# 1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team

The 1997–98 Saint Louis Billikens men's basketball team represented Saint Louis University in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Billikens were led by head coach Charlie Spoonhour who was in his sixth season at Saint Louis. The team played their home games at the Kiel Center and were a member of Conference USA. The Billikens finished the season 22–11, 11–5 in C-USA play to finish 3rd in the American division. They lost in the quarterfinal round of the C-USA tournament, but received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 10 seed in the Southeast region. The Billikens eliminated UMass in the opening round before they were defeated by No. 2 seed and eventual National Champion Kentucky in the second round.
Highly touted freshman Larry Hughes set the school's single season scoring record in his only college season. Hughes was named USBWA National Freshman of the Year and was later taken 8th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1998 NBA draft.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 15, 1997* | | Maryland Eastern Shore | W 84–68 | 1–0 | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Nov 18, 1997* | | East Carolina | W 70–58 | 2–0 | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Nov 22, 1997* | | San Francisco | W 80–56 | 3–0 | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Nov 29, 1997* 3:30 p.m. | | at Southern Illinois | W 85–76 | 4–0 | Banterra Center (4,212) Carbondale, Illinois |
| Dec 3, 1997* | | Vanderbilt | W 78–74 | 5–0 | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Dec 6, 1997* | | Illinois | W 57–51 | 6–0 | TWA Dome (32,429) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Dec 13, 1997* | | at UMKC | W 68–59 | 7–0 | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Dec 17, 1997* | | Georgia Southern | W 69–67 | 8–0 | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Dec 20, 1997* | | at No. 11 UCLA | L 67–73 | 8–1 | Pauley Pavilion (9,998) Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 24, 1997* | | vs. No. 19 Syracuse Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | L 64–67 | 8–2 | Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Dec 25, 1997* 2:00 pm | | vs. Iowa State Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | L 57–62 | 8–3 | Eugene Guerra Sports Complex (500) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Dec 26, 1997* | | vs. No. 12 Arkansas Puerto Rico Holiday Classic | L 70–78 | 8–4 | Eugene Guerra Sports Complex San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| Jan 3, 1998 | | Memphis | L 62–68 | 8–5 (0–1) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jan 7, 1998 | | at Tulane | W 60–59 | 9–5 (1–1) | Avron B. Fogelman Arena New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Jan 11, 1998 | | at DePaul | W 64–61 | 10–5 (2–1) | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Jan 15, 1998 | | Houston | W 67–47 | 11–5 (3–1) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jan 17, 1998 | | UAB | W 77–60 | 12–5 (4–1) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jan 20, 1998 | | at Louisville | L 81–87 | 12–6 (4–2) | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Jan 24, 1998 | | at Marquette | W 71–62 | 13–6 (5–2) | Bradley Center Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Jan 26, 1998* | | Valparaiso | W 77–66 | 14–6 | Kiel Center (15,977) St. Louis, Missouri |
| Jan 31, 1998 | | Louisville | W 64–55 | 15–6 (6–2) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 4, 1998 | | UNC Charlotte | W 83–80 | 16–6 (7–2) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 7, 1998 | | at South Florida | W 56–45 | 17–6 (8–2) | Sun Dome Tampa, Florida |
| Feb 12, 1998 | | No. 19 Cincinnati | L 43–70 | 17–7 (8–3) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 15, 1998 | | DePaul | W 65–41 | 18–7 (9–3) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 18, 1998 | | at Southern Miss | W 58–55 | 19–7 (10–3) | Reed Green Coliseum Hattiesburg, Mississippi |
| Feb 21, 1998 | | at UNC Charlotte | L 62–76 | 19–8 (10–4) | Dale F. Halton Arena Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Feb 25, 1998 | | Marquette | W 67–65 | 20–8 (11–4) | Kiel Center St. Louis, Missouri |
| Feb 28, 1998 | | at No. 17 Cincinnati | L 58–61 | 20–9 (11–5) | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| C-USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 1998* | (5) | vs. (12) Tulane First Round | W 71–53 | 21–9 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Mar 5, 1998* | (5) | vs. (4) UAB Quarterfinals | L 74–76 | 21–10 | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, Ohio |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1998* | (10 SE) | vs. (7 SE) UMass First Round | W 51–46 | 22–10 | Georgia Dome (17,474) Atlanta, Georgia |
| Mar 15, 1998* | (10 SE) | vs. (2 SE) No. 5 Kentucky Second Round | L 61–88 | 22–11 | Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region MW=Midwest. ||||||

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 8 | Larry Hughes | Philadelphia 76ers |