1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team represented the University of Utah as a member of the Western Athletic Conference during the 1997–98 men's basketball season. Led by head coach Rick Majerus, the Utes made a run through the NCAA tournament all the way to the National Championship Game and finished with an overall record of 30–4 (12–2 WAC).

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, runner up WAC regular season champion
National Championship Game, L 69–78 vs. Kentucky
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain
Ranking
Coaches	No. 2
AP	No. 7
Record	30–4 (12–2 WAC)
Head coach	Rick Majerus (9th season)
Captains	Michael Doleac Drew Hansen
Home arena	Jon M. Huntsman Center
Seasons ← 1996–97 1998–99 →

1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Mountain
No. 7 Utah	12	–	2		.857			30	–	4		.882
No. 18 New Mexico	11	–	3		.786			24	–	8		.750
Wyoming	9	–	5		.643			19	–	9		.679
Colorado State	8	–	6		.571			20	–	9		.690
UNLV †	7	–	7		.500			20	–	13		.606
BYU	4	–	10		.286			9	–	21		.300
UTEP	3	–	11		.214			12	–	14		.462
Air Force	2	–	12		.143			10	–	16		.385
Pacific
No. 15 TCU	14	–	0		1.000			27	–	6		.818
Fresno State	10	–	4		.714			21	–	13		.618
Tulsa	9	–	5		.643			19	–	12		.613
Hawaii	8	–	6		.571			21	–	9		.700
SMU	6	–	8		.429			18	–	10		.643
San Diego State	5	–	9		.357			13	–	15		.464
Rice	3	–	11		.214			6	–	22		.214
San Jose State	1	–	13		.071			3	–	23		.115
† 1998 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Including the previous season, Utah won 59 of 67 games overall and 27 of 30 games in conference play.

Roster

1997–98 Utah Utes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown SF 3 David Jackson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Portland, Oregon PG 11 Jordie McTavish 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Salmon Arm, BC, Canada F/C 13 Hanno Möttölä 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) So Helsinki, Finland SG 15 Derek Broomhall 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Sacramento, California SG 21 Trace Caton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 211 lb (96 kg) Fr Alamosa, Colorado PG 24 Andre Miller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Los Angeles, California F 31 Britton Johnsen 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Fr Murray, Utah G 34 Drew Hansen — — Sr G 35 Jeff Johnsen 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Murray, Utah C 42 Jon Carlisle 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Fr Salt Lake City, Utah F 50 Alex Jensen 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Bountiful, Utah C 51 Michael Doleac (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Sr Portland, Oregon	Head coach Rick Majerus (Marquette) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 15*	No. 16	Cal State Fullerton	W 87–59	1–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
November 19*	No. 16	at Weber State	W 87–72	2–0	Dee Events Center  Ogden, UT
November 22*	No. 16	Southern Utah	W 66–48	3–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
November 25*	No. 16	at Loyola Marymount	W 89–50	4–0	Gersten Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
November 29*	No. 16	UC Irvine	W 83–45	5–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center (12,921) Salt Lake City, UT
December 2*	No. 11	vs. Providence Great Eight Tournament	W 64–58	6–0	United Center  Chicago, IL
December 6*	No. 11	at No. 24 Wake Forest	W 62–53	7–0	LJVM Coliseum  Winston-Salem, NC
December 10*	No. 9	Utah State	W 71–55	8–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
December 12*	No. 9	Azusa Pacific	W 78–58	9–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
December 20*	No. 7	at Oregon State Ford Holiday Classic	W 69–61	10–0	Rose Garden  Portland, OR
December 27*	No. 6	at Milwaukee	W 65–51	11–0	Wisconsin Center Arena  Milwaukee, WI
January 3	No. 4	Rice	W 73–65	12–0	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
January 10	No. 3	at BYU	W 71–61	13–0	Marriott Center  Provo, UT
WAC regular season
January 15	No. 4	Colorado State	W 65–51	14–0 (1–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
January 17	No. 4	Wyoming	W 75–58	15–0 (2–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
January 22	No. 4	at Air Force	W 57–46	16–0 (3–0)	Clune Arena  Colorado Springs, CO
January 24	No. 4	at UNLV	W 67–54	17–0 (4–0)	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, NV
January 29	No. 3	UTEP	W 62–56	18–0 (5–0)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
February 1	No. 3	at No. 14 New Mexico	L 74–77	18–1 (5–1)	University Arena  Albuquerque, NM
February 5	No. 5	BYU	W 83–68	19–1 (6–1)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
February 7	No. 5	at Rice	W 60–49	20–1 (7–1)	Rice Gymnasium  Houston, TX
February 12	No. 5	at Wyoming	L 56–62	20–2 (7–2)	Arena-Auditorium  Laramie, WY
February 14	No. 5	at Colorado State	W 60–48	21–2 (8–2)	Moby Arena  Fort Collins, CO
February 21	No. 6	Air Force	W 55–41	22–2 (9–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
February 23	No. 6	UNLV	W 79–68	23–2 (10–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
February 26	No. 5	at UTEP	W 87–70	24–2 (11–2)	Special Events Center  El Paso, TX
February 28	No. 5	No. 16 New Mexico	W 65–55	25–2 (12–2)	Jon M. Huntsman Center  Salt Lake City, UT
WAC Tournament
March 5*	(M1) No. 5	vs. (M5) UNLV Quarterfinals	L 51–54	25–3	Thomas & Mack Center  Las Vegas, NV
NCAA Tournament
March 12*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (14 W) San Francisco NCAA tournament first round	W 85–68[2]	26–3	BSU Pavilion  Boise, ID
March 14*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (6 W) No. 17 Arkansas NCAA tournament second round	W 75–69[3]	27–3	BSU Pavilion  Boise, ID
March 19*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (10 W) West Virginia West Regional semifinal	W 65–62	28–3	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim  Anaheim, CA
March 21*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (1 W) No. 4 Arizona West Regional final	W 76–51[4]	29–3	Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim  Anaheim, CA
March 28*	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (1) No. 1 E North Carolina Final Four	W 65–59[5]	30–3	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 30* CBS	(3 W) No. 7	vs. (2 S) No. 5 Kentucky NCAA Championship Game	L 69–78	30–4	Alamodome (40,509) San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West.

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Rankings

See also: 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

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Team players in the 1998 NBA draft

See also: 1998 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	12	Michael Doleac	Orlando Magic

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