1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
1997–98 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
Big East 6 Division Regular Season Champions; Big East tournament champions
NCAA men's Division I tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 7
AP	No. 6
Record	32–5 (15–3 Big East)
Head coach	Jim Calhoun (12th season);
Assistant coaches	Karl Hobbs; Dave Leitao; Tom Moore;
Home arena	Hartford Civic Center; Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

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 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	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

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

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

**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
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
AP	12	12	11	13	13	12	11	10	8	10	8	9	7	6	7	6	6	6	N/A

References

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

[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.

[cstv-4] 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.

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