1997–98 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team

1997–98 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1998 MVC Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
1997–98 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
MVC regular season champion; MVC Tournament champion
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
1997–98 record	25–6 (16–2 MVC)
Head coach	Kevin Stallings (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Tom Richardson; King Rice; Chad Altadonna;
Home arena	Redbird Arena

The 1997–98 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team represented Illinois State University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Redbirds, led by fifth year head coach Kevin Stallings, played their home games at Redbird Arena and were a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Redbirds finished the season 25–6, 16–2 in conference play to finish in first place. They were the number one seed for the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. They won their quarterfinal game versus Southern Illinois University, semifinal game versus the Wichita State University, and final game versus Southwest Missouri State University to earn the championship title.

The Redbirds received the conference automatic bid into the 1998 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. They were assigned to the Midwest Regional as the number eleven seed where they defeated the University of Tennessee in the first round and were beaten by the University of Arizona in the second round.

Roster

1997–98 Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
C	35	Rob Gibbons	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Sr	Rockaway, NJ
G	11	Steve Hansell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	—	Sr	Birmingham, England
F	44	Dan Muller	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Sr	Lafayette, IN
G	13	Skipp Schaefbauer	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	—	Sr	Elk River, MN
G	15	Jamar Smiley	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	—	Sr	West Hempstead, NY
C	32	LeRoy Watkins	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	—	Sr	Chicago, IL
G	24	Kyle Cartmill	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	Jr	Quincy, IL
F	42	Rico Hill	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	—	Jr	Calumet Park, IL
F	14	Ben Holmstrom	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr	Rockford, IL
F	23	Kenneth Pierson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	Jr	Conroe, TX
C	33	Ronald vanVelzen	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	—	Jr	Noordwijk, Netherlands
F	25	Ryan Crowley	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	—	So	Naperville, IL
F	30	Joe Hein	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	—	So	Northbrook, IL
G	22	Nic Stotler	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	—	So	Brighton, IL

Head coach

Kevin Stallings (Purdue)

Assistant coach(es)

King Rice (North Carolina)
Tom Richardson (Saint Xavier)
Chad Altadonna (Illinois State)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

