1997–98 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team

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Ranking
Coaches	No. 6
AP	No. 5

The 1997–98 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team were coached by Tubby Smith. He was in his first season as head coach after taking over from Rick Pitino. The team finished the season with a 29–4 record and won the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship over the Utah Utes, 78–69.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G/F	3	Allen Edwards	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Miami
G	4	Steve Masiello	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	White Plains, New York
G	5	Wayne Turner	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Boston
G	11	Saul Smith	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Fr	Athens, Georgia
C	13	Nazr Mohammed	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Jr	Chicago
F	14	Heshimu Evans	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Jr	Bronx, New York
G	15	Jeff Sheppard	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Peachtree City, Georgia
G	21	Cameron Mills	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Lexington, Kentucky
G	22	Ryan Hogan	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Deerfield, Illinois
F	25	Myron Anthony	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Neptune Beach, Florida
F/C	33	Michael Bradley	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Fr	Worcester, Massachusetts
F	34	Scott Padgett	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Jr	Louisville, Kentucky
C	42	Jamaal Magloire	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	So	Toronto

Head coach

Tubby Smith

Assistant coach(es)

Mike Sutton
George Felton
Shawn Finney

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2	Bench 3
C	Nazr Mohammed	Jamaal Magloire	Michael Bradley
PF	Scott Padgett
SF	Allen Edwards	Heshimu Evans	Myron Anthony
SG	Jeff Sheppard	Cameron Mills	Ryan Hogan	Steve Masiello
PG	Wayne Turner	Saul Smith

