# 2017–18 Montana Grizzlies basketball team

The 2017–18 Montana Grizzlies basketball team represented the University of Montana during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Grizzlies, led by fourth-year head coach Travis DeCuire, played their home games at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Montana as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 26–8, 16–2 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. They defeated North Dakota, Northern Colorado, and Eastern Washington to be champions of the Big Sky tournament. They earned the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Michigan.

## Previous season

The Grizzlies finished the 2016–17 season 16–16, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big Sky tournament, they lost to Idaho in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Mario Dunn, Jr. | 1 | G | 6'0" | 185 | Senior | Oakland, CA | Graduated |
| Walter Wright | 5 | G | 5'10" | 161 | Senior | Waterbury, CT | Graduated |
| Alphonso Anderson | 10 | F | 6'6" | 218 | Freshman | Tacoma, WA | Transferred to Moberly Area CC |
| Gavin DeJong | 30 | F | 6'6" | 215 | RS Sophomore | Manhattan, MT | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Jack Lopez | 31 | F | 6'5" | 208 | Senior | Bankstown, Australia | Graduated |
| Aaron Misipeka-Ward | 32 | G | 6'2" | 198 | Senior | Florence, MT | Graduated |
| Jared Samuelson | 33 | F | 6'7" | 213 | RS Freshman | Billings, MT | Transferred to Rocky Mountain College |
| Brandon Gfeller | 34 | G | 6'4" | 189 | Senior | Colfax, WA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Niko Bevens | 3 | G | 6'6" | 175 | Sophomore | Beaverton, OR | Junior college transferred from North Idaho College |

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Timmy Falls #63 SG | Dublin, CA | Dublin High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Feb 20, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Joirdon Nicholas SF | Pearland, TX | Glenda Dawson High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A | Sep 16, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Kelby Kramer C | Rock Springs, WY | Rock Springs High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Oct 31, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: 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 August 26, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 6, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Saskatchewan | W 85–44 | | Dahlberg Arena (2,404) Missoula, MT |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Whitworth | W 72–60 | 1–0 | Dahlberg Arena (3,056) Missoula, MT |
| Nov 13, 2017* 5:00 pm, ACCNX | | at Pittsburgh Legends Classic | W 83–78 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Peterson Events Center (3,102) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 5:00 pm, BTN | | at Penn State Legends Classic | L 57–70 | 2–1 | Bryce Jordan Center (5,854) University Park, PA |
| Nov 20, 2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. Oral Roberts Legends Classic visitors semifinals | W 69–64 | 3–1 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,682) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 6:00 pm | | vs. UC Santa Barbara Legends Classic visitors championship | L 73–80 | 3–2 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,239) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 26, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Carroll (MT) | W 86–75 | 4–2 | Dahlberg Arena (2,804) Missoula, MT |
| Nov 29, 2017* 8:00 pm, P12N | | at Stanford | L 54–70 | 4–3 | Maples Pavilion (3,145) Stanford, CA |
| Dec 3, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Cal State Northridge | W 86–68 | 5–3 | Dahlberg Arena (2,734) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 6, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at UCLA Canceled (Skirball fire) | | | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 12:00 pm | | at Georgia State | L 68–71 | 5–4 | GSU Sports Arena (1,224) Atlanta, GA |
| Dec 17, 2017* 1:00 pm | | UC Riverside | W 77–61 | 6–4 | Dahlberg Arena (2,817) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | UC Irvine | W 86–68 | 7–4 | Dahlberg Arena (3,106) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 22, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington | L 63–66 | 7–5 | Alaska Airlines Arena (5,915) Seattle, WA |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 6:30 pm | | at Northern Arizona | W 87–69 | 8–5 (1–0) | Walkup Skydome (604) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Dec 30, 2017 12:30 pm | | at Southern Utah | W 79–49 | 9–5 (2–0) | America First Events Center (1,263) Cedar City, UT |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | North Dakota | W 109–79 | 10–5 (3–0) | Dahlberg Arena (3,220) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 89–80 | 11–5 (4–0) | Dahlberg Arena (4,119) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 11, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 78–66 | 12–5 (5–0) | Hornets Nest (721) Sacramento, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Portland State | W 92–89 | 13–5 (6–0) | Peter Stott Center (925) Portland, OR |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | at Montana State Brawl of the Wild | W 67–52 | 14–5 (7–0) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (6,772) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | | Southern Utah | W 71–47 | 15–5 (8–0) | Dahlberg Arena (4,040) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 82–64 | 16–5 (9–0) | Dahlberg Arena (5,108) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | W 88–79 | 17–5 (10–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,413) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 3, 2018 3:00 pm, ELVN | | at North Dakota | W 72–67 | 18–5 (11–0) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,089) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | Portland State | W 80–60 | 19–5 (12–0) | Dahlberg Arena (4,082) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ELVN | | Sacramento State | W 71–69 $^{OT}$ | 20–5 (13–0) | Dahlberg Arena (4,592) Missoula, MT |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 65–74 | 20–6 (13–1) | Reese Court (2,354) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 17, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 77–79 $^{OT}$ | 20–7 (13–2) | Cowan Spectrum (1,839) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, SWX MT | | Montana State Brawl of the Wild | W 90–63 | 21–7 (14–2) | Dahlberg Arena (7,256) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Weber State | W 75–57 | 22–7 (15–2) | Dahlberg Arena (4,922) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 75–64 | 23–7 (16–2) | Dahlberg Arena (4,712) Missoula, MT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm, ELVN | (1) | vs. (8) North Dakota Quarterfinals | W 84–76 | 24–7 | Reno Events Center (1,110) Reno, NV |
| Mar 9, 2018 5:30 pm, ELVN | (1) | vs. (5) Northern Colorado Semifinals | W 91–89 | 25–7 | Reno Events Center (1,236) Reno, NV |
| Mar 10, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (3) Eastern Washington Championship | W 82–65 | 26–7 | Reno Events Center (1,378) Reno, NV |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 2018* 7:50 pm, TBS | (14 W) | vs. (3 W) No. 7 Michigan First Round | L 47–61 | 26–8 | Intrust Bank Arena (14,019) Wichita, KS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||