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1997–98 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

American college basketball season

American college basketball season

FieldValue
modeBasketball
year1997–98
teamIllinois Fighting Illini
image1997–98 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team.jpg
image_size300px
conferenceBig Ten Conference
short_confBig Ten
APRank22
record23–10
conf_record13–3
head_coachLon Kruger
asst_coach1Robert McCullum
asst_coach2Rob Judson
asst_coach3Steve Henson
hc_year2nd
ac1_year2nd
ac2_year2nd
ac3_year1st
captainJerry Hestercaptain2=Brian Johnsoncaptain3=Matt Heldman
mvpJerry Hester
mvp2Kevin Turner
stadiumAssembly Hall
championBig Ten Conference co-champion
bowl[NCAA men's Division I tournament](1998-ncaa-division-i-men-s-basketball-tournament)
bowl_result[second round](1998-ncaa-division-i-men-s-basketball-tournament)

The 1997–98 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois.

Regular season

During the 1997-98 season, head coach Lon Kruger did the unthinkable as he took a team picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten and guided the Illini to a share of its first Big Ten title since 1984. On the way to the league crown, Illinois went 5–0 against Indiana, Iowa and Michigan, marking the first time in school history the Illini had gone undefeated against those teams during the course of a season. Illinois advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament after earning a #5 seed in the West Regional. The Illini defense was the Big Ten's best as Illinois finished the year first in scoring defense, fieldgoal defense and three-point defense in conference games. Additionally, this would be the inaugural season for the Big Ten tournament, thus reducing the number of regular season conference games by 2, from 18 to 16. Illinois received 2nd seed for the tournament.

Roster

  • Lon Kruger (Kansas State) (2nd year)
  • Rob Judson (University of Illinois) (2nd year)
  • Robert McCullum (Seminole State) (2nd year)
  • Steve Henson (Kansas State) (1st year)

Schedule

Source

|- !colspan=12 style="background:#DF4E38; color:white;"| Non-Conference regular season |- !colspan=9 style="background:#DF4E38; color:#FFFFFF;"|Big Ten regular season |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|Big Ten tournament |- !colspan=9 style="text-align: center; background:#DF4E38"|NCAA tournament |-

Player stats

Illinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"PlayerIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"Games PlayedIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"2 pt. Field GoalsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"3 pt. Field GoalsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"Free ThrowsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"ReboundsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"AssistsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"BlocksIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"StealsIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"Points
Kevin Turner33137787610591244584
Jerry Hester33146407417549828486
Matt Heldman3330679897131042359
Jerry Gee33115049175232932279
Brian Johnson3383066147781729232
Sergio McClain333842810354940116
Arias Davis28724322100689
Victor Chukwudebe33250101101191366
Awvee Storey1724063265554
Rich Beyers214061830114
Jelani Boline280081016308
David Freeman1930150017
Jeff Reichardt102000006
Luke Williams100000000

Awards and honors

  • Jerry Hester
    • Team Co-Most Valuable Player
  • Kevin Turner
    • Team Co-Most Valuable Player

Team players drafted into the NBA

Illinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"PlayerIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"NBA ClubIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"RoundIllinois Fighting Illinicolor=white}}"Pick

Rankings

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

References

References

  1. [http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-baskbl/records/year-1997.html University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1997-98] {{webarchive. link. (2014-02-22 , FightingIllini.com)
  2. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  3. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  4. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  5. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  6. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  7. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  8. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  9. "Season Stats pg. 124".
  10. "List of MVPs".
  11. {{usurped
Info: Wikipedia Source

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