Jump to content

1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionAmerican
Record22–11 (11–5 C-USA)
Head coach
Home arenaKiel Center
Seasons
1997–98 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
American
No. 9 Cincinnati 14 2   .875 27 6   .818
UNC Charlotte 13 3   .813 20 11   .645
Saint Louis 11 5   .688 22 11   .667
Marquette 8 8   .500 20 11   .645
Louisville 5 11   .313 12 20   .375
DePaul 3 13   .188 7 23   .233
National
Memphis 12 4   .750 17 12   .586
UAB 10 6   .625 21 12   .636
Southern Miss 9 7   .563 22 11   .667
South Florida 7 9   .438 17 13   .567
Houston 2 14   .125 9 20   .310
Tulane 2 14   .125 7 22   .241
1998 Conference USA Tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team represented Saint Louis University in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Billikens were led by head coach Charlie Spoonhour who was in his sixth season at Saint Louis. The team played their home games at the Kiel Center and were a member of Conference USA. The Billikens finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in C-USA play to finish 3rd in the American division. They lost in the quarterfinal round of the C-USA tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the Southeast region. The Billikens eliminated UMass in the opening round before they were defeated by No. 2 seed and eventual National Champion Kentucky in the second round.[2]

Highly touted freshman Larry Hughes set the school's single season scoring record in his only college season. Hughes was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year and was later taken 8th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1998 NBA draft.

Roster

[edit]
1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 20 Larry Hughes 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Christian Brothers College St. Louis, Missouri
F 30 Matt Baniak 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Fr    
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

[3]

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 15, 1997*
Maryland Eastern Shore W 84–68  1–0
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 18, 1997*
East Carolina W 70–58  2–0
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 22, 1997*
San Francisco W 80–56  3–0
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Nov 29, 1997*
3:30 p.m.
at Southern Illinois W 85–76  4–0
Banterra Center (4,212)
Carbondale, Illinois
Dec 3, 1997*
Vanderbilt W 78–74  5–0
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 6, 1997*
Illinois W 57–51  6–0
TWA Dome (32,429)
St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 13, 1997*
at UMKC W 68–59  7–0
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 17, 1997*
Georgia Southern W 69–67  8–0
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Dec 20, 1997*
No. 13 at No. 11 UCLA L 67–73  8–1
Pauley Pavilion (9,998)
Los Angeles, California
Dec 24, 1997*
No. 17 vs. No. 19 Syracuse
Puerto Rico Holiday Classic
L 64–67  8–2
Eugene Guerra Sports Complex 
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 25, 1997*
2:00 pm
vs. Iowa State
Puerto Rico Holiday Classic
L 57–62  8–3
Eugene Guerra Sports Complex (500)
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 26, 1997*
No. 18 vs. Arkansas
Puerto Rico Holiday Classic
L 70–78  8–4
Eugene Guerra Sports Complex 
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Jan 3, 1998
Memphis L 62–68  8–5
(0–1)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 7, 1998
at Tulane W 60–59  9–5
(1–1)
Avron B. Fogelman Arena 
New Orleans, Louisiana
Jan 11, 1998
at DePaul W 64–61  10–5
(2–1)
Rosemont Horizon 
Rosemont, Illinois
Jan 15, 1998
Houston W 67–47  11–5
(3–1)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 17, 1998
UAB W 77–60  12–5
(4–1)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 20, 1998
at Louisville L 81–87  12–6
(4–2)
Freedom Hall 
Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 24, 1998
at Marquette W 71–62  13–6
(5–2)
Bradley Center 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 26, 1998*
Valparaiso W 77–66  14–6
Kiel Center (15,977)
St. Louis, Missouri
Jan 31, 1998
Louisville W 64–55  15–6
(6–2)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 4, 1998
UNC Charlotte W 83–80  16–6
(7–2)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 7, 1998
at South Florida W 56–45  17–6
(8–2)
Sun Dome 
Tampa, Florida
Feb 12, 1998
No. 16 Cincinnati L 43–70  17–7
(8–3)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 15, 1998
DePaul W 65–41  18–7
(9–3)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 18, 1998
at Southern Miss W 58–55  19–7
(10–3)
Reed Green Coliseum 
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Feb 21, 1998
at UNC Charlotte L 62–76  19–8
(10–4)
Dale F. Halton Arena 
Charlotte, North Carolina
Feb 25, 1998
Marquette W 67–65  20–8
(11–4)
Kiel Center 
St. Louis, Missouri
Feb 28, 1998
No. 16 at No. 17 Cincinnati L 58–61  20–9
(11–5)
Fifth Third Arena 
Cincinnati, Ohio
C-USA tournament
Mar 4, 1998*
(5) vs. (12) Tulane
First Round
W 71–53  21–9
Fifth Third Arena 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 5, 1998*
(5) vs. (4) UAB
Quarterfinals
L 74–76  21–10
Fifth Third Arena 
Cincinnati, Ohio
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*
(10 SE) vs. (7 SE) UMass
First Round
W 51–46  22–10
Georgia Dome (17,474)
Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 15, 1998*
(10 SE) vs. (2 SE) No. 5 Kentucky
Second Round
L 61–88  22–11
Georgia Dome 
Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region MW=Midwest.

[4]

Rankings

[edit]

[5]

Team players drafted into the NBA

[edit]
Round Pick Player NBA Club
1 8 Larry Hughes Philadelphia 76ers

[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Conference USA Season Summary
  2. ^ "Kentucky Sends Word After an Easy Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  3. ^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Roster". Saint Louis University Athletics. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  4. ^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". Saint Louis University Athletics. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
  5. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1062–1063. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
  6. ^ "1998 NBA Draft". Sports Reference. Retrieved July 9, 2022.