TUCSON, Ariz. – The eighth installment of our #ThrowbackThursday series takes a look at the 1997-98 team that went 17-1 in Pac-10 play and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. It marked the eighth conference championship under head coach
Lute Olson.
After opening the season with a rout of Morgan State, Arizona traveled to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational and came away with a runner-up finish after wins over Boston College and Kentucky and a loss to Duke in the title game. Other marquee non-conference games included a loss to Kansas in Chicago, wins at Texas and Baylor, a tough loss at Florida State and 38-point home win against Kansas State.
In the NCAA Tournament, the Cats cruised to wins over Nicholls State (99-60) and Illinois State (82-49) in the first weekend. In the West Regional at Anaheim, following a 87-79 win over Maryland, Utah ended Arizona's season by handing them a 76-51 loss.
Below is a look at the roster, season results and more from that team.
1997-98 Arizona Basketball Roster
| # |
Name |
Year |
Pos. |
Ht. |
PPG |
| 23 |
Michael Dickerson |
Sr. |
F |
6-5 |
18.0 |
| 10 |
Mike Bibby |
So. |
G |
6-2 |
17.2 |
| 34 |
Miles Simon |
Sr. |
G |
6-5 |
17.2 |
| 31 |
Jason Terry |
Jr. |
G |
6-1 |
10.6 |
| 42 |
A.J. Bramlett |
Jr. |
C |
6-11 |
10.4 |
| 21 |
Bennett Davison |
Sr. |
F |
6-8 |
7.6 |
| 33 |
Eugene Edgerson |
So. |
F |
6-8 |
4.5 |
| 13 |
Donnell Harris |
Jr. |
C |
6-11 |
3.3 |
| 24 |
Quynn Tebbs |
Fr. |
G |
6-1 |
2.3 |
| 30 |
Justin Wessel |
Fr. |
F |
6-8 |
1.2 |
| 14 |
Ortege Jenkins |
Fr. |
G |
6-2 |
1.2 |
| 12 |
Josh Pastner |
So. |
G |
5-11 |
0.5 |
| 52 |
Jason Stewart |
Jr. |
G |
5-11 |
0.5 |
1997-98 Season Results
| Won 30, Lost 5 |
|
|
| Coach: Lute Olson |
|
|
| Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic Champions |
|
| Pacific-10 Conference Champions |
|
|
| NCAA Tournament Participants |
|
|
| N20 |
Morgan State |
W |
115-53 |
| N24 |
Boston College (1) |
W |
99-69 |
| N25 |
Kentucky (1) |
W |
89-74 |
| N26 |
Duke (1) |
L |
87-95 |
| N29 |
UNC-Asheville |
W |
97-69 |
| D2 |
Kansas (2) |
L |
87-90 |
| D6 |
at Texas |
W |
88-81 |
| D8 |
at Baylor |
W |
83-68 |
| D13 |
Coppin State |
W |
99-82 |
| D23 |
at Florida State |
L |
79-84 |
| D28 |
James Madison (3) |
W |
92-68 |
| D30 |
Kansas State (3) |
W |
125-87 |
| J3 |
*UCLA |
W |
87-75 |
| J5 |
*USC |
W |
91-72 |
| J8 |
*at Washington State (4) |
W |
94-81 |
| J10 |
*at Washington |
W |
110-91 |
| J15 |
*Arizona State |
W |
127-99 |
| J18 |
New Mexico |
W |
89-70 |
| J22 |
*Oregon |
W |
87-57 |
| J25 |
*Oregon State |
W |
93-80 |
| J29 |
*at Stanford |
W |
93-75 |
| J31 |
*at California |
W |
70-57 |
| F5 |
*Washington |
W |
112-81 |
| F7 |
*Washington State |
W |
83-61 |
| F14 |
*at Arizona State |
W |
83-82 |
| F19 |
*at Oregon State |
W |
71-70 |
| F21 |
*at Oregon |
W |
81-66 |
| F26 |
*California |
W |
76-73 |
| F28 |
*Stanford |
W |
90-58 |
| M5 |
*at USC (ot) |
L |
90-91 |
| M7 |
*at UCLA |
W |
91-87 |
| M12 |
Nicholls State (5) |
W |
99-60 |
| M14 |
Illinois State (5) |
W |
82-49 |
| M19 |
Maryland (6) |
W |
87-79 |
| M21 |
Utah (6) |
L |
51-76 |
| * Pacific-10 Conference game (17-1, 1st) |
|
| (1) at Maui Invitational, Lahaina, Hawaii |
|
| (2) at Great Eight, Chicago, Ill. |
|
|
| (3) at Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic, Tucson, Ariz. |
| (4) at Spokane, Wash. |
|
|
| (5) at NCAA Tournament, Sacramento, Calif. |
|
| (6) at NCAA West Regional, Anaheim, Calif. |
|
Notes
- Sophomore guard Mike Bibby was a consensus All-American, a member of the All-West Regional team of the NCAA Tournament and the Pac-10 Player of the Year.
- Bibby averaged 17.2 points while shooting 38.7 percent from the 3-point line and handing out 5.7 assists per contest. He also led the team with 2.4 steals per game.
- Joining Bibby in receiving all-conference and All-American awards were Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon.
- Dickerson, who led the 'Cats in scoring (18.0), was a third team All-American by the Associated Press
- Simon was a first team All-American according to the Associated Press, The Sporting News and the NABC after averaging 17.2 points
- It marked the only time in school history that three players on the same team scored at least 600 points in a season (Dickerson – 630; Bibby – 603; Simon – 601)
- Jason Terry scored 10.6 points, handed out 4.3 assists and came away with 1.7 steals per game in his junior season.
- The fifth Wildcat to average double figures in scoring was A.J. Bramlett, who posted 10.4 points and team leading 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor.
- Arizona outscored its opponents by 16.2 points per game and shot 48.8 percent as a team while holding opponents to just 35.2 percent.
- The 677 assists as a team on the year is still a school record.
- The 90.8 points per game scoring average as a team still stands as the school record for a season.
- On Jan. 15, 1998, Arizona defeated ASU by a score of 127-99, the second-most combined points scored in a game in school history.
