1976–77 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team


The 1976–77 Idaho State Bengals men's basketball team represented Idaho State University during the NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bengals were led by sixth-year head coach Jim Killingsworth and played their home games on campus at the ISU Minidome in Pocatello. Led by center they finished the regular season at with a record in the Big Sky Conference.
As regular season champions, Idaho State hosted and won the second edition of the four-team conference tournament; the NCAA tournament started on their home floor with a victory over Long Beach State. the Bengals drew national attention with their one-point upset of longtime power UCLA in the After UCLA scored to draw within one, freshman reserve guard Eddie Wheeler was quickly fouled in the backcourt with eight seconds remaining; he made both to go up by three. UCLA scored again with a second left, but time ran out after ISU successfully got the ball inbounds. Wheeler had earlier hit both free throws with 37 seconds remaining; the Bengals made nine of ten free throws in the final two This was the first time since 1963 that UCLA made the tournament but failed to get to the Final Four.
In the Elite Eight game against UNLV, ISU led by a point at halftime, but lost by seventeen and ended the season
The Bengals were the fourth Big Sky teams to advance to the Sweet Sixteen, and remain as the only team in conference history to get to the Elite Eight.

Roster

Postseason results

!colspan=9 style=| Big Sky Tournament
!colspan=9 style=| NCAA Tournament