1997–98 South Carolina State Bulldogs basketball team

1997–98 South Carolina State Bulldogs men's basketball
1997–98 South Carolina State Bulldogs men's basketball
MEAC tournament champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Record	22–8 (16–2 MEAC)
Head coach	Cy Alexander (11th season);
Home arena	SHM Memorial Center

1997–98 MEAC men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Coppin State	17	–	1	.944	21	–	8	.724
†	16	–	2	.889	22	–	8	.733
Hampton	11	–	7	.611	14	–	12	.538
Morgan State	11	–	7	.611	12	–	16	.429
Florida A&M	8	–	10	.444	11	–	17	.393
Delaware State	7	–	11	.389	9	–	18	.333
Maryland Eastern Shore	7	–	11	.389	9	–	18	.333
North Carolina A&T	7	–	11	.389	8	–	19	.296
Howard	5	–	13	.278	8	–	20	.286
Bethune–Cookman	1	–	17	.056	1	–	26	.037
Norfolk State	0	–	0	–	6	–	21	.222

† 1998 MEAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1997–98 South Carolina State Bulldogs basketball team represented South Carolina State University during the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by head coach Cy Alexander, played their home games at the SHM Memorial Center and were members of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The team won the conference tournament title, defeating regular season champion Coppin State, and received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

As the No. 15 seed in the Southeast region, S.C. State lost to No. 2 seed and eventual National champion Kentucky in the opening round,^[2] and finished with a record of 22–8 (16–2 MEAC).

Roster

1997–98 South Carolina State Bulldogs men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Roderick Blakney	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Hartsville, South Carolina

Head coach

Cy Alexander

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
Dec 1, 1997*		at No. 1 Duke	L 40–98	0–2	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina
Dec 20, 1997*		at NC State	L 67–68	1–3	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, North Carolina
Dec 23, 1997*		at No. 10 South Carolina	L 85–90	1–4	Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina
Dec 28, 1997*		at No. 21 Clemson	L 60–84	1–5	Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, South Carolina
MEAC tournament
Mar 4, 1998*		vs. North Carolina A&T Quarterfinals	W 64–58	20–7	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Mar 6, 1998*		vs. Morgan State Semifinals	W 82–69	21–7	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
Mar 7, 1998*		vs. Coppin State Championship game	W 66–61	22–7	Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1998*	(15 SE)	vs. (2 SE) No. 5 Kentucky First round	L 67–82	22–8	Georgia Dome Atlanta, Georgia
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[3]

References

^ sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary
^ "Kentucky Dominates South Carolina State". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
^ "1997-98 South Carolina State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[1] sports-reference.com 1997-98 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Season Summary

[2] "Kentucky Dominates South Carolina State". The New York Times. March 14, 1998. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

[3] "1997-98 South Carolina State Bulldogs Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 4, 2023.

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[2]

[3]

South Carolina State Bulldogs basketball
Venues	Dukes Gymnasium (1931–1968) SHM Memorial Center (1968–present)
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons Records lost pre-1955 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25