[2]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
November 16, 1997*		Oakland	W 101–66	1–0	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
November 18, 1997*	No. 24	at Wisconsin	L 66–80	1–1	–	–	–	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
November 22, 1997*	No. 24	Pittsburgh	W 87–65	2–1	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
November 28, 1997*		vs. Northeast Louisiana United Airlines Tip-Off [Semifinal]	W 73–60	3–1	–	–	–	Special Events Arena Honolulu, HI
November 30, 1997* 11:00 PM		at Hawai'i United Airlines Tip-Off [Final]	L 63–84	3–2	16 – Hill	8 – Muller	4 – Muller	Special Events Arena (9,417) Honolulu, HI
December 6, 1997		Drake	W 76–57	4–2 (1–0)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
December 13, 1997 7:05 PM		at Creighton	W 71–62	5–2 (2–0)	15 – Hansell	13 – Hill	5 – Hansell, Schaefbauer	Omaha Civic Auditorium (4,099) Omaha, NE
December 16, 1997*		at Illinois-Chicago	L 67–75	5–3	–	–	–	UIC Pavilion Chicago, IL
December 20, 1997*		at Wisconsin-Green Bay	W 72–70	6–3	–	–	–	Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena Green Bay, WI
December 30, 1997		Indiana State	W 76–59	7–3 (3–0)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
January 4, 1998*		Pacific	W 64–63	8–3	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
January 7, 1998		at Drake	W 74–59	9–3 (4–0)	–	–	–	The Knapp Center Des Moines, IA
January 10, 1998		Southern Illinois	W 105–70	10–3 (5–0)	20 – Hill	10 – Hill	10 – Smiley	Redbird Arena (9,379) Normal, IL
January 15, 1998 7:35 PM		at Wichita State	W 56–53	11–3 (6–0)	17 – Hill	9 – Watkins	8 – Smiley	Henry Levitt Arena (5,028) Wichita, KS
January 18, 1998		at Southwest Missouri State	L 81–89	11–4 (6–1)	–	–	–	John Q. Hammons Student Center (7,632) Springfield, MO
January 21, 1998		at Bradley	W 57–54	12–4 (7–1)	–	–	–	Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 24, 1998 7:05 PM		Wichita State	W 77–59	13–4 (8–1)	20 – Hill	10 – Gibbons	8 – Smiley	Redbird Arena (9,497) Normal, IL
January 28, 1998		at Southern Illinois	W 79–67	14–4 (9–1)	20 – Hill	9 – Smiley	7 – Smiley	SIU Arena (3,520) Carbondale, IL
January 31, 1998		Northern Iowa	W 88–77	15–4 (10–1)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
February 4, 1998		Bradley	W 76–70	16–4 (11–1)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
February 7, 1998		at Indiana State	W 75-66	17–4 (12–1)	–	–	–	Hulman Center Terre Haute, IN
February 10, 1998		Evansville	W 74–67	18–4 (13–1)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena Normal, IL
February 15, 1998		Southwest Missouri State	L 87–97	18–5 (13–2)	–	–	–	Redbird Arena (7,316) Normal, IL
February 18, 1998		at Evansville	W 80–76	19–5 (14–2)	–	–	–	Roberts Municipal Stadium Evansville, IN
February 21, 1998 7:05 PM		Creighton	W 80–67	20–5 (15–2)	15 – Muller	9 – Hill	7 – Smiley	Redbird Arena (10,044) Normal, IL
February 23, 1998		at Northern Iowa	W 85–65	21–5 (16–2)	–	–	–	UNI Dome Cedar Falls, IA
Missouri Valley Conference {MVC} Tournament
February 28, 1998	(1)	(8) Southern Illinois Quarterfinal	W 83–73	22–5	20 – Hill	7 – Muller	11 – Smiley	Kiel Center St. Louis, MO
March 1, 1998	(1)	(4) Wichita State Semifinal	W 75–54	23–5	19 – Hill	7 – Hill	6 – Smiley	Kiel Center St. Louis, MO
March 2, 1998 ESPN	(1)	(3) Southwest Missouri State Final	W 84–74	24–5	18 – Watkins	7 – Hansell	8 – Hansell	Kiel Center (9,228) St. Louis, MO
National Collegiate Athletic Association {NCAA} Tournament
March 12, 1998 CBS	(9)	vs. (8) Tennessee West Region [First Round]	W 82–81 ^OT	25–5	22 – Hill	10 – Muller	6 – Hansell, Cartmill	ARCO Arena (15,284) Sacramento, CA
March 14, 1998 CBS	(9)	vs. (1) No. 4 Arizona West Region [Second Round]	L 49–82	25–6	17 – Muller	7 – Hill	4 – Hill, Cartmill	ARCO Arena (16,402) Sacramento, CA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Standard Time.

[3] [4]

References

sports-reference.com 1997-98 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
"1997-98 Illinois State Redbirds Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
"1997-98 Illinois State Redbirds Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
"1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". Illinois State Redbirds. Retrieved December 16, 2020.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] sports-reference.com 1997-98 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "1997-98 Illinois State Redbirds Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2020.

[3] "1997-98 Illinois State Redbirds Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved December 16, 2020.

[4] "1997-98 Men's Basketball Schedule". Illinois State Redbirds. Retrieved December 16, 2020.

Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball
Venues	John W. Cook Hall (1898–1925) McCormick Gymnasium (1925–1963) Horton Field House (1963–1988) Redbird Arena (1989–present)
Rivalries	Bradley
Culture & lore	Reggie Redbird "Go, You Redbirds"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1898–99 1899–1900 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 1999–2000 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 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21