1997–98 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team

American college basketball season

1997–98 Tennessee Volunteers basketball

NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Record	20–9 (9–7 SEC)
Head coach	Jerry Green (1st season)
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena
Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
East
No. 5 Kentucky †	14	–	2	.875	35	–	4	.897
No. 14 South Carolina	11	–	5	.688	23	–	8	.742
Tennessee	9	–	7	.563	20	–	9	.690
Georgia	7	–	9	.438	20	–	15	.571
Vanderbilt	7	–	9	.438	20	–	13	.606
Florida	6	–	10	.375	14	–	15	.483
West
No. 13 Ole Miss	12	–	4	.750	22	–	7	.759
No. 17 Arkansas	11	–	5	.688	24	–	9	.727
Auburn	7	–	9	.438	16	–	14	.533
Alabama	6	–	10	.375	15	–	16	.484
Mississippi State	4	–	12	.250	15	–	15	.500
LSU	2	–	14	.125	9	–	18	.333

† 1998 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1997–98 Tennessee Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by first-year head coach Jerry Green, and played their home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, as a member of the Southeastern Conference. After finishing third in the SEC East regular season standings with a 9–7 conference record, they were invited to the NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the West region where they lost in the opening round.

Roster

1997–98 Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	15	Brandon Wharton	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Jr		Nashville, Tennessee
F	43	C. J. Black	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So		Chattanooga, Tennessee
F	44	Isiah Victor	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Fr		Hopkinsville, Kentucky
F	55	Charles Hathaway	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	So	Hillwood	Nashville, Tennessee

Head coach

Jerry Green

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Nov 14, 1997*		Winthrop	W 75–62	1–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 17, 1997*		Miami (OH)	W 75–74	2–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 19, 1997*		UNC Asheville	W 75–69	3–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 23, 1997*		Austin Peay	W 74–65	4–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 28, 1997*		Appalachian State	W 69–46	5–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 2, 1997*		Tennessee Tech	W 83–69	6–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 7, 1997*		Wofford	W 92–63	7–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 9, 1997*		Saint Joseph's	W 74–54	8–0	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 20, 1997*		at Memphis	W 68–66	9–0	Pyramid Arena Memphis, Tennessee
Dec 30, 1997*		at USC	W 74–70	10–0	Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Jan 3, 1998		at Florida	L 69–83	10–1 (0–1)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
Jan 7, 1998		Auburn	L 69–74	10–2 (0–2)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 10, 1998		at Vanderbilt	L 79–80	10–3 (0–3)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Jan 17, 1998		No. 11 Ole Miss	W 77–67	11–3 (1–3)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 21, 1998 8:00 pm, JPS^[3]		at No. 14 South Carolina	L 51–81	11–4 (1–4)	Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 24, 1998		No. 7 Kentucky	L 67–85	11–5 (1–5)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 28, 1998		at Alabama	W 84–70	12–5 (2–5)	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 31, 1998		at LSU	W 72–65	13–5 (3–5)	Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 4, 1998		Georgia	W 77–48	14–5 (4–5)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 7, 1998 2:00 pm, JPS^[3]		No. 13 South Carolina	W 70–69	15–5 (5–5)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 11, 1998 8:00 pm, JPS^[3]		at No. 7 Kentucky	L 74–80	15–6 (5–6)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 14, 1998 12:30 pm, JPS^[3]		No. 12 Arkansas	W 74–71	16–6 (6–6)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 17, 1998		at Mississippi State	W 87–63	17–6 (7–6)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 21, 1998		Vanderbilt	W 90–76	18–6 (8–6)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 25, 1998		Florida	W 79–75	19–6 (9–6)	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 28, 1998 4:00 pm, JPS^[3]		at Georgia	L 72–77	19–7 (9–7)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1998* JPS		vs. LSU First Round	W 73–62	20–7	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 5, 1998* JPS		vs. Arkansas Quarterfinals	L 96–102	20–8	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1998* CBS	(8 W)	vs. (9 W) Illinois State First Round	L 81–82 ^OT	20–9	ARCO Arena (15,284) Sacramento, California
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[4]^[5]

Rankings

References

^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Jefferson Pilot Sports Southeastern Conference Basketball – 1998 Television Schedule, Jefferson Pilot Sports, archived from the original on February 16, 1998, retrieved September 28, 2023
^ "1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
^ "2019-20 Tennessee Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved December 29, 2022.

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