1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 1997–98 collegiate men's basketball season. The Huskies completed the season with a 32–5 overall record. The Huskies were members of the Big East Conference where they finished with a 15–3 record. They made it to the Elite Eight in the 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The Huskies played their home games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut and the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and they were led by twelfth-year head coach Jim Calhoun.[4][5]

1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
Big East 6 Division Regular Season Champions
Big East tournament champions
ConferenceBig East Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 6
Record32–5 (15–3 Big East)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Karl Hobbs
  • Dave Leitao
  • Tom Moore
Home arenaHartford Civic Center
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
Seasons
1997–98 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Big East 6
No. 6 Connecticut 15 3   .833 32 5   .865
St. John's 13 5   .722 22 10   .688
West Virginia 11 7   .611 24 9   .727
Villanova 8 10   .444 12 17   .414
Notre Dame 7 11   .389 13 14   .481
Boston College 6 12   .333 15 16   .484
Big East 7
No. 21 Syracuse 12 6   .667 26 9   .743
Miami 11 7   .611 18 10   .643
Seton Hall 9 9   .500 15 15   .500
Providence 7 11   .389 13 16   .448
Pittsburgh 6 12   .333 11 16   .407
Rutgers 6 12   .333 14 15   .483
Georgetown 6 12   .333 16 15   .516
1998 Big East tournament winner
As of March 30, 1998[1][2][3]
Rankings from AP poll

Roster

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Listed are the student athletes who were members of the 1997–1998 team.[6]

Name Position Year
Chris Crowley FR
Jeff Cybart G SR
Khalid El-Amin G FR
Kevin Freeman F SO
Sam Funches F SO
Craig Glazer G FR
Richard Hamilton F SO
Monquencio Hardnett G SR
E.J. Harrison G JR
Rashamel Jones F JR
Antric Klaiber F JR
Ricky Moore G JR
Albert Mouring G FR
Jake Voskuhl C SO
Souleymane Wane C SO

