1997–98 TCU Horned Frogs basketball team

The 1997–98 TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team represented Texas Christian University as a member of the Southwestern Conference during the 1997–98 men's college basketball season. Led by head coach Billy Tubbs, TCU swept through the WAC regular season schedule to earn the regular season title and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 5 seed in the Midwest region. The Horned Frogs were upset in the opening round by No. 12 seed Florida State, 96–87. The team finished with a record of 27–6 (14–0 WAC).

1997–98 TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball
WAC regular season champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Pacific
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
AP	No. 15
Record	27–6 (14–0 WAC)
Head coach	Billy Tubbs
Home arena	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum

1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Mountain
No. 7 Utah	12	–	2		.857			30	–	4		.882
No. 18 New Mexico	11	–	3		.786			24	–	8		.750
Wyoming	9	–	5		.643			19	–	9		.679
Colorado State	8	–	6		.571			20	–	9		.690
UNLV †	7	–	7		.500			20	–	13		.606
BYU	4	–	10		.286			9	–	21		.300
UTEP	3	–	11		.214			12	–	14		.462
Air Force	2	–	12		.143			10	–	16		.385
Pacific
No. 15 TCU	14	–	0		1.000			27	–	6		.818
Fresno State	10	–	4		.714			21	–	13		.618
Tulsa	9	–	5		.643			19	–	12		.613
Hawaii	8	–	6		.571			21	–	9		.700
SMU	6	–	8		.429			18	–	10		.643
San Diego State	5	–	9		.357			13	–	15		.464
Rice	3	–	11		.214			6	–	22		.214
San Jose State	1	–	13		.071			3	–	23		.115
† 1998 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

This high-scoring TCU team posted more than 100 points in seven straight games early in the season (peaking with 153 vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley), exceeded the century mark 14 times on the season in all, and scored 99 points twice more.

Junior forward Lee Nailon established school records for scoring in a single game (53; three games after senior Mike Jones became the first TCU player to score 50 in a game) and season single season (796). He was also named co-Player of the Year in the WAC. Jones and fellow senior Malcolm Johnson finished 1–2 on the single season and career steals lists, while senior James Penny ended his career as the school's all-time leader in blocks (all of which have since been surpassed).

Roster

1997–98 TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 54 Lee Nailon 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr South Bend, Indiana	Head coach Billy Tubbs Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 16, 1997*		SW Missouri State	W 78–67	1–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Nov 22, 1997*		Long Island	W 105–95	2–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Nov 25, 1997*		at Texas Tech	W 107–76	3–0	Lubbock Municipal Coliseum  Lubbock, Texas
Nov 29, 1997*		Texas-Rio Grande Valley	W 153–87	4–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 3, 1997*		Delaware State	W 138–75	5–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 6, 1997*		Morgan State	W 133–74	6–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 9, 1997*		North Texas	W 113–74	7–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 12, 1997*		Mississippi Valley State	W 106–83	8–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 13, 1997*		Baylor	W 99–75	9–0	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Dec 20, 1997*	No. 24	vs. No. 2 Kansas Sprint Shootout	L 78–94	9–1	Kemper Arena  Kansas City, Missouri
Dec 24, 1997*	No. 25	vs. Iowa State Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	W 93–54	10–1	Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez  Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Dec 25, 1997*	No. 25	vs. No. 19 Syracuse Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	L 78–82	10–2	Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez  Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Dec 26, 1997*	No. 25	at American-Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Holiday Classic	W 105–93 OT	11–2	Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez  Bayamón, Puerto Rico
Dec 30, 1997*		Oklahoma State	L 81–82	11–3	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 5, 1998*		at No. 12 New Mexico	L 77–98	11–4	University Arena  Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 8, 1998		Fresno State	W 91–76	12–4 (1–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 10, 1998		San Jose State	W 104–65	13–4 (2–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 17, 1998		at San Diego State	W 105–61	14–4 (3–0)	Viejas Arena  San Diego, California
Jan 19, 1998		at No. 24 Hawaii	W 83–76	15–4 (4–0)	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, Hawaii
Jan 26, 1998		SMU	W 100–82	16–4 (5–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Jan 29, 1998		Rice	W 97–67	17–4 (6–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 1, 1998		Tulsa	W 102–100 OT	18–4 (7–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 5, 1998		at Fresno State	W 99–91	19–4 (8–0)	Selland Arena  Fresno, California
Feb 7, 1998		at San Jose State	W 119–84	20–4 (9–0)	The Event Center  San Jose, California
Feb 12, 1998	No. 22	Hawaii	W 126–84	21–4 (10–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 14, 1998*	No. 22	San Diego State	W 91–69	22–4 (11–0)	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 16, 1998	No. 19	at SMU	W 79–70	23–4 (12–0)	Moody Coliseum  Dallas, Texas
Feb 21, 1998*	No. 19	No. 11 New Mexico	W 95–64	24–4	Daniel-Meyer Coliseum  Fort Worth, Texas
Feb 26, 1998	No. 15	at Tulsa	W 57–54	25–4 (13–0)	Tulsa Convention Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 28, 1998	No. 15	at Rice	W 86–73	26–4 (14–0)	Tudor Fieldhouse  Houston, Texas
WAC tournament
Mar 5, 1998*	No. 13	vs. SMU Quarterfinals	W 71–69	27–4	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 6, 1998*	No. 13	vs. No. 20 New Mexico Semifinals	L 73–80	27–5	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*	(5 MW) No. 15	vs. (12 MW) Florida State First Round	L 87–96	27–6	Myriad Convention Center  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

Rankings

Main article: 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings