1997–98 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team

1997–98 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball
WAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Western Athletic Conference
Division	Mountain Division
Record	20–13 (7–7 WAC)
Head coach	Bill Bayno (3rd season)
Assistant coach	Dave Rice (4th season)
Home arena	Thomas & Mack Center

1997–98 WAC men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Mountain
No. 7 Utah	12	–	2		.857			30	–	4		.882
No. 18 New Mexico	11	–	3		.786			24	–	8		.750
Wyoming	9	–	5		.643			19	–	9		.679
Colorado State	8	–	6		.571			20	–	9		.690
UNLV †	7	–	7		.500			20	–	13		.606
BYU	4	–	10		.286			9	–	21		.300
UTEP	3	–	11		.214			12	–	14		.462
Air Force	2	–	12		.143			10	–	16		.385
Pacific
No. 15 TCU	14	–	0		1.000			27	–	6		.818
Fresno State	10	–	4		.714			21	–	13		.618
Tulsa	9	–	5		.643			19	–	12		.613
Hawaii	8	–	6		.571			21	–	9		.700
SMU	6	–	8		.429			18	–	10		.643
San Diego State	5	–	9		.357			13	–	15		.464
Rice	3	–	11		.214			6	–	22		.214
San Jose State	1	–	13		.071			3	–	23		.115
† 1998 WAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

The 1997–98 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The team was coached by Bill Bayno and played their home games at the Thomas & Mack Center on UNLV's main campus in Paradise, Nevada as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Runnin' Rebels finished the season 20–13, 7–7 in WAC play. They won the 2000 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament to receive an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, earning a No. 12 seed in the East Region. The Runnin' Rebels lost to No. 5 seed Princeton in the opening round.^[2] This was the first NCAA Tournament appearance for the program since back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1990 and 1991.

Roster

1997–98 UNLV Rebels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 11 Mark Dickel 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Logan Park Dunedin, New Zealand G/F 33 Tyrone Nesby 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Cairo Cairo, Illinois C 34 Kaspars Kambala 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Fr Homestead	Head coach Bill Bayno Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 15, 1997*		Loyola Marymount	W 96–81	1–0	Thomas & Mack Center (15,115) Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 17, 1997*		Eastern Michigan	W 84–66	2–0	Thomas & Mack Center (4,692) Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 21, 1997*		at No. 2 Kansas Preseason NIT second round	L 68–92	2–1	Allen Fieldhouse (15,701) Lawrence, Kansas
Dec 2, 1997*		at USC	W 82–72	3–1	L.A. Sports Arena (2,949) Los Angeles, California
Dec 6, 1997*		at Michigan	L 59–83	3–2	Crisler Arena (12,333) Ann Arbor, Michigan
Dec 13, 1997*		at Rhode Island	L 73–91	3–3	Keaney Gymnasium (6,429) Kingston, Rhode Island
Dec 17, 1997*		Chicago State	W 86–49	4–3	Thomas & Mack Center (14,141) Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 20, 1997*		No. 25 Syracuse	L 64–71	4–4	Thomas & Mack Center (13,146) Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 23, 1997*		UC Irvine	W 77–55	5–4	Thomas & Mack Center (12,913) Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 27, 1997*		No. 9 UCLA	L 57–65	5–5	Thomas & Mack Center (17,490) Las Vegas, Nevada
Dec 30, 1997*		Nevada	W 62–50	6–5	Thomas & Mack Center (14,097) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 4, 1998*		at Tulane	W 77–61	7–5	Avron B. Fogelman Arena (3,395) New Orleans, Louisiana
WAC regular season
Jan 10, 1998		Air Force	W 88–77	8–5 (1–0)	Thomas & Mack Center (15,032) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 15, 1998		at No. 15 New Mexico	L 61–79	8–6 (1–1)	University Arena (17,817) Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 17, 1998		at UTEP	L 50–62	8–7 (1–2)	Don Haskins Center (9,171) El Paso, Texas
Jan 22, 1998		BYU	W 76–63	9–7 (2–2)	Thomas & Mack Center (13,461) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 24, 1998		No. 4 Utah	L 54–67	9–8 (2–3)	Thomas & Mack Center (15,488) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 26, 1998*		Chaminade	W 77–49	10–8	Thomas & Mack Center (13,144) Las Vegas, Nevada
Jan 29, 1998		at Colorado State	L 57–60	10–9 (2–4)	Moby Arena (7,172) Fort Collins, Colorado
Jan 31, 1998		at Wyoming	L 62–73	10–10 (2–5)	Arena-Auditorium (9,079) Laramie, Wyoming
Feb 5, 1998		at Air Force	W 59–57	11–10 (3–5)	Clune Arena (1,017) Colorado Springs, Colorado
Feb 7, 1998*		Wofford	W 79–52	12–10	Thomas & Mack Center (13,548) Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 14, 1998		UTEP	W 69–63	13–10 (4–5)	Thomas & Mack Center (13,450) Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 16, 1998		No. 11 New Mexico	L 66–75	13–11 (4–6)	Thomas & Mack Center (14,130) Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 21, 1998		at BYU	W 84–76	14–11 (5–6)	Marriott Center (9,404) Provo, Utah
Feb 23, 1998		at No. 5 Utah	L 68–79	14–12 (5–7)	Jon M. Huntsman Center (13,291) Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 26, 1998		Wyoming	W 72–66	15–12 (6–7)	Thomas & Mack Center (13,612) Las Vegas, Nevada
Feb 28, 1998		Colorado State	W 78–66	16–12 (7–7)	Thomas & Mack Center (14,868) Las Vegas, Nevada
WAC tournament
Mar 3, 1998*		Hawaii First round	W 64–59	17–12	Thomas & Mack Center (13,878) Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 5, 1998*		No. 5 Utah Quarterfinals	W 54–51	18–12	Thomas & Mack Center (14,340) Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 6, 1998*		Fresno State Semifinals	W 76–67	19–12	Thomas & Mack Center (17,904) Las Vegas, Nevada
Mar 7, 1998*		No. 20 New Mexico Championship game	W 56–51	20–12	Thomas & Mack Center (16,101) Las Vegas, Nevada
NCAA tournament
Mar 12, 1998*	(12 E)	vs. (5 E) No. 8 Princeton First round	L 57–69	20–13	Hartford Civic Center (16,105) Hartford, Connecticut
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll/Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Pacific Time.

^{[4] [5]}

References

1. sports-reference.com 1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary
2. "Las Vegas Joins List of True Believers". The Los Angeles Times. March 13, 1998. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
3. "1997–98 UNLV Rebels Roster and Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
4. "2020-21 UNLV Men's Basketball Media Guide". UNLV Athletics. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
5. "1997–98 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball stats" (PDF). NCAA Career Stats.