1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997–98 men's basketball season. Led by head coach Rick Majerus, the Utes made a run through the NCAA tournament all the way to the National Championship Game and finished with an overall record of 30–4 (12–2 WAC).

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball
WAC regular season champions
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
DivisionMountain
Ranking
CoachesNo. 2
APNo. 7
Record30–4 (12–2 WAC)
Head coach
CaptainMichael Doleac
Drew Hansen
Home arenaJon M. Huntsman Center
1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Mountain
No. 7 Utah122 .857304  .882
No. 18 New Mexico113 .786248  .750
Wyoming95 .643199  .679
Colorado State86 .571209  .690
UNLV77 .5002013  .606
BYU410 .286921  .300
UTEP311 .2141214  .462
Air Force212 .1431016  .385
Pacific
No. 15 TCU140 1.000276  .818
Fresno State104 .7142113  .618
Tulsa95 .6431912  .613
Hawaii86 .571219  .700
SMU68 .4291810  .643
San Diego State59 .3571315  .464
Rice311 .214622  .214
San Jose State113 .071323  .115
1998 WAC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Including the previous season, Utah won 59 of 67 games overall and 27 of 30 games in conference play.

Roster

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team
PlayersCoaches
Pos.#NameHeightWeightYearHometown
SF 3 David Jackson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)215 lb (98 kg) So Portland, Oregon
PG 11 Jordie McTavish 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)160 lb (73 kg) Fr Salmon Arm, BC, Canada
F/C 13 Hanno Möttölä 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)250 lb (113 kg) So Helsinki, Finland
SG 15 Derek Broomhall 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)210 lb (95 kg) Jr Sacramento, California
SG 21 Trace Caton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)211 lb (96 kg) Fr Alamosa, Colorado
PG 24 Andre Miller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)200 lb (91 kg) Jr Los Angeles, California
F 31 Britton Johnsen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)240 lb (109 kg) Fr Murray, Utah
G 34 Drew Hansen
Sr
G 35 Jeff Johnsen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)200 lb (91 kg) So Murray, Utah
C 42 Jon Carlisle 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)260 lb (118 kg) Fr Salt Lake City, Utah
F 50 Alex Jensen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)225 lb (102 kg) So Bountiful, Utah
C 51 Michael Doleac (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)260 lb (118 kg) Sr Portland, Oregon
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

    Schedule and results

    Date
    time, TV
    Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
    city, state
    Non-conference regular season
    November 15*
    No. 16 Cal State Fullerton W 87–59  1–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    November 19*
    No. 16 at Weber State W 87–72  2–0
    Dee Events Center 
    Ogden, UT
    November 22*
    No. 16 Southern Utah W 66–48  3–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    November 25*
    No. 16 at Loyola Marymount W 89–50  4–0
    Gersten Pavilion 
    Los Angeles, CA
    November 29*
    No. 16 UC Irvine W 83–45  5–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,921)
    Salt Lake City, UT
    December 2*
    No. 11 vs. Providence
    Great Eight Tournament
    W 64–58  6–0
    United Center 
    Chicago, IL
    December 6*
    No. 11 at No. 24 Wake Forest W 62–53  7–0
    LJVM Coliseum 
    Winston-Salem, NC
    December 10*
    No. 9 Utah State W 71–55  8–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    December 12*
    No. 9 Azusa Pacific W 78–58  9–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    December 20*
    No. 7 at Oregon State W 69–61  10–0
     
    Portland, OR
    December 27*
    No. 6 at Milwaukee W 65–51  11–0
    Wisconsin Center Arena 
    Milwaukee, WI
    January 3
    No. 4 Rice W 73–65  12–0
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    January 10
    No. 3 at BYU W 71–61  13–0
    Marriott Center 
    Provo, UT
    WAC regular season
    January 15
    No. 4 Colorado State W 65–51  14–0
    (1–0)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    January 17
    No. 4 Wyoming W 75–58  15–0
    (2–0)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    January 22
    No. 4 at Air Force W 57–46  16–0
    (3–0)
    Clune Arena 
    Colorado Springs, CO
    January 24
    No. 4 at UNLV W 67–54  17–0
    (4–0)
    Thomas & Mack Center 
    Las Vegas, NV
    January 29
    No. 3 UTEP W 62–56  18–0
    (5–0)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    February 1
    No. 3 at No. 14 New Mexico L 74–77  18–1
    (5–1)
    University Arena 
    Albuquerque, NM
    February 5
    No. 5 BYU W 83–68  19–1
    (6–1)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    February 7
    No. 5 at Rice W 60–49  20–1
    (7–1)
    Rice Gymnasium 
    Houston, TX
    February 12
    No. 5 at Wyoming L 56–62  20–2
    (7–2)
    Arena-Auditorium 
    Laramie, WY
    February 14
    No. 5 at Colorado State W 60–48  21–2
    (8–2)
    Moby Arena 
    Fort Collins, CO
    February 21
    No. 6 Air Force W 55–41  22–2
    (9–2)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    February 23
    No. 6 UNLV W 79–68  23–2
    (10–2)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    February 26
    No. 5 at UTEP W 87–70  24–2
    (11–2)
    Special Events Center 
    El Paso, TX
    February 28
    No. 5 No. 16 New Mexico W 65–55  25–2
    (12–2)
    Jon M. Huntsman Center 
    Salt Lake City, UT
    WAC Tournament
    March 5*
    (M1) No. 5 vs. (M5) UNLV
    Quarterfinals
    L 51–54  25–3
    Thomas & Mack Center 
    Las Vegas, NV
    NCAA Tournament
    March 12*
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (14 W) San Francisco
    NCAA tournament first round
    W 85–68[2]  26–3
    BSU Pavilion 
    Boise, ID
    March 14*
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (6 W) No. 17 Arkansas
    NCAA tournament second round
    W 75–69[3]  27–3
    BSU Pavilion 
    Boise, ID
    March 19*
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (10 W) West Virginia
    West Regional semifinal
    W 65–62  28–3
    Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim 
    Anaheim, CA
    March 21*
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (1 W) No. 4 Arizona
    West Regional final
    W 76–51[4]  29–3
    Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim 
    Anaheim, CA
    March 28*
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (1) No. 1 E North Carolina
    Final Four
    W 65–59[5]  30–3
    Alamodome 
    San Antonio, TX
    March 30*
     CBS
    (3 W) No. 7 vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky
    NCAA Championship Game
    L 69–78  30–4
    Alamodome (40,509)
    San Antonio, TX
    *Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
    W=West.

    [6]

    Rankings

    [7]

    Team players in the 1998 NBA draft

    Round Pick Player NBA Club
    112Michael DoleacOrlando Magic

    [8]

    References

    1. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
    2. "Utah Overwhelms San Francisco, 85-68". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
    3. "Utah Fights Past Tough Arkansas Defense". The New York Times. March 15, 1998. Retrieved July 9, 2022.
    4. "Ute Movement Buries Arizona". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
    5. "Utes Hold off Tar Heels, 65-59". The Washington Post. March 29, 1998. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
    6. 2014-15 Utah Utes men's basketball media guide Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-Jul-30.
      • ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
    7. "1998 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
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