1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens Basketball Saint Louis University Script Athletics Logo.png Conference USA American C-USA 22–11 11–5 Charlie Spoonhour 6th Greg Lackey Jay Spoonhour 2nd Derek Thomas 3rd Kiel Center NCAA tournament second round The 1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team represented Saint Louis University in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Billikens were led by head coach Charlie Spoonhour who was in his sixth season at Saint Louis. The team played their home games at the Kiel Center and were a member of Conference USA. The Billikens finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in C-USA play to finish 3rd in the American division. They lost in the quarterfinal round of the C-USA tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the Southeast region. The Billikens eliminated UMass in the opening round before they were defeated by No. 2 seed and eventual National Champion Kentucky in the second round.Kentucky Sends Word After an Easy Victory https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-16-sp-29522-story.html The Los Angeles Times March 16, 1998 July 9, 2022 Highly touted freshman Larry Hughes set the school's single season scoring record in his only college season. Hughes was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year and was later taken 8th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1998 NBA draft. Roster 1997 Saint Louis Billikens y y Troy Robertson 10 GF 6 4 190 SO St. Louis, Missouri St. Charles West Jamall Walker 10 G 6 0 185 JR Wichita, Kansas Wichita South y John Redden 12 G 6 1 190 SO St. Louis, Missouri Marquette Larry Hughes 20 G 6 5 180 FR St. Louis, Missouri Christian Brothers College y Virgel Cobbin 22 GF 6 4 205 JR Houston, Texas Lamar Larry Simmons 24 F 6 7 190 SO Missouri City, Texas Dulles Matt Baniak 30 F 6 9 235 FR St. Louis, Missouri De Smet Jesuit Corey Frazier 32 G 6 1 192 SR Charleston, Missouri Charleston Rasheed Malik 33 F 6 6 213 SR Houston, Texas McLennan Chris Heinrich 35 C 6 11 250 FR Quakertown, Pennsylvania Church Farm School Ryan Luechtefeld 42 F 6 8 220 JR Okawville, Illinois Okawville Charlie Spoonhour Greg Lackey Jay Spoonhour Derek Thomas https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1997-98 1997-98 Men's Basketball Roster https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/1997-98 Saint Louis University Athletics July 9, 2022 Schedule and results no yes |- !colspan=9 style=Saint Louis Billikens| Regular season Nov 15, 1997 yes 1997 men Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks Maryland Eastern Shore Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 84–68 1–0 Nov 18, 1997 yes 1997 men East Carolina Pirates East Carolina Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 70–58 2–0 Nov 22, 1997 yes San Francisco Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 80–56 3–0 Nov 29, 1997 3:30 p.m. yes yes 1997 men Southern Illinois Salukis Southern Illinois Banterra Center Carbondale, Illinois 85–76 4,212 4–0 Dec 3, 1997 yes 1997 men Vanderbilt Commodores Vanderbilt Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 78–74 5–0 Dec 6, 1997 yes Illinois TWA Dome St. Louis, Missouri 57–51 32,429 6–0 Dec 13, 1997 yes yes UMKC Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri 68–59 7–0 Dec 17, 1997 yes 1997 men Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia Southern Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 69–67 8–0 Dec 20, 1997 yes yes UCLA 11 Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California 67–73 9,998 8–1 Dec 24, 1997 yes yes Syracuse 19 Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Holiday Classic 64–67 8–2 Dec 25, 1997 2:00 pm yes yes Iowa State Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Holiday Classic 57–62 500 8–3 Dec 26, 1997 yes yes Arkansas 12 Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Holiday Classic 70–78 8–4 Jan 3, 1998 1997 men Memphis Tigers Memphis Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 62–68 8–5 0–1 Jan 7, 1998 yes 1997 men Tulane Green Wave Tulane Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana 60–59 9–5 1–1 Jan 11, 1998 yes 1997 men DePaul Blue Demons DePaul Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois 64–61 10–5 2–1 Jan 15, 1998 1997 men Houston Cougars Houston Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 67–47 11–5 3–1 Jan 17, 1998 UAB Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 77–60 18,073 12–5 4–1 Jan 20, 1998 yes Louisville Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky 81–87 12–6 4–2 Jan 24, 1998 yes Marquette Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin 71–62 13–6 5–2 Jan 26, 1998 yes Valparaiso Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 77–66 15,977 14–6 Jan 31, 1998 Louisville Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 64–55 15–6 6–2 Feb 4, 1998 UNC Charlotte Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 83–80 16–6 7–2 Feb 7, 1998 yes 1997 men South Florida Bulls South Florida Sun Dome Tampa, Florida 56–45 17–6 8–2 Feb 12, 1998 Cincinnati 19 Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 43–70 17–7 8–3 Feb 15, 1998 DePaul Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 65–41 18–7 9–3 Feb 18, 1998 yes Southern Miss Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi 58–55 19–7 10–3 Feb 21, 1998 yes UNC Charlotte Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina 62–76 19–8 10–4 Feb 25, 1998 Marquette Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri 67–65 20–8 11–4 Feb 28, 1998 yes Cincinnati 17 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio 58–61 20–9 11–5 |- !colspan=9 style=Saint Louis Billikens| C-USA tournament Mar 4, 1998 yes yes 5 Tulane 12 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio First Round 71–53 21–9 Mar 5, 1998 yes yes 5 UAB 4 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio Quarterfinals 74–76 10,818 21–10 |- !colspan=9 style=Saint Louis Billikens| NCAA tournament Mar 13, 1998 yes yes 10 SE UMass 7 SE Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia First Round 51–46 17,474 22–10 Mar 15, 1998 yes yes 10 SE Kentucky 5 2 SE Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia Second Round 61–88 22–11 AP Poll Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region MW=Midwest 1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/1997-98 Saint Louis University Athletics July 9, 2022 Rankings 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game Random House 1062–1063 2009 978-0-345-51392-2 Team players drafted into the NBA 1998 NBA draft Saint Louis Billikens Round Pick Player NBA club 1 8 Larry Hughes Philadelphia 76ers 1998 NBA Draft https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1998.html Sports Reference July 9, 2022 References Saint Louis Category:Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball seasons Saint Louis Saint Saint Category:1990s in St. Louis Category:1998 in St. Louis