1996 College Basketball

1. Tony Delk: Was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He set a championship game record with seven three-pointers and scored 24 points and had seven rebounds.

He was the MVP of the Midwest regional. He scored 22 points vs. San Jose St. in round one and added 25 more against #9 Wake Forest in the regional final, which included 4-5 threes.

Delk was named first team All-American by most major publications and was also the SEC Player of the Year.

He led the Wildcats with 17.9 points per game while shooting 44.3% on threes and 49.4% from the field. He also averaged nearly two steals per contest.

Kentucky went 34-2 and 16-0 in the SEC and finished #2 in the final polls. They would beat four of the top 15 teams in the final AP poll on their way to the national title.

Big Blue took out #12 Utah by 31, #9 Wake by 20 to get to the Final Four. They would avenge an earlier loss by knocking out #1 UMass 81-74 as Delk scored 20.

In the title game Kentucky held off #15 Syracuse 76-67.

2. Tim Duncan: Was first team All-American, and the ACC Player of the Year.

He was named ACC Tournament MVP after a 27 point 22 rebound effort over top seed Georgia Tech. He set tournament records for most rebounds in a final (22) and tournament (56).

He became the first player in ACC history to lead the league in scoring (19.1), rebounding (12.3), blocks (3.8), and field goal % (55.5).

Duncan had two double-doubles to start NCAA play. He put in 27-13 in the sweet 16 win over Louisville, despite coming up with the flu.

In the regional final loss to Kentucky Duncan finished with 14-16-6 in 39 minutes.

Wake Forest finished 26-6 and #9 in the polls. Duncan helped them to the 7^th best defense in the country (61.3 PPG).

3. John Wallace: He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team, All-West Regional team and was a consensus 2^nd team All American.

He was named to the first team All Big East regular season and tournament teams.

Wallace averaged 22.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assist per game. He scored over 30 fives during the season.

He shined during the NCAA tournament with several memorable performances. He had 18 points in each of Syracuse’s early wins over Montana St. and Drexel.

In the sweet 16 against Georgia he had 30-15. It was his pass that set up Jason Cipolla’s tying jumper to force overtime. He then scored the go ahead bucket with less than three seconds in the extra session of Syracuse’s 83-81 win.

He had a game high 21 in the Final Four win over #19 Mississippi St. as he played all 40 minutes.

In the final against #2 Kentucky, Wallace carried the Orangemen with 29 of their 67 points and added 10 rebounds. Syracuse would get to within four points late in the second half until Wallace fouled out.

Syracuse got to their first Final Four in nine years after knocking out #4 Kansas 60-57. They finished 29-9, 12-6 in the Big East and #15 in the final polls.