Purdue Basketball

A winning tradition

All in all, the boilers had a very successful season. Being ranked in the top ten nationally throughout most of the season, they compiled a record of 28-8, 12-4 in the Big Ten. They finished third in the Big Ten standings, and finished second in the first-ever Big Ten Tournament. Because they had a strong finish to the season, the Boilers were awarded a #2 seed in the Midwest Regional, where they lost in the Regional semifinals to third-seeded Stanford, who went on to the Final Four. Purdue was ranked ninth in the final USA Today/ESPN poll.
Purdue was led by its two seniors Brad Miller and Chad Austin, both of whom will be greatly missed next season.. Austin was the scoring leader at 17.4 ppg, while Miller was second with 17.2. Miller led the team in rebounds and blocked shots.
Purdue's main weakness was frontcourt depth. They really missed blue-chip recruits Jamal Davis and Cameron Stephens, who were both academically ineligible to play in their freshman seasons.
Purdue's quest for another Big Ten championship fell short because of one bad week. Jaraan Cornell, who was leading the conference in three-point shooting, suffered a severe ankle sprain in the later part of the season. The team struggled without him, losing road games to Iowa and Penn State!! That's right, Penn State!!! But, with great defense, they made up for that gap on the perimeter, and in the regular-season finale, picked up a huge win at Michigan State, robbing the Spartans of an outright conference championship. Then, in the conference tourney, the Boilers beat co-champion Illinois 68-47, before falling short to red-hot Michigan in the championship game.
Perhaps the most costly loss in the season was not Penn State. It came at home against Michigan State in the Big Ten opener, where they got outhustled and humiliated 74-57. That game really set the tone for most of the conference season, as State dominated the first two-thirds of the conference season.

1997-98 Schedule

DATE	OPPONENT	SCORE
Nov 3	AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL TEAM (Exh)	E 77-62
Nov 9	RUSSIAN SELECT TEAM (Exh)	E 117-74
Nov 14	LONG ISLAND	W 119-94
Nov 17	@Valparaiso	W 73-56
Nov 20	NORTHEAST LOUISIANA	W 107-80
Nov 26	vs. UAB !	W 92-64
Nov 28	vs. Massachusetts !	W 82-69
Nov 29	vs. North Carolina !	L 69-73
Dec 3	vs. Kentucky $	L 75-89
Dec 6	@Louisville	W 87-69
Dec 12	TENNESEE-MARTIN %	W 87-56
Dec 13	SAN FRANSISCO %	W 107-82
Dec 20	vs. Xavier +	W 86-84
Dec 22	FLORIDA A&M	W118-77
Dec 27	PROVIDENCE	W 81-79
Dec 30	MICHIGAN STATE	L 57-74
Jan 2	@Minnesota	W 83-79
Jan 7	PENN STATE	W 77-55
Jan 10	@Houston	W 86-53
Jan 13	@Illinois	W 68-58
Jan 18	@Indiana	L 88-94
Jan 21	OHIO STATE	W 82-71
Jan 24	NORTHWESTERN	W 80-45
Jan 29	@Michigan	W 89-82
Jan 31	WISCONSIN	W 82-59
Feb 7	@Ohio State	W 107-75
Feb 10	INDIANA	W 94-89
Feb 14	ILLINOIS	W 75-72
Feb 18	@Iowa	L 69-88
Feb 21	@Penn State	L 63-74
Feb 25	MINNESOTA	W 87-83
Mar 1	@Michigan State	W 99-96 OT
Mar 6	vs. Indiana #	W 76-71
Mar 7	vs. Illinois #	W 68-47
Mar 8	vs. Michigan #	L 67-76
Mar 13	vs. Delaware /	W 95-56
Mar 15	vs. Detroit /	W 80-65
Mar 20	vs Stanford *	L 57-65

Description of symbols
!: Great Alaska Shootout
$:Great Eight Tourney at the United Center in Chicago, IL
%:Boilermaker Invitational
+:Boilermaker Blockbuster at Indianapolis, IN
#:Big Ten Tournament at the United Center
/:First and Second Round of NCAA at the United Center
*:Regional Semifinals at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, MO

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