Conference Big Ten Conference AP No. 3 Assistant coach Ron Felling | Coaches No. 2 1986–87 record 30–4 (15–3 Big Ten) | |
Head coach Bobby Knight (16th year) | ||
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. 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."