Schedule

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular Season
11/15/1997*
 WTNH
No. 12 Yale W 88–57  1–0
Hartford Civic Center (13,391)
Hartford, Connecticut
11/17/1997*
No. 12 Boston University
Preseason NIT
W 68–54  2–0
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,311)
Storrs, Connecticut
11/19/1997*
 ESPN
No. 12 No. 20 Rhode Island
Preseason NIT
W 80–67  3–0
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,592)
Storrs, Connecticut
11/24/1997*
 WTNH
No. 12 Coppin State W 72–50  4–0
Hartford Civic Center (13,212)
Hartford, Connecticut
11/26/1997*
 ESPN
No. 11 vs. No. 25 Florida State
Preseason NIT
L 60–67  4–1
Madison Square Garden (11,510)
New York City
11/28/1997*
 ESPN
No. 11 vs. Arizona State
Preseason NIT
W 82–61  5–1
Madison Square Garden (12,254)
New York
12/3/1997
 WTNH
No. 12 West Virginia W 88–75  6–1 (1–0)
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,621)
Storrs, Connecticut
12/7/1997
 WTNH
No. 12 at Rutgers W 59–44  7–1 (2–0)
Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,112)
Piscataway, New Jersey
12/10/1997*
 WTNH
No. 13 at Virginia W 74–63  8–1
University Hall (6,841)
Charlottesville, Virginia
12/20/1997*
 WTNH
No. 12 UNC Wilmington W 93–55  9–1
Hartford Civic Center (13,911)
Hartford, Connecticut
12/23/1997*
 ESPN
No. 11 Massachusetts
MassMutual UGame
W 72–55  10–1
Hartford Civic Center (10,797)
Hartford, Connecticut
12/28/1997*
 WTNH
No. 11 Hartford W 100–69  11–1
Hartford Civic Center (14,505)
Hartford, Connecticut
12/30/1997*
 WTNH
No. 10 Fairfield W 90–63  12–1
Hartford Civic Center (14,313)
Hartford, Connecticut
1/3/1998
 WTNH
No. 10 Notre Dame W 84–58  13–1 (3–0)
Hartford Civic Center (15,101)
Hartford, Connecticut
1/6/1998
 WTNH
No. 10 at Miami L 67–76  13–2 (3–1)
Miami Arena (8,247)
Miami, Florida
1/11/1998
 WTNH
No. 8 at Boston College W 80–68  14–2 (4–1)
Conte Forum (7,976)
Boston
1/13/1998
 WTNH
No. 10 Seton Hall W 80–59  15–2 (5–1)
Hartford Civic Center (14,756)
Hartford, Connecticut
1/17/1998
 CBS
No. 10 Georgetown
Rivalry
W 86–72  16–2 (6–1)
Hartford Civic Center (16,294)
Hartford, Connecticut
1/19/1998
 ESPN
No. 10 at St. John's L 62–64  16–3 (6–2)
Madison Square Garden (11,768)
New York
1/24/1998
 CBS
No. 8 at No. 15 Syracuse
Rivalry
W 63–54  17–3 (7–2)
Carrier Dome (25,718)
Syracuse, New York
1/27/1998
 ESPN2
No. 9 at Providence W 63–56  18–3 (8–2)
Providence Civic Center (12,978)
Providence, Rhode Island
1/31/1998
 WTNH
No. 9 Rutgers W 73–56  19–3 (9–2)
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027)
Storrs, Connecticut
2/2/1998
 ESPN
No. 9 Villanova W 80–65  20–3 (10–2)
Hartford Civic Center (15,439)
Hartford, Connecticut
2/7/1998*
 CBS
No. 7 Stanford W 76–56  21–3
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027)
Storrs, Connecticut
2/11/1998
 ESPN
No. 6 at No. 16 West Virginia L 62–80  21–4 (10–3)
WVU Coliseum (15,167)
Morgantown, West Virginia
2/14/1998
 WTNH
No. 6 Pittsburgh W 92–67  22–4 (11–3)
Hartford Civic Center (15,467)
Hartford, Connecticut
2/17/1998
 ESPN2
No. 7 at Notre Dame W 88–79  23–4 (12–3)
Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,273)
Notre Dame, Indiana
2/21/1998
 WTNH
No. 7 at Villanova W 83–73  24–4 (13–3)
Wells Fargo Center (12,934)
Philadelphia
2/23/1998
 ESPN
No. 7 Providence W 77–68  25–4 (14–3)
Hartford Civic Center (16,129)
Hartford, Connecticut
2/28/1998
 WTNH
No. 6 St. John's W 87–58  26–4 (15–3)
Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,027)
Storrs, Connecticut
Big East tournament
3/5/1998
 ESPN
No. 6 vs. Providence
Quarterfinals
W 64–55  27–4
Madison Square Garden (15,377)
New York
3/6/1998
 ESPN
No. 6 vs. Rutgers
Semifinals
W 64–50  28–4
Madison Square Garden (19,548)
New York
3/7/1998
 ESPN
No. 6 vs. No. 22 Syracuse
Championship/Rivalry
W 69–54  29–4
Madison Square Garden (18,521)
New York
NCAA tournament
3/12/1998*
 CBS
No. 6 (2) vs. No. (15) Fairleigh Dickinson
First Round
W 93–85[7]  30–4
MCI Center (19,288)
Washington, D.C.
3/14/1998*
 CBS
No. 6 (2) vs. No. (7) Indiana
Second Round
W 78–68  31–4
MCI Center (19,320)
Washington, D.C.
3/19/1998*
 CBS
No. 6 (2) vs. No. (11) Washington
Sweet Sixteen
W 75–74  32–4
Greensboro Coliseum Complex (23,235)
Greensboro, North Carolina
3/21/1998*
 CBS
No. 6 (2) vs. No. 1 (1) North Carolina
Elite Eight
L 64–75  32–5
Greensboro Coliseum Complex (23,235)
Greensboro, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Schedule Source:[4][8]

Rankings

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Poll Pre Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Wk 15 Wk 16 Wk 17 Wk 18 Final
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP 12 12 11 13 13 12 11 10 8 10 8 9 7 6 7 6 6 6 N/A

References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Big East Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
  3. ^ "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.
  4. ^ a b 2015-16 Connecticut Basketball History (PDF). UConn Huskies. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  5. ^ Davis, Ken (September 30, 2010). The University of Connecticut Basketball Vault: The History of the Huskies. Atlanta: Whitman LLC. ISBN 978-0794828035.
  6. ^ "1997-98 UConn Huskies Roster and Stats".
  7. ^ "Fairleigh Dickinson Gives UConn a Scare". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  8. ^ "Connecticut Men's Basketball Archive Schedule". UConn Huskies. Retrieved March 9, 2016.