1997–98 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 12-19 UW Field House (capacity: 11,500)Kohl Center Brian Hecker Shawn Hood Brad Soderberg 3rd Dick Bennett 3-13 1997–98 Big Ten Big Ten Conference Wisconsin Badgers logo.svg Wisconsin Badgers The 1997–98 Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1997-98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Head coach Dick Bennett completed his third season coaching with the Badgers. In the program's centennial season, the team played its home games in Madison, Wisconsin at both the UW Field House and later the Kohl Center, which the Badgers opened on January 17, 1998, with a 56–33 win over Northwestern. Season summary Wisconsin was unable to build on the previous year's success during a tumultuous season. Down two of its top players by midseason, the squad struggled to shoot well consistently. The Badgers scored fewer than 50 points seven times, going winless in those games. Notably, Wisconsin let back-to-back home games slip away to Iowa (79–76) and Illinois (53–47 in overtime) to start February, which dropped its season mark to 10–13. The losses were part of an 11-game Big Ten losing streak to end the regular season, which was interrupted only by a non-conference win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. True to Bennett's style, however, the Badgers led the Big Ten in scoring defense by allowing 62.6 points per contest. Though the team failed to receive a postseason invite, the substantial minutes played by four freshman laid groundwork for the memorable tournament run to come in 2000. Wisconsin rebounded from consecutive early losses to Pepperdine and Pacific to beat No. 18 Oklahoma and Montana to win the consolation bracket at the Big Island Invitational in Hawaii. Other highlights include going 2–1 against Top 25 teams in non-conference play and christening a new arena with a win. A No. 10 seed in the inaugural Big Ten tournament, Wisconsin opened against Penn State in Chicago. Freshman Maurice Linton's jumper in the final seconds advanced the Badgers, 52–51. In the quarterfinals, Illinois held Wisconsin to 10 points at halftime. A furious Badger comeback erased an 18-point deficit but ultimately fell short in the final six minutes. Ty Calderwood injury Lingering complications from off-season knee surgery prevented Ty Calderwood from playing a single minute in 1997–98.Mike Kelley, Dick Bennett can relate to Badgers' struggles this season https://madison.com/wsj/sports/college/basketball/men/mike-kelley-dick-bennett-can-relate-to-badgers-struggles-this-season/article_58439c0e-613b-5813-86bb-4cfdb6fb11cf.html 2018-02-01 Wisconsin State Journal 2020-05-19 It was a substantial blow, as a year earlier, the junior point guard led the Big Ten in steals and guided Wisconsin back to the NCAA Tournament. Calderwood was forced to take a medical redshirt. As a result, Mike Kelley became the first Badger freshman guard to start the season opener since Rick Olson in 1982. Sam Okey's departure Junior forward Sam Okey was suspended by head coach Dick Bennett for the start of the campaign, including the first two regular season games, reportedly for marijuana use.Report: Badgers' Okey Smoked Pot https://apnews.com/446544a715dc34fba6c295936e1b1250 1997-10-21 AP NEWS 2020-05-19 Upon his reinstatement, Okey battled back spasms which caused him to miss four of the next 13 games as Wisconsin fought to an 8–7 record. Clashes over his role, work ethic and off-the-court issues came to a head on January 13, 1998, when Okey quit the team.Okey quits UW basketball team https://journaltimes.com/news/local/okey-quits-uw-basketball-team/article_94844118-cc54-5d21-9295-697a2171b0c0.html 1998-01-14 The Journal Times 2020-05-19 The Badgers went 4–12 the remainder of the season. Okey transferred to the University of Iowa to play his senior year.Sam Okey Surfaces Quickly at Iowa