Auburn Second Round	W 107–90	26–4 (15–3)	Hoosier Dome Indianapolis
3/20/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (5 MW) No. 17 Duke Sweet Sixteen	W 88–82	27–4 (15–3)	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati
3/22/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (10 MW) LSU Elite Eight	W 77–76	28–4 (15–3)	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati
3/28/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (1 W) No. 1 UNLV Final Four	W 97–93	29–4 (15–3)	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans
3/30/1987*	(1 MW) No. 3	vs. (2 E) No. 10 Syracuse NCAA Championship Game	W 74–73	30–4 (15–3)	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	3	3	2	8	8	6	4	4	3	4	2	2	2	3	4	3
Coaches	Not released	3	2	6	6	5	4	4	4	4	2	2	2	2	4	2

Awards and honors

Steve Alford, Big Ten Player of the Year
Dean Garrett, Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Bobby Knight, Naismith College Coach of the Year
Keith Smart, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[5]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1987	2	26	Steve Alford	Dallas Mavericks
1987	6	116	Daryl Thomas	Sacramento Kings
1988	2	38	Dean Garrett	Phoenix Suns
1988	2	41	Keith Smart	Golden State Warriors

^[6]

References

^ "1986-87 Big Ten Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
^ "Indiana Basketball Men's Database". IndyStar. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ Hammel, Bob (1999). Glory of Old IU. United States: Sports Publishing Inc. pp. 190–191. ISBN 1-58261-068-1.
^ "1987 NCAA Final Four program". March 1987. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
^ "1987 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Databasebasketball.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved May 22, 2010.

v t e Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball 1986–87 NCAA champions
12 Steve Alford 20 Ricky Calloway 22 Dean Garrett 23 Keith Smart (MOP) 24 Daryl Thomas 44 Joe Hillman Head coach Bob Knight Assistant coaches Royce Waltman Joby Wright

v t e Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball
Venues	Old Assembly Hall (1900–1917) Men's Gymnasium (1917–1928) The Fieldhouse (1928–1960) New Fieldhouse (1960–1971) Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (1971–present) Cook Hall (practice)
Rivalries	Illinois Kentucky Purdue
Culture & lore	2011 Kentucky upset A Season on the Brink (film) Blue blood status Crimson Guard Crossroads Classic "Indiana, Our Indiana"
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e NCAA Division I men's basketball champions
1939 Oregon 1940 Indiana 1941 Wisconsin 1942 Stanford 1943 Wyoming 1944 Utah 1945 Oklahoma A&M 1946 Oklahoma A&M 1947 Holy Cross 1948 Kentucky 1949 Kentucky 1950 CCNY 1951 Kentucky 1952 Kansas 1953 Indiana 1954 La Salle 1955 San Francisco 1956 San Francisco 1957 North Carolina 1958 Kentucky 1959 California 1960 Ohio State 1961 Cincinnati 1962 Cincinnati 1963 Loyola (IL) 1964 UCLA 1965 UCLA 1966 Texas Western 1967 UCLA 1968 UCLA 1969 UCLA 1970 UCLA 1971 UCLA 1972 UCLA 1973 UCLA 1974 NC State 1975 UCLA 1976 Indiana 1977 Marquette 1978 Kentucky 1979 Michigan State 1980 Louisville 1981 Indiana 1982 North Carolina 1983 NC State 1984 Georgetown 1985 Villanova 1986 Louisville 1987 Indiana 1988 Kansas 1989 Michigan 1990 UNLV 1991 Duke 1992 Duke 1993 North Carolina 1994 Arkansas 1995 UCLA 1996 Kentucky 1997 Arizona 1998 Kentucky 1999 Connecticut 2000 Michigan State 2001 Duke 2002 Maryland 2003 Syracuse 2004 Connecticut 2005 North Carolina 2006 Florida 2007 Florida 2008 Kansas 2009 North Carolina 2010 Duke 2011 Connecticut 2012 Kentucky 2013 Louisville (Vacated) 2014 UConn 2015 Duke 2016 Villanova 2017 North Carolina 2018 Villanova 2019 Virginia 2020 No tournament 2021 Baylor 2022 Kansas 2023 UConn 2024 UConn

NCAA Division I men's basketball champions