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/11/1997*		Court Authority	W 86-62		Rupp Arena (-) Lexington, Kentucky
11/18/1997*		North Melbourne	W 91-63		Rupp Arena (-) Lexington, Kentucky
Regular Season
November 20, 1997* 8:00 PM	No. 9	Morehead State	W 88–49	1–0	Rupp Arena (23,097) Lexington, Kentucky
November 24, 1997* 11:00 PM	No. 9	vs. George Washington Maui Invitational Tournament	W 70–55	2–0	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Maui, HI
November 25, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 9	vs. No. 1 Arizona Maui Invitational Tournament	L 74–89	2–1	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Maui, HI
November 26, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 8	vs. Missouri Maui Invitational Tournament	W 77–55	3–1	Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Maui, HI
November 29, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 8	vs. No. 13 Clemson Premier Classic	W 76–61	4–1	America West Arena (4,306) Phoenix, Arizona
December 3, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 7	vs. No. 6 Purdue	W 89–75	5–1	United Center (19,567) Chicago
December 6, 1997* 12:00 PM, CBS	No. 7	vs. Indiana	W 75–72	6–1	RCA Dome (38,504) Indianapolis
December 10, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 4	at Canisius	W 81–54	7–1	Marine Midland Arena (10,083) Buffalo, New York
December 13, 1997* 2:00 PM	No. 4	No. 24 Georgia Tech	W 85–71	8–1	Rupp Arena (24,112) Lexington, Kentucky
December 20, 1997* 12:00 PM	No. 4	Tulsa	W 74–53	9–1	Rupp Arena (24,082) Lexington, Kentucky
December 23, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 4	American	W 75–52	10–1	Rupp Arena (22,856) Lexington, Kentucky
December 27, 1997* 4:00 PM	No. 4	Louisville Battle for the Bluegrass	L 76–79	10–2	Rupp Arena (24,303) Lexington, Kentucky
December 30, 1997* 7:00 PM	No. 4	at Ohio	W 95–58	11–2	Convocation Center (13,083) Athens, Ohio
January 3, 1998 2:00 PM	No. 6	Vanderbilt	W 71–62	12–2 (1-0)	Rupp Arena (24,236) Lexington, Kentucky
January 6, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 6	at Georgia	W 90–79	13–2 (2-0)	Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) Athens, Georgia
January 10, 1998 2:00 PM	No. 6	at Mississippi State	W 77–71	14–2 (3-0)	Humphrey Coliseum (9,334) Starkville, Mississippi
January 13, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 6	No. 16 South Carolina	W 91–70	15–2 (4-0)	Rupp Arena (24,241) Lexington, Kentucky
January 17, 1998 3:00 PM	No. 6	No. 22 Arkansas	W 80–77 ^OT	16–2 (5-0)	Rupp Arena (24,266) Lexington, Kentucky
January 21, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 7	Alabama	W 80–77	17–2 (6-0)	Freedom Hall (19,734) Louisville, Kentucky
January 24, 1998 3:00 PM	No. 7	at Tennessee	W 85–67	18–2 (7-0)	Thompson–Boling Arena (23,146) Knoxville, Tennessee
January 27, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 7	at Vanderbilt	W 63–61	19–2 (8-0)	Memorial Gymnasium (15,311) Nashville, Tennessee
February 1, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 7	Florida	L 78–86	19–3 (8-1)	Rupp Arena (24,186) Lexington, Kentucky
February 4, 1998 4:00 PM	No. 8	at LSU	W 63–61	20–3 (9-1)	Maravich Assembly Center (8,686) Baton Rouge, Louisiana
February 8, 1998* 8:00 PM	No. 8	at Villanova	W 79–63	21–3	CoreStates Center (15,551) Philadelphia
February 11, 1998 2:00 PM	No. 7	Tennessee	W 79–63	22–3 (10-1)	Rupp Arena (23,861) Lexington, Kentucky
February 14, 1998 8:00 PM	No. 7	No. 18 Ole Miss	L 64–73	22–4 (10-2)	Rupp Arena (23,842) Lexington, Kentucky
February 18, 1998 12:00 PM	No. 8	at Florida	W 79–54	23–4 (11-2)	O'Connell Center (10,222) Gainesville, Florida
February 22, 1998 1:00 PM	No. 8	Georgia	W 85–74	24–4 (12-2)	Rupp Arena (24,272) Lexington, Kentucky
February 25, 1998 9:00 PM	No. 7	at Auburn	W 83–58	25–4 (13-2)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum (9,644) Auburn, AL
February 28, 1998 2:00 PM	No. 7	at No. 14 South Carolina	W 69–57	26–4 (14-2)	Frank McGuire Arena (12,129) Columbia, South Carolina
1998 SEC Tournament
March 6, 1998 3:00 PM, JP Sports	No. 7	vs. Alabama Quarterfinals	W 82–71	27–4	Georgia Dome (21,109) Atlanta
March 7, 1998 3:00 PM, JP Sports	No. 7	vs. No. 16 Arkansas Semifinals	W 99–74	28–4	Georgia Dome (25,190) Atlanta
March 8, 1998 3:00 PM, CBS	No. 7	vs. No. 15 South Carolina Finals	W 86–56	29–4	Georgia Dome (24,545) Atlanta
1998 NCAA Tournament (Tournament seeding in parentheses)
March 13, 1998 1:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (2)	vs. (15) South Carolina State South Regional 1st Round	W 82–67	30–4	Georgia Dome (17,474) Atlanta
March 15, 1998 12:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (2)	vs. (10) Saint Louis South Regional 2nd Round	W 88–61	31–4	Georgia Dome (19,423) Atlanta
March 20, 1998 9:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (2)	vs. No. 19 (6) UCLA South Regional Semifinal	W 94–68	32–4	Tropicana Field (40,589) St. Petersburg, Florida
March 22, 1998 4:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (2)	vs. No. 3 (1) Duke South Regional Final	W 86–84	33–4	Tropicana Field (40,589) St. Petersburg, Florida
March 28, 1998 6:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (S2)	vs. No. 10 (M3) Stanford National Semifinal	W 86–85 ^OT	34–4	Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio
March 30, 1998 9:00 PM, CBS	No. 5 (S2)	vs. No. 10 (W3) Utah National Championship	W 78–69	35–4	Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[1]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	29	Nazr Mohammed	Utah Jazz

^[2]

References

External links

[1] ttp://www.bigbluehistory.net

[2] ttp://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?lg=N&yr=1998

[1]

[2]

v t e Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	State College Gymnasium (1903–1914) Buell Armory Gymnasium (1910–1924) Alumni Gymnasium (1924–1950) Memorial Coliseum (1950–1976) Rupp Arena (1976–present) Joe Craft Center (practice)
Rivalries	Centre (historical) Florida Indiana Louisville North Carolina Tennessee Transylvania (historical)
Culture & lore	History under Adolph Rupp Fabulous Five Point-shaving scandal Fiddlin' Five Rupp's Runts The Season Without Celebration "The Shot" Unforgettables Untouchables Comeback Cats John Wall Dance Tweakables Pursuit of Perfection 2011 Indiana game Basketbowl Champions Classic CBS Sports Classic The Rivalry: Red v. Blue The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Big Blue Nation Blue blood status
People	Head coaches Honorees NBA draftees Players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms and Premo-Porretta national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics; NCAA championships in bolded italics