1997–98 UMass Minutemen basketball team

1997-98 UMass Minutemen men's basketball

NCAA Tournament South Region 7 Seed
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
1997-98 record	21-11 (12-4 A-10)
Head coach	Bruiser Flint (2nd year)
Assistant coach	Geoff Arnold
Assistant coach	Tony Barbee
Assistant coach	John Robic
Home arena	William D. Mullins Memorial Center

The 1997–98 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen, led by second year head coach Bruiser Flint, played their home games at William D. Mullins Memorial Center and are members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 21-11, 12-4 in A-10 play to finish in third place.

Roster

Number	Name	Position	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
3	Charlton Clarke	Guard	6–3	215	Junior	Bronx, New York
4	Lari Ketner	Center	6-10	268	Junior	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5	Monty Mack	Guard	6–3	193	Sophomore	South Boston, Massachusetts
10	Jonathan DePina	Guard	5–9	175	Freshman	South Boston, Massachusetts
12	Ross Burns	Guard	6–3	180	Junior	Greenfield, Massachusetts
13	Rafael Cruz	Guard	6–2	185	Freshman	Arecibo, Puerto Rico
14	Andy Maclay	Guard	6–4	195	Junior	Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
20	Winston Smith	Forward	6–5	218	Sophomore	Summit, New Jersey
22	Chris Kirkland	Forward	6–6	206	Sophomore	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
23	Mike Babul	Forward	6–6	204	Sophomore	North Attleboro, Massachusetts
25	Ronnell Blizzard	Forward	6–8	218	Freshman	Waterbury, Connecticut
34	Tyrone Weeks	Forward	6-7	258	Senior	Philadelphia, PA
40	Ajmal Basit	Center/Forward	6–9	248	Sophomore	Brooklyn, New York

Schedule

Date	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance)
Regular Season
11/22/1997*		at #13 Fresno State	L 64-82	0–1	Selland Arena (10,220)
11/26/1997*		vs. SW Louisiana (Great Alaska Shootout)	W 80-64	1–1	Sullivan Arena (-)
11/28/1997*		vs. #6 Purdue (Great Alaska Shootout)	L 69-82	1–2	Sullivan Arena (8,700)
11/29/1997*		vs. Seton Hall (Great Alaska Shootout)	W 73–60	2–2	Sullivan Arena (8,700)
12/02/1997*		College of Charleston	W 52-40	3-2	Mullins Center (7,536)
12/06/1997*		Marshall	W 61-59	4-2	Mullins Center (7,107)
12/10/1997*		at #3 Kansas	L 71-73	4-3	Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
12/14/1997*		vs. Boston College (Commonwealth Classic)	W 65-57	5-3	Fleet Center (9,218)
12/20/1997*		vs. Colorado (Las Vegas Shootout)	W 79-68	6-3	Thomas & Mack Center (5,000)
12/23/1997*		at #11 Connecticut (U-Game)	L 55-72	6-4	Hartford Civic Center (10,797)
12/27/1997*		vs. Cincinnati (Gatorade Rock 'n Roll Shootout)	L 66-74 ^OT	6-5	Gund Arena (12,324)
1/3/1998		at Saint Joseph's	W 72-66	7-5 (1-0)	Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse (3,200)
01/06/1998		at Fordham	W 73-55	8-5 (2-0)	Rose Hill Gymnasium (2,217)
01/10/1998		George Washington	W 79-48	9-5 (3-0)	Mullins Center (9,493)
01/15/1998*		vs. Charlotte (A-10/Conference USA Challenge)	W 68-62 ^OT	10-5	Providence Civic Center (3,925)
01/17/1997		Fordham	W 62-46	11-5 (4-0)	Mullins Center (7,110)
01/19/1998		St. Bonaventure	W 62-50	12-5 (5–0)	Mullins Center (7,363)
01/22/1998*		at Davidson	W 82-66	13-5	Belk Arena (4,417)
01/24/1998		at Virginia Tech	W 68-59	14-5 (6–0)	Cassell Coliseum (7,811)
01/29/1998		at #21 Rhode Island	W 74-57	15-5 (7-0)	Providence Civic Center (12,412)
02/01/1998		Dayton	W 85-69	16-5 (8-0)	Mullins Center (9,493)
02/03/1998	#23	Temple	L 47-61	16-6 (8-1)	Mullins Center (9,493)
02/08/1998	#23	at #21 Xavier	W 73-62	17-6 (9-1)	Cincinnati Gardens (10,100)
2/10/1998	#20	at Duquesne	W 74-68	18-6 (10–1)	Palumbo Center (5,507)
02/14/1998	#20	La Salle	W 81-71	19-6 (11-1)	Mullins Center (8,412)
02/18/1998	#18	Rhode Island	L 85-77 ^2OT	19-7 (11-2)	Mullins Center (9,493)
02/21/1998	#18	Saint Joseph's	W 82-79 ^OT	20-7 (12-2)	Mullins Center (9,493)
02/25/1998	#20	St. Bonaventure	L 70-72 ^2OT	20-8 (12-3)	Reilly Center (6,000)
03/01/1998	#20	at #24 Temple	L 66-74	20-9 (12-4)	Apollo of Temple (10,021)
1998 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament
03/04/1998		vs. Virginia Tech (1st Round)	W 64-58	21-9	CoreStates Spectrum (6,204)
03/05/1998		vs. George Washington (Quarterfinal)	L 83-88	21-10	CoreStates Spectrum (7,545)
1998 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
03/13/1998*		vs. Saint Louis (First Round)	L 46-51	21-11	Georgia Dome (17,474)
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. ( ) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

References

UMass Minutemen basketball

Venues	Drill Hall (1899–1931) Curry Hicks Cage (1931–1993) William D. Mullins Memorial Center (1993–present)

Rivalries	Boston College

Culture & lore	Sam the Minuteman "Fight Mass"

People	Head coaches Retired numbers

Seasons	1899–00 1900–01 1901–02 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 1999–00 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

NCAA Final Four appearances in italics