https://apnews.com/32b58344f54b9c2fae2c07ce2d76d541 AP NEWS 2020-05-21 Awards Sean Mason was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten pick by the coaches and media at the conclusion of the season. Roster 1997 Wisconsin Badgers y Duany Duany 3 F/G 6 5 190 SO y Bloomington, IN n Sam Okey 4 F 6 7 235 JR Cassville, WI y S Hennssy Auriantal 5 G 6 1 190 JR Montreal n Jon Bryant 10 G 6 2 185 JR Plymouth, MN n yes I Sean Mason 11 G 6 2 175 JR y Country Club Hills, IL n C Ty Calderwood 12 G 6 0 180 JR Joliet, IL n C yes y John Moriarity 14 G 6 4 175 FR Oostburg, WI n W yes Andy Kowske 15 F 6 8 220 FR Brookfield, WI n Mike Kelley 22 G 6 3 180 FR Menomonee Falls, WI n David Burkemper 25 G 6 1 200 SR Hubertus, WI n Maurice Linton 30 F 6 8 205 FR Calumet City, IL n Chris Chambers G 32 180 6 1 FR Bedford, OH y W Brian Vraney F 33 6 6 SR 240 Valders, WI n W Charlie Wills 40 F 6 8 225 FR Angola, IN n yes Booker Coleman 41 F/C 6 9 230 SR Jamestown, NY n Mark Vershaw 50 F 6 9 240 FR East Peoria, IL n Sean Daugherty 52 F 6 10 230 SR Vincennes, IN n C * Dick Bennett (Ripon) * Brad Soderberg (Ripon) Shawn Hood Brian Hecker http://images.library.wisc.edu/UW/EFacs/UWAthletics/Basketball/BBall1997/M/0049.jpg 2019-08-05 1997-98 Wisconsin Badgers Schedule and Results https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/wisconsin/1998-schedule.html College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com en 2020-05-25 Schedule no yes yes |- !colspan=8 style="Wisconsin Badgers"| Regular Season 11/14/1997 yes Marquette UW Field House Madison, WI 60-65 0-1 Daugherty 22 Auriental, Kelley, Vershaw 6 Kelley, Mason 3 11,500 no 11/18/1997 yes Illinois State 24 UW Field House Madison, WI 80-66 1-1 Mason 20 Auriental 4 Burkemper 5 11,500 no 11/24/1997 yes y Pepperdine Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA 66–77 1-2 Mason 21 Okey 7 Kelley 5 2,471 no 11/28/1997 yes yes Pacific Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 48-55 1-3 Daugherty 15 Auriental, Vershaw 4 Linton 3 N/A no 11/29/1997 yes yes Oklahoma 18 Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 75-64 2-3 Mason 17 Mason 5 Burkemper 6 N/A no 11/30/1997 yes yes Montana Afook-Chinen Auditorium Hilo, HI Big Island Invitational 78-61 3-3 Auriental 19 Vershaw 6 Okey 5 N/A no 12/6/1997 yes Temple 20 UW Field House Madison, WI 49-59 3-4 Mason, Vershaw 18 Okey 10 Auriental 3 11,500 no 12/9/1997 yes Toledo UW Field House Madison, WI 73-68 OT 4-4 Mason 19 Kowske 6 Kelley 5 10,787 no 12/13/1997 yes y Ball State University Arena Muncie, IN 56-68 4-5 Duany 13 Daugherty 10 Vershaw 3 7,900 no 12/20/1997 yes Coppin State UW Field House Madison, WI 71-63 5-5 Duany 20 Auriental, Duany 8 Auriental 7 11,500 no 12/23/1997 yes Nevada UW Field House Madison, WI 62-53 6-5 Mason, Okey 14 Kowske 7 Vershaw 3 11,500 no 12/27/1997 yes y Fresno State Selland Arena Fresno, CA 64-60 7-5 Mason 17 Kowske 10 Okey 6 10,220 no 12/31/1997 Michigan 18 UW Field House Madison, WI 63-76 7-6 (0-1) Okey 14 Okey 6 Okey 4 11,500 no 1/3/1998 y Ohio State St. John Arena Columbus, OH 64-59 8-6 (1-1) Mason 17 Coleman 8 Mason 4 9,005 no 1/8/1998 y Michigan State Breslin Center East Lansing, MI 40-63 8-7 (1-2) Kowske, Vershaw 8 Daugherty 8 Kelley, Okey, Vershaw 2 15,138 no 1/14/1998 Penn State UW Field House Madison, WI 76-57 9-7 (2-2) Auriental 18 Daugherty 8 Auriental, Kelley, Mason, Vershaw 3 11,500 no 1/17/1998 Northwestern Kohl Center Madison, WI 56-33 10-7 (3-2) Mason 18 Daugherty, Kowske 4 Burkemper, Kelley, Mason 2 16,697 no 1/21/1998 y Illinois Assembly Hall Champaign, IL 48-62 10-8 (3-3) Auriental 13 Coleman, Daugherty 5 Kelley, Vershaw 3 11,281 no 1/25/1998 Indiana Kohl Center Madison, WI 59-69 10-9 (3-4) Mason 21 Daugherty 11 Vershaw 4 15,551 no 1/27/1998 y Minnesota Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN 48-58 10-10 (3-5) Mason 24 Coleman, Mason 7 Auriental 4 14,354 no 1/31/1998 