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1997–98 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

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1997–98 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second round
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
DivisionMountain
Ranking
CoachesNo. 21
APNo. 18
Record24–8 (11–3 WAC)
Head coach
Home arenaUniversity Arena
Seasons
1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings
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]

The 1997–98 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Lobos were coached by head coach Dave Bliss and played their home games at the University Arena, also known as "The Pit", in Albuquerque, New Mexico. New Mexico finished 2nd in the WAC Mountain division regular season standings and lost to UNLV in the WAC Tournament championship game. The Lobos received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 4 seed in the South region. After defeating Butler in the opening round,[2] New Mexico was bounced in the round of 32 by Syracuse, 56–46,[3] to finish with a 24–8 record (11–3 WAC).

Roster

[edit]
1997–98 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 3 Lamont Long 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
So
F 4 Kenny Thomas 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Albuquerque, New Mexico
F 22 Clayton Shields 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Baytown, Texas
G 32 David Gibson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Sr
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

[4]

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 11, 1997*
No. 11 USC W 98–76  1–0
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 19, 1997*
No. 11 New Mexico State W 80–79  2–0
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 21, 1997*
Texas Southern W 90–67  3–0
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 22, 1997*
Arkansas State W 61–51  4–0
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nov 29, 1997*
San Jose State W 86–57  5–0
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 6, 1997*
No. 8 vs. No. 15 UCLA
Wooden Classic
L 58–69  5–1
Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim 
Anaheim, California
Dec 9, 1997*
at New Mexico State W 62–59  6–1
Pan American Center 
Las Cruces, New Mexico
Dec 20, 1997*
Texas Tech W 81–62  7–1
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 29, 1997*
Holy Cross W 112–61  8–1
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dec 30, 1997*
Yale W 69–44  9–1
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 3, 1998*
Air Force W 92–59  10–1
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 5, 1998*
TCU W 98–77  11–1
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
WAC tournament
Mar 5, 1998*
vs. Tulsa
Quarterfinals
W 60–59  22–6
Thomas & Mack Center 
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 6, 1998*
vs. No. 13 TCU
Semifinals
W 80–73  23–6
Thomas & Mack Center 
Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 7, 1998*
at UNLV
Championship game
L 51–56  23–7
Thomas & Mack Center 
Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*
(4 S) No. 18 vs. (13 S) Butler
First Round
W 79–62[2]  24–7
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, Kentucky
Mar 15, 1998*
(4 S) No. 18 vs. (5 S) No. 21 Syracuse
Second Round
L 46–56[3]  24–8
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
S=South.

[5]

Rankings

[edit]

[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ a b "New Mexico Center Overwhelms Butler". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Syracuse Does Everything but Shoot Well in Victory". The Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1998. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  4. ^ "1997–98 New Mexico Lobos Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "1997–98 New Mexico Men's Basketball Schedule". University of New Mexico Athletics. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  6. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 1064–1065. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.