# 2017–18 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team

The 2017–18 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team represented Tennessee State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers, led by fourth-year head coach Dana Ford, played their home games at the Gentry Complex in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 15–15, 10–8 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They lost in the first round of the OVC tournament to Eastern Illinois.
On March 21, 2018, head coach Dana Ford left Tennessee State for the head coaching job at Missouri State. He finished at Tennessee State with a four-year record of 57–65. On March 26, the school announced that former Illinois State assistant coach Brian Collins had been hired as head coach.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2016–17 season 17–13, 8–8 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fourth place in the East Division. As the No. 8 seed in the OVC tournament, they lost to Southeast Missouri State in the first round.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Tennessee State was picked to finish in 7th place in the OVC.
After five years of divisional play in the OVC, the conference eliminated divisions for the 2017–18 season. Additionally, for the first time, each conference team will play 18 conference games.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 4 Kansas | L 56–92 | 0–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Reinhardt | W 92–53 | 1–1 | Gentry Complex (1,601) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 18, 2017* 3:00 pm | | Middle Tennessee | L 65–75 | 1–2 | Gentry Complex (1,850) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Canisius | W 60–52 | 2–2 | Gentry Complex (807) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 25, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kennesaw State | W 77–74 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | KSU Convocation Center (771) Kennesaw, GA |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Fisk | W 67–53 | 4–2 | Gentry Complex (2,511) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Lipscomb | L 86–95 $^{OT}$ | 4–3 | Gentry Complex (1,201) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Alabama State | W 64–45 | 5–3 | Dunn–Oliver Acadome (362) Montgomery, AL |
| Dec 15, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at North Carolina A&T | L 54–64 | 5–4 | Corbett Sports Center (520) Greensboro, NC |
| Dec 18, 2017* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Texas | L 46–47 | 5–5 | Frank Erwin Center (8,218) Austin, TX |
| Dec 21, 2017* 5:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 16 Purdue | L 48–97 | 5–6 | Mackey Arena (12,679) West Lafayette, IN |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UT Martin | L 60–63 $^{OT}$ | 5–7 (0–1) | Skyhawk Arena (2,009) Martin, TN |
| Dec 31, 2017 1:00 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | L 65–77 | 5–8 (0–2) | Show Me Center (615) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:30 pm | | Jacksonville State | W 67–60 | 6–8 (1–2) | Gentry Complex (831) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 6, 2018 4:00 pm | | Tennessee Tech | L 81–87 | 6–9 (1–3) | Gentry Complex (1,127) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 11, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Eastern Illinois | W 69–65 | 7–9 (2–3) | Lantz Arena (1,313) Charleston, IL |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm | | at SIU Edwardsville | L 79–82 | 7–10 (2–4) | Vadalabene Center (1,346) Edwardsville, IL |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:30 pm | | Austin Peay | W 70–56 | 8–10 (3–4) | Gentry Complex (1,301) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:30 pm | | Murray State | L 57–76 | 8–11 (3–5) | Gentry Complex (2,611) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm | | SIU Edwardsville | W 85–57 | 9–11 (4–5) | Gentry Complex (1,291) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:30 pm | | Eastern Illinois | W 50–47 | 10–11 (5–5) | Gentry Complex (1,344) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 1, 2018 6:30 pm | | at Morehead State | W 61–58 | 11–11 (6–5) | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,237) Morehead, KY |
| Feb 3, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 73–60 | 12–11 (7–5) | McBrayer Arena (1,680) Richmond, KY |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:30 pm | | Belmont | W 64–56 | 13–11 (8–5) | Gentry Complex (5,411) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Jacksonville State | W 65–48 | 14–11 (9–5) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,876) Jacksonville, AL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:30 pm | | Morehead State | W 83–74 | 15–11 (10–5) | Gentry Complex (2,511) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:30 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | L 59–72 | 15–12 (10–6) | Gentry Complex (2,255) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Tennessee Tech | L 64–69 | 15–13 (10–7) | Eblen Center (2,659) Cookeville, TN |
| Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Belmont | L 59–84 | 15–14 (10–8) | Curb Event Center (5,074) Nashville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| Feb 28, 2018 9:00 pm | (6) | vs. (7) Eastern Illinois First round | L 71–73 | 15–15 | Ford Center (654) Evansville, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||