1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

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1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
NCAA Tournament Third-Place Game winner
NCAA Tournament West Region champions
Southwest Conference champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
ConferenceSouthwest Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 6
APNo. 5
Record32–4 (14–2 SWC)
Head coach
Home arenaBarnhill Arena
Seasons
1977–78 Southwest Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Arkansas 14 2   .875 32 4   .889
No. 17 Texas 14 2   .875 26 5   .839
Houston 11 5   .688 25 8   .758
Texas Tech 10 6   .625 19 10   .655
Baylor 8 8   .500 14 13   .519
SMU 6 10   .375 10 18   .357
Texas A&M 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
Rice 2 14   .125 4 22   .154
TCU 2 14   .125 4 22   .154
1978 SWC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll


The 1977–78 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas. The head coach was Eddie Sutton. He coached the Razorbacks from the 1974-1975 season until the 1984-1985 season.[1] During his tenure as head coach, the Razorbacks ended the season either first or tied for first in the Southwest Conference five times. Under Sutton, the Razorbacks were invited to the NCAA tournament nine times. Sutton's most successful season was 1977-78 when the team reached the Final Four. The Razorbacks lost in the semifinals to the Kentucky Wildcats 64-59 at the Checkerdome arena in St. Louis, Missouri. Arkansas defeated Notre Dame 71-69 in the Third-Place game, which was the last time the Third-Place game was played.

Roster[edit]

Junior Sidney Moncrief and seniors Ron Brewer and Marvin Delph were the “triplets” who led the Razorbacks to the Final Four.
1977-78 Razorbacks' Roster
POS Height Weight # Name Class Previous School Hometown
G 6-4 180 10 Ron Brewer Sr Northside Fort Smith, AR
G 6-4 190 32 Sidney Moncrief Jr Hall Little Rock, AR
G 6-4 180 44 Marvin Delph Sr Conway Conway, AR
C 6-10 220 30 Steve Schall Jr South Raytown, MO
F 6-7 196 42 Jim Counce Sr White Station Memphis, TN
G 6-2 175 24 U.S Reed Fr Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, AR
C 6-9 220 50 James Crocket Fr West Helena West Helena, AR
G 6-4 180 11 Michael Watley Fr Dunbar Fort Worth, TX
C 6-10 Steve Bates Fr Wayne Fort Wayne, IN
G 6-5 190 14 Chris Bennett So Little Rock Catholic Little Rock, AR
F 6-7 200 20 Alan Zahn So Manzano Albuquerque, NM
G 6-4 185 34 Mike Young Fr Central Noble Wolflake, IN

