1997–98 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

1997–98 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball
1997–98 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Record	24–9 (11–7 Big East)
Head coach	Gale Catlett (20th season);
Home arena	WVU Coliseum
	Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team represented West Virginia University as a member of the Big East Conference during the 1997-98 season. The team played their home games at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia. Led by 20th-year head coach Gale Catlett, the Mountaineers received an at-large bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the West region. West Virginia advanced to the Sweet Sixteen and finished with an overall record of 24–9 (11–7 Big East).^[4]

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

1997–98 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	24	Damian Owens	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sr	Seat Pleasant, Maryland

Head coach

Gale Catlett

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

^[5]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 15, 1997*		East Carolina	W 87–66	1–0	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Nov 22, 1997		Alabama A&M	W 114–85	2–0	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Nov 28, 1997		at Puerto Rico-Mayagüez	W 111–63	3–0	Caguas Municipal Complex (106) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nov 29, 1997*		vs. Rice	W 78–61	4–0	Caguas Municipal Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nov 30, 1997*		vs. Dayton	W 96–74	5–0	Caguas Municipal Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 3, 1997		at No. 13 Connecticut	L 75–88	5–1 (0–1)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, Connecticut
Dec 6, 1997		St. John's	W 86–70	6–1 (1–1)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Dec 13, 1997*		Ohio	W 89–63	7–1	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Dec 16, 1997*		Robert Morris	W 101–52	8–1	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Dec 20, 1997*		vs. No. 20 Georgia	W 86–81	9–1	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia
Dec 22, 1997*	No. 23	at Virginia Tech	W 55–52	10–1	Cassell Coliseum Blacksburg, Virginia
Dec 27, 1997*	No. 23	Duquesne	W 90–78	11–1	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Dec 31, 1997	No. 22	at Georgetown	L 65–74	11–2 (1–2)	Verizon Center Washington, D.C.
Jan 3, 1998*	No. 22	Boston College	W 79–57	12–2 (2–2)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 5, 1998	No. 25	Georgetown	W 81–70	13–2 (3–2)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 10, 1998	No. 25	Miami (FL)	W 98–84	14–2 (4–2)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 15, 1998	No. 21	Notre Dame	L 72–74	14–3 (4–3)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 18, 1998	No. 21	at Villanova	W 79–65 ^OT	15–3 (5–3)	The Pavilion Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 20, 1998	No. 23	at Rutgers	W 80–72	16–3 (6–3)	Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey
Jan 24, 1998	No. 23	Providence	W 81–63	17–3 (7–3)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Jan 28, 1998	No. 17	vs. Pittsburgh	W 76–72	18–3 (8–3)	Civic Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 3, 1998	No. 15	Pittsburgh	W 90–72	19–3 (9–3)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 7, 1998	No. 15	at St. John's	L 69–77	19–4 (9–4)	Carnesecca Arena New York, New York
Feb 11, 1998	No. 16	No. 6 Connecticut	W 80–62	20–4 (10–4)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 14, 1998	No. 16	at No. 23 Syracuse	L 58–73	20–5 (10–5)	Carrier Dome Syracuse, New York
Feb 16, 1998*	No. 20	vs. Marshall	W 71–58	21–5	Charleston Civic Center Charleston, West Virginia
Feb 22, 1998	No. 20	Seton Hall	W 81–71	22–5 (11–5)	WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia
Feb 25, 1998	No. 19	at Boston College	L 69–72	22–6 (11–6)	Silvio O. Conte Forum Boston, Massachusetts
Feb 28, 1998	No. 19	at Miami (FL)	L 66–70	22–7 (11–7)	Miami Arena Miami, Florida
Big East Tournament
Mar 4, 1998*	(5) No. 23	vs. (12) Rutgers First round	L 65–72	22–8	Madison Square Garden New York, New York
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1998*	(10 W)	vs. (7 W) No. 24 Temple First round	W 82–52^[6]	23–8	BSU Pavilion Boise, Idaho
Mar 14, 1998*	(10 W)	vs. (2 W) No. 9 Cincinnati Second Round	W 75–74^[7]	24–8	BSU Pavilion Boise, Idaho
Mar 19, 1998*	(10 W)	vs. (3 W) No. 7 Utah West Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 62–65	24–9	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim Anaheim, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern.

^[8] ^[9]

Rankings

^[10]

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.
^ "1997-98 West Virginia Mountaineers Roster and Stats - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^ "2019–20 West Virginia Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). WVU Athletic Dept. Retrieved June 26, 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "West Virginia Rolls Over Temple". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
^ "MOUNTAINEERS STUN NO. 2 SEED". The Washington Post. March 15, 1998. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
^ "1997-98 West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". West Virginia University Athletic Department. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[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] "1997-98 West Virginia Mountaineers Roster and Stats - College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

[5] "2019–20 West Virginia Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). WVU Athletic Dept. Retrieved June 26, 2021.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

[6] "West Virginia Rolls Over Temple". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved July 4, 2022.

[7] "MOUNTAINEERS STUN NO. 2 SEED". The Washington Post. March 15, 1998. Retrieved July 4, 2022.

[8] "1997-98 West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 26, 2021.

[9] "1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". West Virginia University Athletic Department. Retrieved June 26, 2021.

[ESPN-10] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

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