# 1997–98 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball team represented Iowa State University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cyclones were coached by Tim Floyd, who was in his 4th season. They played their home games at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa and competed in the Big 12 Conference.
They finished the season 12–18, 5–11 in Big 12 play to finish in 11th place. They lost to Missouri in the first round of the Big 12 Conference tournament.
At the conclusion of the season head coach Tim Floyd accepted the same position with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.

## Previous season

The previous season was the Cyclones first year in the newly formed Big 12 Conference. The Big 12 conference was formed by the eight teams of the recently dissolved Big Eight Conference and was joined by Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech, all formally of the Southwest Conference which had dissolved following the 1995–1996 school year as well.
The Cyclones finished the season 22–9, 10–6 in Big 12 play to finish tied for third place. They defeated Texas Tech and lost to Kansas in the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and a #6 seed. In the tournament they defeated Illinois State and Cincinnati to reach the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to UCLA.
The Cyclones saw individual success with Dedric Willoughby being names All-American Second Team, NCAA Tournament All-Regional Team, and first team All-Big Eight.

### Offseason departures

Offseason Departures :
| Name | Position | Reason |
| Kelvin Cato | Center | Graduated/NBA draft |
| Jacy Holloway | Guard | Graduated |
| Dedric Willoughby | Guard | Graduated |
| Ha-Keem Abdel-Khaliq | Guard | Graduated |
| Kenny Pratt | Forward | Graduated |
| Shawn Bankhead | Forward | Graduated |
| Russ Schoenauer | Forward | Left basketball team |
| DeAndre Harris | Guard | Transferred out of program |
| Reference: |||

## Preseason

Head Coach Tim Floyd was able to sign McDonald's All-American Marcus Fizer. Fizer was the first, and to date, only McDonald's All-American to sign with Iowa State. Floyd first started recruiting Fizer when he was coaching at New Orleans.
Floyd was also able to replenish the back-court with Junior College transfers Jerry Curry, Tim Stevens, and Delvin Washington.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| November 9, 1997* 3:30 pm | Budućnost (Yugoslavia) Exhibition | W 85-70 | | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| November 19, 1997* 7:00 pm | World Basketball Opportunities Exhibition | L 78-83 | | Hilton Coliseum Ames, Iowa |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 23, 1997* 3:00 pm, CTN | Northern Iowa | L 48-54 | 0-1 | Hilton Coliseum (10,132) Ames, Iowa |
| November 29, 1997* 7:05 pm, CTN | Texas–Arlington | W 66-58 | 1-1 | Hilton Coliseum (7.693) Ames, Iowa |
| December 2, 1997* 7:00 pm, CTN | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 83-59 | 2-1 | Hilton Coliseum (9,240) Ames, Iowa |
| December 5, 1997* 8:00 pm, CTN | Texas Southern Cyclone Challenge | W 83-60 | 3-1 | Hilton Coliseum (7,850) Ames, Iowa |
| December 6, 1997* 8:00 pm, CTN | Coppin State Cyclone Challenge | W 77-74 $^{OT}$ | 4-1 | Hilton Coliseum (9,061) Ames, Iowa |
| December 10, 1997* 7:05 pm, Drake | at Drake | L 61-63 | 4-2 | Knapp Center (6,430) Des Moines, Iowa |
| December 13, 1997* 4:00 pm, CTN | No. 10 Iowa | L 59-60 | 4-3 | Hilton Coliseum (14,151) Ames, Iowa |
| December 20, 1997* 8:05 pm, CTN | Alaska-Anchorage ISU Holiday Challenge | W 57-55 | 5-3 | Hilton Coliseum (9,041) Ames, Iowa |
| December 21, 1997* 8:00 pm, CTN | Detroit Mercy ISU Holiday Challenge | L 56-67 | 5-4 | Hilton Coliseum (8,026) Ames, Iowa |
| December 24, 1997* 4:00 pm CT, FSN | vs. No. 25 TCU Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | L 54-93 | 5-5 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez (500) Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| December 25, 1997* 2:00 pm CT | vs. Saint Louis Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | W 62-57 | 6-5 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez (500) Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| December 26, 1997* 2:00 pm CT | vs. Murray State Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | L 76-84 $^{OT}$ | 6-6 | Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez (500) Bayamón, Puerto Rico |
| December 29, 1997* 8:05 pm, CTN | at New Orleans | W 70-68 | 7-6 | Lakefront Arena (5,029) New Orleans |
| January 3, 1998 7:00 pm, CTN | at Texas Tech | L 55-66 | 7-7 (0-1) | Lubbock Municipal Coliseum (8,174) Lubbock, Texas |
| January 10, 1998 3:00 pm, Big 12 | Missouri | W 75-62 | 8-7 (1-1) | Hilton Coliseum (13,932) Ames, Iowa |
| January 14, 1998 7:00 pm, CTN | at Kansas State | L 59-77 | 8-8 (1-2) | Bramlage Coliseum (8,100) Manhattan, Kansas |
| January 17, 1998 7:00 pm, Big 12 | Texas A&M | W 68-59 | 9-8 (2-2) | Hilton Coliseum (11,830) Ames, Iowa |
| January 21, 1998 8:00 pm, Big 12 | Oklahoma | L 63-64 | 9-9 (2-3) | Lloyd Noble Center (9,631) Norman, Oklahoma |
| January 24, 1999 12:45 pm, Big 12 | at Nebraska | L 49-63 | 9-10 (2-4) | Bob Devaney Center (10,565) Lincoln, Nebraska |
| January 27, 1998 8:00 pm, Big 12 | Texas | W 85-82 | 10-10 (3-4) | Hilton Coliseum (10,251) Ames, Iowa |
| January 31, 1998 3:00 pm, Big 12 | at Missouri | L 56-63 | 10-11 (3-5) | Hearnes Center (13,300) Columbia, Missouri |
| February 4, 1998 8:00 pm, Big 12 | No. 3 Kansas | L 62-83 | 10-12 (3-6) | Hilton Coliseum (14,044) Ames, Iowa |
| February 7, 1998 3:00 pm, Big 12 | at Colorado | L 52-70 | 10-13 (3-7) | Coors Events Center (5,633) Boulder, Colorado |
| February 9, 1998 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | Oklahoma State | L 66-81 | 10-14 (3-8) | Hilton Coliseum (10,210) Ames, Iowa |
| February 14, 1998 12:45 pm, Big 12 | Colorado | W 80-63 | 11-14 (4-8) | Hilton Coliseum (10,346) Ames, Iowa |
| February 18, 1998 7:00 pm, CTN | Kansas State | W 63-62 | 12-14 (5-8) | Hilton Coliseum (12,203) Ames, Iowa |
| February 21, 1998 3:00 pm, Big 12 | at No. 4 Kansas | L 54-71 | 12-15 (5-9) | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, Kansas |
| February 25, 1998 7:00 pm, CTN | at Baylor | L 54-69 | 12-16 (5-10) | Ferrell Center (4,785) Waco, Texas |
| February 28, 1998 7:00 pm, ESPN | Nebraska | L 62-70 | 12-17 (5-11) | Hilton Coliseum (13,465) Ames, Iowa |
| Big 12 Tournament ||||||
| March 5, 1998 8:30 pm, Big 12 | vs. Missouri First round | L 55-74 | 12-18 (5-11) | Kemper Arena (13,800) Kansas City, Missouri |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||