# 2017–18 Rider Broncs men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Rider Broncs men's basketball team represented Rider University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Broncs, led by sixth-year head coach Kevin Baggett, played their home games at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 22–10, 15–3 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for the MAAC regular season championship with Canisius. After tie breakers, they were the No. 1 seed in the MAAC tournament where they were upset in the quarterfinals by Saint Peter's. As a regular season conference champion, and No. 1 seed in their conference tournament, who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Oregon.

## Previous season

The Broncs finished the 2016–17 season 18–15, 10–10 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They defeated Manhattan in the first round of the MAAC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Iona.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Ningbo University (China) | W 115–71 | | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm | | Hampton | W 90–75 | 1–0 | Alumni Gymnasium (1,600) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Nov 13, 2017* 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 15 Xavier Las Vegas Invitational campus game | L 75–101 | 1–1 | Cintas Center (10,224) Cincinnati, OH |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Hartford | W 89–53 | 2–1 | Alumni Gymnasium (1,223) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at George Washington Las Vegas Invitational campus game | W 67–65 | 3–1 | Charles E. Smith Center (2,118) Washington, D.C. |
| Nov 23, 2017* 10:00 pm | | vs. UC Irvine Las Vegas Invitational visitor's bracket semifinals | W 90–82 | 4–1 | Orleans Arena (3,245) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 24, 2017* 10:30 pm | | vs. Hampton Las Vegas Invitational visitor's bracket championship | W 94–80 | 5–1 | Orleans Arena (3,325) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSN | | at Providence | L 84–88 | 5–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (7,255) Providence, RI |
| Dec 2, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at Drexel | L 77–89 | 5–3 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,010) Philadelphia, PA |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Robert Morris | L 75–78 | 5–4 | PPG Paints Arena (864) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Hofstra | L 82–88 | 5–5 | Alumni Gymnasium (1,427) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Dec 16, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Wagner | W 90–84 $^{OT}$ | 6–5 | Alumni Gymnasium (1,328) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | W 71–70 | 7–5 | Bryce Jordan Center (4,217) University Park, PA |
| MAAC regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2017 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Canisius | L 76–77 | 7–6 (0–1) | Koessler Athletic Center (1,049) Buffalo, NY |
| Dec 31, 2017 1:00 pm | | at Niagara | W 99–76 | 8–6 (1–1) | Gallagher Center (870) Lewiston, NY |
| Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm | | Fairfield | W 96–77 | 9–6 (2–1) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,405) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Jan 7, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Manhattan | W 82–76 | 10–6 (3–1) | Draddy Gymnasium (521) Riverdale, NY |
| Jan 12, 2018 7:00 pm | | Quinnipiac | W 78–60 | 11–6 (4–1) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,508) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Jan 14, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Iona | L 64–91 | 11–7 (4–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,193) New Rochelle, NY |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Saint Peter's | W 88–84 | 12–7 (5–2) | Yanitelli Center (555) Jersey City, NJ |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | Marist | W 60–57 | 13–7 (6–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Jan 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield | W 90–88 | 14–7 (7–2) | Webster Bank Arena (1,137) Bridgeport, CT |
| Jan 26, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Saint Peter's | W 63-60 | 15-7 (8-2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Jan 29, 2018 7:00 pm | | Monmouth | W 92–85 | 16–7 (9–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Feb 4, 2018 2:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Quinnipiac | W 74–59 | 17–7 (10–2) | TD Bank Sports Center (1,618) Hamden, CT |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | Manhattan | W 77–73 | 18–7 (11–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,514) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Marist | W 89–79 | 19–7 (12–2) | McCann Field House (1,211) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | Siena | W 97–71 | 20–7 (13–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,519) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Feb 18, 2018 2:00 pm | | Canisius | W 83–82 | 21–7 (14–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Monmouth | L 77–91 | 21–8 (14–3) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,110) West Long Branch, NJ |
| Feb 25, 2018 2:00 pm | | Iona | W 110–101 | 22–8 (15–3) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| MAAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (9) Saint Peter's Quarterfinals | L 55–66 | 22–9 | Times Union Center (2,096) Albany, NY |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 13, 2018* 10:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | at (3) Oregon First Round – Notre Dame Bracket | L 86–99 | 22–10 | Matthew Knight Arena (2,327) Eugene, OR |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||