Schedule and Results[edit]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
November 26, 1977*
No. 7 Missouri State W 65-47  1-0
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
November 28, 1977*
No. 7 Mississippi State W 94-61  2-0
Barton Coliseum 
Little Rock, Arkansas
December 1, 1977*
No. 7 at Hawaii W 79-60  3-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
December 2, 1977*
No. 7 at Hawaii W 78-53  4-0
Neal S. Blaisdell Center 
Honolulu, Hawaii
December 8, 1977*
No. 6 Rockhurst W 99-63  5-0
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 10, 1977*
No. 6 at Oklahoma W 64-53  6-0
Lloyd Noble Center 
Norman, Oklahoma
December 19, 1977*
No. 4 Hardin-Simmons W 86-55  7-0
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
December 22, 1977*
No. 4 No. 16 Kansas W 78-72  8-0
Barton Coliseum (7,284)
Little Rock, Arkansas
December 29, 1977*
No. 3 at LSU W 67-62  9-0
Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
December 31, 1977*
, KFSM
No. 3 at Memphis W 95-70  10-0
Mid-South Coliseum 
Memphis, Tennessee
January 4, 1978*
No. 3 Hostra W 95-70  11-0
Convention Center 
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
January 8, 1978
No. 3 Houston W 84-65  12-0
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 9, 1978*
No. 3 Missouri-St. Louis W 87-65  13-0
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 12, 1978
No. 3 at Rice W 69-60  14-0
Tudor Fieldhouse 
Houston, Texas
January 14, 1978
No. 3 at Texas L 69-75  14-1
Frank Erwin Center 
Austin, Texas
January 17, 1978
No. 6 Texas A&M W 84-68  15-1
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 21, 1978
No. 6 TCU W 43-35  16-1
Barton Coliseum 
Little Rock, Arkansas
January 23, 1978
No. 6 at Baylor W 56-55  17-1
Heart O' Texas Coliseum 
Waco, Texas
January 25, 1978
No. 4 SMU W 72-65  18-1
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 28, 1978
No. 4 at Texas Tech W 54-49  19-1
Lubbock Municipal Coliseum 
Lubbock, Texas
February 1, 1978
No. 2 No. 12 Texas W 75-71  20-1
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 4, 1978
No. 2 Rice W 69-48  21-1
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 7, 1978
No. 2 at Texas A&M W 80-79  22-1
G. Rollie White Coliseum 
College Station, Texas
February 11, 1978
No. 2 at TCU W 77-57  23-1
Daniel–Meyer Coliseum 
Fort Worth, Texas
February 13, 1978
No. 1 Baylor W 82-56  24-1
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
February 16, 1978
No. 1 at SMU W 86-75  25-1
Moody Coliseum 
University Park, Texas
February 18, 1978
No. 1 at Houston L 75-84  25-2
Hofheinz Pavilion 
Houston, Texas
February 21, 1978
No. 4 Texas Tech W 58-49  26-2
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
SWC tournament
February 25, 1978*
No. 4 TCU W 84-42  27-2
Barnhill Arena 
Fayetteville, Arkansas
March 2, 1978*
No. 4 vs. SMU W 94-73  28-2
The Summit 
Houston, Texas
March 4, 1978*
No. 4 vs. Houston L 69-70  28-3
The Summit 
Houston, Texas
NCAA tournament
March 11, 1978*
(2L) vs. Weber St. (4Q) W 73-52  29-3
McArthur Court 
Eugene, Oregon
March 16, 1978*
(2L) vs. No. 2 UCLA (1Q) W 74-70  30-3
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
March 18, 1978*
(2L) vs. Cal St. Fullerton (4L) W 61-58  31-3
University Arena 
Albuquerque, New Mexico
March 25, 1978*
(2L) vs. No. 1 Kentucky (ME2Q) L 59-64  31-4
Checkerdome 
St. Louis, Missouri
March 27, 1978*
(2L) vs. No. 6 Notre Dame (MW2L) W 71-69  32-4
Checkerdome 
St. Louis Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest.

[2][3]

Achievements[edit]

Sutton left as head coach after the 1984-85 season with a Conference record of 139-35 (79.9%). He would go on to coach three more schools (Kentucky, Oklahoma State, and San Francisco) and retire in 2008.[4] He was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011.[5]

Ron Brewer was the Southwest Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He became the 7th overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1978 NBA draft.[6]

Sidney Moncrief was drafted the following year by the Milwaukee Bucks 5th overall in the 1979 NBA draft, and became a five time NBA All-Star and was awarded a spot on the All-NBA First Team in 1983.[7] His jersey was retired by the Bucks.[8]

Marvin Delph was drafted the same year as Brewer but in the 3rd round (65th overall) by the Buffalo Braves and then drafted again the next year by the Boston Celtics in the 6th round of the 1979 NBA draft along with Moncrief but never played in the NBA.

U. S. Reed was drafted in the 5th round (104th overall pick) in the 1981 NBA draft by the Kansas City Kings, but never played in the NBA.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "HogStats.com :: Arkansas Basketball Coaches". www.hogstats.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  2. ^ "1977-78 Arkansas Razorbacks Schedule and Results | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  3. ^ "HogStats.com :: 1977-78 Arkansas Basketball Schedule". www.hogstats.com. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  4. ^ "Longtime Oklahoma State coach Sutton retires". ESPN.com. May 19, 2006. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  5. ^ McGalliard, Grant. "Legendary Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton is Hall of Fame candidate". daytondailynews. Archived from the original on January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  6. ^ "NBA.com: 1978 NBA Draft, First Round". www.nba.com. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  7. ^ "NBA History: Sidney Moncrief". www.nba.com. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  8. ^ "The Milwaukee Bucks retired Sidney Moncrief's jersey Tuesday night..." UPI. Retrieved November 15, 2018.