# 2017–18 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Montana State Bobcats men's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by fourth-year head coach Brian Fish, played their home games at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 13–19, 6–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Big Sky tournament to North Dakota.

## Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2016–17 season 16–16, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 6 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they lost in the first round to Southern Utah.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Sarp Gobeloglu | 13 | F | 6'10" | 205 | Senior | Ankara, Turkey | Graduated |
| Mandrell Worthy | 15 | G | 6'2" | 180 | RS Freshman | Federal Way, Washington | Graduate transferred to Azusa Pacific |
| Dallas Lussier | 23 | G | 6'1" | 190 | Junior | Livingston, Montana | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Quinton Everett | 24 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Senior | Lakeland, Florida | Graduated |
| Cooper Olson | 30 | G | 6'1" | 170 | RS Senior | Westby, Montana | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |

### 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Isaac Bonton #81 PG | Portland, Oregon | Parkrose High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 64 ||||||
| Luke Schultz PF | Kerrville, Texas | Our Lady of the Hills High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Oct 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Lassi Nikkarinen PG | Helsinki, Finland | HBA Märsky | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 1, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jared Martin #75 SF | Scottsdale, Arizona | Prolific Prep | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 10, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 65 |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 11, 2017. |||||||

## Preseason

In separate preseason polls of league coaches and media, the Bobcats were picked to finish in fourth place (tied for fourth in coaches poll) in the Big Sky. Junior guard Tyler Hall was named the preseason Big Sky MVP.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Canada exhibition trip ||||||
| Aug 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Calgary | W 91–71 | | Jack Simpson Gymnasium Calgary, AB |
| Aug 11, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. Alberta | W 78–69 | | Jack Simpson Gymnasium Calgary, AB |
| Aug 12, 2017* 3:00 pm | | at Calgary | W 77–70 | | Jack Simpson Gymnasium Calgary, AB |
| Aug 13, 2017* 1:00 pm | | vs. Alberta | L 78–97 | | Jack Simpson Gymnasium Calgary, AB |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2017* 8:00 pm | | MSU Northern | W 78–73 | | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,242) Bozeman, MT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. Omaha Great Falls Showcase | W 89–80 | 1–0 | Pacific Steel Arena (4,307) Great Falls, MT |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Utah State | L 73–81 | 1–1 | Smith Spectrum (7,154) Logan, UT |
| Nov 15, 2017* 8:00 pm | | Montana Western | W 109–81 | 2–1 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,812) Bozeman, MT |
| Nov 18, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Louisiana Tech Cancún Challenge | L 58–71 | 2–2 | Thomas Assembly Center (2,378) Ruston, LA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 10:30 am | | vs. Binghamton Cancún Challenge Mayan Division semifinals | W 74–64 | 3–2 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 22, 2017* 12:30 pm | | vs. Southeast Missouri State Cancún Challenge Mayan Division finals | W 88–82 | 4–2 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 26, 2017* 1:00 pm | | at Fresno State Cancún Challenge | L 67–80 | 4–3 | Save Mart Center (5,097) Fresno, CA |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Bethesda | W 98–61 | 5–3 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,502) Bozeman, MT |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm | | at Milwaukee | W 68–64 | 6–3 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,596) Milwaukee, WI |
| Dec 5, 2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | L 48–75 | 6–4 | McGuirk Arena (2,092) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm | | UC Santa Barbara | L 69–91 | 6–5 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,271) Bozeman, MT |
| Dec 18, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Denver | W 79–65 | 7–5 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,200) Bozeman, MT |
| Dec 21, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Omaha | L 71–84 | 7–6 | Baxter Arena (2,033) Omaha, NE |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 6:30 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 104–99 | 8–6 (1–0) | America First Events Center (1,472) Cedar City, UT |
| Dec 30, 2017 5:00 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 76–73 | 9–6 (2–0) | Walkup Skydome (681) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 76–64 | 10–6 (3–0) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,542) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 6, 2018 2:00 pm | | North Dakota | W 79–68 | 11–6 (4–0) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,883) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 11, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Portland State | L 74–93 | 11–7 (4–1) | Pamplin Sports Center (787) Portland, OR |
| Jan 13, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | L 68–87 | 11–8 (4–2) | Hornets Nest (702) Sacramento, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | Montana | L 52–67 | 11–9 (4–3) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,772) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | L 75–77 | 11–10 (4–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,709) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 27, 2018 2:00 pm | | Southern Utah | W 69–66 | 12–10 (5–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,851) Bozeman, MT |
| Feb 1, 2018 6:00 pm | | at North Dakota | L 74–75 | 12–11 (5–5) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,885) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | L 63–86 | 12–12 (5–6) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,617) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 8, 2018 2:00 pm | | Sacramento State | W 92–76 | 13–12 (6–6) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,703) Bozeman, MT |
| Feb 10, 2018 2:00 pm | | Portland State | L 77–80 | 13–13 (6–7) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,915) Bozeman, MT |
| Feb 15, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 78–88 | 13–14 (6–8) | Cowan Spectrum (1,019) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 17, 2018 3:00 pm, ELVN | | at Eastern Washington | L 79–84 | 13–15 (6–9) | Reese Court (1,804) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | at Montana | L 63–90 | 13–16 (6–10) | Dahlberg Arena (7,256) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | L 78–101 | 13–17 (6–11) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,872) Bozeman, MT |
| Mar 3, 2018 2:00 pm, ELVN | | Weber State | L 92–95 $^{OT}$ | 13–18 (6–12) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (7,250) Bozeman, MT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 2018 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | (9) | vs. (8) North Dakota First round | L 74–76 | 13–19 | Reno Events Center (986) Reno, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||