# 2017–18 Austin Peay Governors basketball team

The 2017–18 Austin Peay Governors men's basketball team represented Austin Peay State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Governors, led by first-year head coach Matt Figger, played their home games at the Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 19–15, 12–6 in OVC play to finish in third place. They defeated Eastern Illinois in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Belmont. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Louisiana–Monroe in the first round, a game referred to as the Coach John McLendon Classic, and received a second round bye before losing in the quarterfinals to UIC.

## Previous season

The Governors finished the 2016–17 season 11–19, 7–9 in OVC play to finish in fourth place in the West Division. They failed to qualify for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.
On March 2, 2017, head coach Dave Loos announced his retirement. He had been undergoing cancer treatment during the season, and had taken a medical leave in January 2017, missing four games. He finished with a 27 year record of 420–410. On April 3, South Carolina assistant Matt Figger was hired as the new head coach of APSU.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Austin Peay was picked to finish in 11th 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 |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Sewanee | W 95–78 | | Dunn Center (1,974) Clarksville, TN |
| Non-conference regular Season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:30 pm, SECN | | at Vanderbilt NIT Season Tip-Off | L 54–73 | 0–1 | Memorial Gymnasium (8,609) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 13, 2017* 6:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Virginia NIT Season Tip-Off | L 49–93 | 0–2 | John Paul Jones Arena (12,995) Charlottesville, VA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Oakland City NIT Season Tip-Off | W 109–50 | 1–2 | Dunn Center (1,178) Clarksville, TN |
| Nov 19, 2017* 2:00 pm | | UNC Asheville NIT Season Tip-Off | L 79–82 $^{OT}$ | 1–3 | Dunn Center (2,017) Clarksville, TN |
| Nov 22, 2017* 3:00 pm | | Bethel (TN) Played at Fort Campbell military installation | W 90–58 | 2–3 | Shaw Fitness Center (726) Hopkinsville, KY |
| Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Miami (OH) | W 86–61 | 3–3 | Dunn Center (1,164) Clarksville, TN |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSOK+ | | at Oklahoma State | L 63–79 | 3–4 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (4,697) Stillwater, OK |
| Dec 2, 2017* 3:30 pm | | Alabama A&M | W 67–47 | 4–4 | Dunn Center (1,417) Clarksville, TN |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | L 57–64 | 4–5 | State Farm Center (12,352) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 16, 2017* 3:00 pm | | at Evansville | L 74–78 | 4–6 | Ford Center (3,403) Evansville, IN |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Troy | W 75–73 | 5–6 | Dunn Center (1,51) Clarksville, TN |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Western Kentucky | L 55–72 | 5–7 | Dunn Center (2,023) Clarksville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | SIU Edwardsville | W 78–58 | 6–7 (1–0) | Dunn Center (1,648) Clarksville, TN |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois | W 70–54 | 7–7 (2–0) | Dunn Center (2,051) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 4, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | UT Martin | W 75–69 | 8–7 (3–0) | Dunn Center (1,737) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | Southeast Missouri State | W 76–71 | 9–7 (4–0) | Dunn Center (1,825) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Tennessee Tech | L 74–86 | 9–8 (4–1) | Eblen Center (1,334) Cookeville, TN |
| Jan 13, 2018 4:30 pm | | at Jacksonville State | W 87–67 | 10–8 (5–1) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,933) Jacksonville, AL |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Tennessee State | L 56–70 | 10–9 (5–2) | Gentry Complex (1,301) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 20, 2018 5:00 pm | | at Belmont | L 59–83 | 10–10 (5–3) | Curb Event Center (2,731) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 90–84 | 11–10 (6–3) | Dunn Center (2,326) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm | | Morehead State | W 92–76 | 12–10 (7–3) | Dunn Center (2,345) Clarksville, TN |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:30 pm | | at UT Martin | W 59–57 | 13–10 (8–3) | Skyhawk Arena (1,971) Martin, TN |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:15 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 96–81 | 14–10 (9–3) | Show Me Center (2,234) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Feb 8, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Murray State | L 63–84 | 14–11 (9–4) | CFSB Center (4,339) Murray, KY |
| Feb 10, 2018 3:15 pm | | at Eastern Illinois | W 75–69 | 15–11 (10–4) | Lantz Arena (1,407) Charleston, IL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:30 pm | | Tennessee Tech | L 80–86 | 15–12 (10–5) | Dunn Center (1,613) Clarksville, TN |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | Jacksonville State | W 60–57 | 16–12 (11–5) | Dunn Center (2,353) Clarksville, TN |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 86–82 | 17–12 (12–5) | Vadalabene Center (1,583) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | Murray State | L 64–73 | 17–13 (12–6) | Dunn Center (4,343) Clarksville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 1, 2018 9:00 pm | (3) | vs. (7) Eastern Illinois Quarterfinals | W 73–66 | 18–13 | Ford Center (914) Evansville, IN |
| Mar 2, 2018 9:30 pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (2) Belmont Semifinals | L 79–94 | 18–14 | Ford Center (3,403) Evansville, IN |
| CIT ||||||
| Mar 15, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana–Monroe First round – Coach John McLendon Classic | W 80–66 | 19–14 | Dunn Center (1,228) Clarksville, TN |
| Mar 21, 2018* 7:00 pm | | UIC Quarterfinals | L 81–83 | 19–15 | Dunn Center (1,121) Clarksville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||