1987–88 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team

1987–88 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball
Metro Conference tournament champions Metro Conference regular season champions
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Metro Conference
Record	24–11 (9–3 Metro)
Head coach	Denny Crum (17th season)
Assistant coach	Wade Houston
Home arena	Freedom Hall

1987–88 Metro Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Louisville †	9	–	3		.750			24	–	11		.686
Florida State	7	–	5		.583			19	–	11		.633
South Carolina	6	–	6		.500			19	–	10		.655
Virginia Tech	6	–	6		.500			19	–	10		.655
Memphis State	6	–	6		.500			20	–	12		.625
Southern Miss	5	–	7		.417			19	–	11		.633
Cincinnati	3	–	9		.250			11	–	17		.393
† 1988 Metro Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1987–88 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team represented the University of Louisville in the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Denny Crum^[2] and the team finished the season with an overall record of 24–11.^[3]

Roster

1987–88 Louisville Cardinals men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown SF 21 Kenny Payne 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Northeast Jones Laurel, Mississippi SG 23 LaBradford Smith 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Bay City Bay City, Texas F 41 Herbert Crook 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Eastern Louisville, Kentucky PF 43 Pervis Ellison 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Savannah Savannah, Georgia C 50 Felton Spencer 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) So Eastern Louisville, Kentucky	Head coach Denny Crum (UCLA) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

^[4]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 5, 1987*	No. 14	vs. Notre Dame Big Four Classic	L 54–69	0–1	RCA Dome  Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 12, 1987*		at No. 1 Kentucky Rivalry	L 75–76	0–2	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
Dec 16, 1987*		Cleveland State	W 93–79	1–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Dec 19, 1987*		No. 5 Indiana	W 81–69	2–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Dec 21, 1987*		Eastern Kentucky	W 87–69	3–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Dec 27, 1987*		vs. SMU Rainbow Classic	W 87–79	4–2	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 28, 1987*		vs. NC State Rainbow Classic	L 75–80	4–3	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Dec 29, 1987*		vs. Mississippi State Rainbow Classic	W 86–62	5–3	Stan Sheriff Center  Honolulu, HI
Jan 4, 1988*		South Alabama	W 80–69	6–3	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Jan 6, 1988*		Georgia Tech	L 61–62	6–4	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Jan 9, 1988		at Florida State	L 76–83	6–5 (0–1)	Donald L. Tucker Center  Tallahassee, FL
Jan 16, 1988*		UCLA	W 92–79	7–5	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Jan 18, 1988*		Western Kentucky	W 84–71	8–5	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Jan 20, 1988		at Cincinnati	W 91–89	9–5 (1–1)	Cincinnati Gardens  Cincinnati, OH
Jan 23, 1988*		No. 5 Purdue	L 85–91	9–6	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Jan 26, 1988*		at Dayton	W 90–59	10–6	UD Arena  Dayton, OH
Jan 28, 1988*		at No. 20 Southern Miss	L 92–95	10–7 (1–2)	Reed Green Coliseum  Hattiesburg, MS
Jan 30, 1988		at Memphis State	L 68–72	10–8 (1–3)	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
Feb 1, 1988		Virginia Tech	W 107–99	11–8 (2–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 3, 1988		South Carolina	W 68–53	12–8 (3–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 6, 1988*		Houston	W 73–69	13–8	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 13, 1988*		at No. 16 NC State	L 89–101	13–9	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
Feb 15, 1988		Cincinnati	W 90–87	14–9 (4–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 17, 1988		Florida State	W 82–62	15–9 (5–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 20, 1988		at South Carolina	W 98–88	16–9 (6–3)	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
Feb 24, 1988		No. 18 Southern Miss	W 94–84	17–9 (7–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Feb 27, 1988		at Virginia Tech	W 87–82	18–9 (8–3)	Cassell Coliseum  Blacksburg, VA
Feb 29, 1988		Memphis State	W 71–69	19–9 (9–3)	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Mar 2, 1988*		Austin Peay	W 84–78	20–9	Freedom Hall  Louisville, KY
Mar 5, 1988*		at DePaul	L 58–77	20–10	Rosemont Horizon  Rosemont, IL
Metro Conference tournament
Mar 12, 1988*		vs. South Carolina Semifinal	W 89–57	21–10	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
Mar 13, 1988*		at Memphis State Championship	W 81–73[5]	22–10	Mid-South Coliseum  Memphis, TN
NCAA tournament
Mar 17, 1988*	(5 SE)	vs. (12 SE) Oregon State First round	W 70–61	23–10	Omni Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
Mar 19, 1988*	(5 SE)	vs. (4 SE) No. 19 BYU Second round	W 97–76	24–10	Omni Coliseum  Atlanta, GA
Mar 24, 1988*	(5 SE)	vs. (1 SE) No. 4 Oklahoma Regional semifinal	L 98–108	24–11	BJCC Arena  Birmingham, AL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in EST.

Team players drafted into the NBA

Main article: 1988 NBA draft

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
3	61	Herbert Crook	Indiana Pacers

^[6]

Rankings

Main article: 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

References

1. sports-reference.com 1987-88 Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference Season Summary
2. "1987-1988 Louisville Cardinals Roster and Stats". Retrieved June 8, 2019.
3. "1987-1988 Louisville Cardinals Schedule and Results". Retrieved June 8, 2019.
4. "1987-88 Louisville Cardinals". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
5. "Muscling the Metro". Sports Illustrated. March 21, 1988. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
6. "1988 NBA Draft". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 16, 2022.