1997–98 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 1997–98 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1997–98 men's college basketball season. The team was led by head coach Eddie Fogler and played their home games at Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, South Carolina. The team finished second in the SEC East regular season standings and received an at-large bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament as No. 3 seed in the East region. The Gamecocks lost to 14 seed Richmond in the first round^[2] to finish the season with a record of 23–8 (11–5 SEC).

1997–98 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Division	East
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 14
Record	23–8 (11–5 SEC)
Head coach	Eddie Fogler (5th season)
Home arena	Carolina Coliseum
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]

Roster

1996–97 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 10 BJ McKie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Irmo, South Carolina	Head coach Eddie Fogler Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 14, 1997*	No. 7	vs. Maryland Black Coaches Association Classic	W 76–72 ^OT	1–0	Target Center  Minneapolis, Minnesota
Nov 21, 1997*	No. 6	The Citadel	W 77–58	2–0	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 1, 1997*	No. 5	Belmont	W 72–61	3–0	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 5, 1997*	No. 5	vs. Virginia Tech	W 74–73	4–0	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 6, 1997*	No. 5	vs. Chattanooga	W 67–55	5–0	Charlotte Coliseum  Charlotte, North Carolina
Dec 17, 1997*	No. 6	at Clemson	L 57–62	5–1	Littlejohn Coliseum  Clemson, South Carolina
Dec 20, 1997*	No. 6	Saint Joseph's	W 77–65	6–1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 23, 1997*	No. 10	South Carolina State	W 90–85	7–1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 30, 1997*	No. 11	Towson	W 65–55	8–1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 3, 1998	No. 11	at No. 16 Ole Miss	L 54–73	8–2 (0–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum  Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 7, 1998	No. 16	Vanderbilt	W 71–70	9–2 (1–1)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 10, 1998	No. 16	LSU	W 70–53	10–2 (2–1)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 13, 1998	No. 14	at No. 6 Kentucky	L 70–91	10–3 (2–2)	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 18, 1998	No. 14	at Georgia	W 68–60	11–3 (3–2)	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, Georgia
Jan 21, 1998	No. 14	Tennessee	W 81–51	12–3 (4–2)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 24, 1998	No. 14	at Auburn	W 61–56	13–3 (5–2)	Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum  Auburn, Alabama
Jan 26, 1998*	No. 13	at Furman	W 79–52	14–3	Timmons Arena  Greenville, South Carolina
Jan 28, 1998	No. 13	Florida	W 74–72	15–3 (6–2)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 1, 1998*	No. 13	No. 18 Cincinnati	W 67–65	16–3	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 3, 1998	No. 13	at Vanderbilt	W 65–61	17–3 (7–2)	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 7, 1998	No. 13	at Tennessee	L 69–70	17–4 (7–3)	Thompson-Boling Arena  Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 11, 1998	No. 15	Alabama	W 74–63	18–4 (8–3)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 14, 1998	No. 15	Mississippi State	W 76–65	19–4 (9–3)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 18, 1998	No. 13	at No. 16 Arkansas	L 88–96	19–5 (9–4)	Bud Walton Arena  Fayetteville, Arkansas
Feb 21, 1998	No. 13	at Florida	W 79–74	20–5 (10–4)	Stephen C. O'Connell Center  Gainesville, Florida
Feb 24, 1998	No. 14	Georgia	W 78–76	21–5 (11–4)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 28, 1998	No. 14	No. 7 Kentucky	L 57–69	21–6 (11–5)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 1998*	(E2) No. 15	vs. (E6) Florida Quarterfinals	W 71–60	22–6	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 7, 1998*	(E2) No. 15	vs. (W1) No. 10 Ole Miss Semifinals	W 87–77	23–6	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 8, 1998*	(E2) No. 15	vs. (E1) No. 7 Kentucky Championship Game	L 56–86	23–7	Georgia Dome  Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1998*	(3 E) No. 14	vs. (14 E) Richmond First Round	L 61–62^[2]	23–8	Verizon Center  Washington, D.C.
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4][5]

Rankings

Main article: 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Southeastern Conference Season Summary
2. "No. 14 Richmond strikes again, ousts No. 3 S. Carolina". The Baltimore Sun. March 13, 1998. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
3. "1997-98 South Carolina Gamecocks Roster and Stats". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
4. "1997-98 South Carolina Gamecocks Schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
5. "2019-20 South Carolina Men's Basketball Records & History" (PDF). University of South Carolina Athletics. Retrieved July 31, 2021.