y Purdue 10 Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN 59-82 10-11 (3-6) Daugherty 16 Daugherty 12 Burkemper 5 14,123 no 2/3/1998 Iowa 24 Kohl Center Madison, WI 76-79 10-12 (3-7) Mason 14 Daugherty 10 Burkemper, Vershaw 2 16,096 no 2/7/1998 Illinois Kohl Center Madison, WI 47-53 OT 10-13 (3-8) Daugherty 16 Daugherty 12 Auriental 2 16,414 no 2/11/1998 y Northwestern Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL 39-47 10-14 (3-9) Vershaw 9 Kowske, Vershaw 8 Kelley, Mason 2 3,947 no 2/14/1998 y Penn State Jordan Center State College, PA 69-75 10-15 (3-10) Mason 30 Daugherty 9 Auriental 9 11,514 no 2/18/1998 yes UW-Milwaukee Kohl Center Madison, WI 65-58 11-15 Mason 24 Auriental 10 Mason, Daugherty 3 11,578 no 2/21/1998 Michigan State 14 Kohl Center Madison, WI 47-56 11-16 (3-11) Mason 14 Daugherty 7 Auriental 3 16,367 no 2/25/1998 Ohio State Kohl Center Madison, WI 56-61 11-17 (3-12) Daugherty 18 Daugherty 11 Kelley 4 16,042 no 2/28/1998 y Michigan 21 Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI 70-76 11-18 (3-13) Mason 28 Linton 7 Daugherty, Kowske 3 12,234 no |- !colspan=8 style="Wisconsin Badgers"|Big Ten tournament 3/5/1998 y Penn State (7) United Center Chicago, IL Opening Round 52-51 12-18 Mason 17 Daugherty 11 Auriental 4 21,711 no 2/21/1998 y Illinois (2) 18 United Center Chicago, IL Quarterfinal Round 61-66 12-19 Daugherty 24 Auriental, Kowske, Linton, Mason 4 Mason 4 21,711 no no Player statistics +Individual player statistics (Final)MinutesScoringTotal FGs3-point FGsFree ThrowsReboundsPlayerGPGSTotAvgPtsAvgFGFGAPct3FG3FAPctFTFTAPctOffDefTotAvgAStlBlkTOPFMason, Sean312688528.548015.5149378.39454161.335128157.8151063.44614139687Daugherty, Sean312881826.433610.8125282.4431134.32475105.7141926.23314185177Auriental, Hennssy291975926.22097.272205.3512787.3103853.717993.4644625572Vershaw, Mark31464920.91645.359134.440410.4004272.583832.7521084548Kowske, Andy311358218.81575.158117.49600.0004161.6721203.91410183071Duany, Duany29342214.61304.548150.3201681.1981827.667501.710892327Kelley, Mike312986828.01294.244108.4071138.2893038.789632.05558439102Coleman, Booker301543214.41093.93764.57800.0003563.556893.0410152862Okey, Sam9722625.1889.82971.408512.4172534.735444.923851831Linton, Maurice2142059.8532.52051.39213.3331219.632291.48021817Burkemper, David31638412.4220.7318.167111.0911523.652260.8391011947Vraney, Brian61111.800.000.00000.00000.00040.700011Chambers, Chris70111.600.001.00001.00000.00030.401000Total31 -625140.3187760.56441579.408130438.297459652.70431668099632.134818995431Opponents31 -625140.3194062.66431513.425197553.356457689.663323711103433.436518698482 Legend  GP Games played  GS Games started Avg Average per game  FG Field goals made FGA Field-goal attempts Off Offensive rebounds Def Defensive rebounds  A Assists  TOTurnovers Blk Blocks Stl Steals High Team high Records Sean Mason made the first field goal in Kohl Center historySean Mason Interview BTN Live B1G Tournament Preview 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkF98MudRSQ en 2020-05-25 on January 17, 1998, vs. Northwestern. A February 11, 1998 loss to Northwestern, in which he went 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, was the last game Sean Mason would fail to make a three-pointer in his Badger career. His streak of 39 straight games with a three-pointer began February 14, 1998 against Penn State and was a school record until being eclipsed by Bronson Koenig in 2016.Badgers men's basketball: A quick breakdown on UW's win over Michigan https://madison.com/sports/college/basketball/men/badgers-mens-basketball-a-quick-breakdown-on-uws-win-over-michigan/article_632efc35-62ed-58d8-bbb6-3a0c254b7b63.html Journal Jim Polzin Wisconsin State madison.com en 2020-05-25 References Wisconsin Category:Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball seasons Wisconsin Badgers men's b Wisconsin Badgers men's b