# 2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team represented Jacksonville State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by second-year head coach Ray Harper, played their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 23–13, 11–7 in OVC play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Tennessee Tech in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Murray State. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Canisius and Central Arkansas to advance to the semifinals where they lost to North Texas.

## Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2016–17 season 20–15, 9–7 in OVC play, to finish in third place in the East Division. As the No. 4 seed in the OVC tournament, they defeated Southeast Missouri State, top-seeded Belmont and UT Martin to win the tournament title. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, its first-ever appearance, where it lost in the first round to Louisville.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Jacksonville State was picked to finish in 2nd place in the OVC. Malcolm Drumwright and Norbertas Giga were named to the 2017–18 preseason all-OVC men's basketball team.
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 played 18 conference games.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Delta State | W 78–41 | | Pete Mathews Coliseum (547) Jacksonville, AL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Tennessee Wesleyan | W 100–42 | 1–0 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,524) Jacksonville, AL |
| November 13, 2017* 11:00 a.m., NBCSW | | at Richmond Cayman Islands Classic | W 91–64 | 2–0 | Robins Center (6,805) Richmond, VA |
| November 15, 2017* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Buffalo Cayman Islands Classic | L 76–81 | 2–1 | Alumni Arena (2,319) Amherst, NY |
| November 20, 2017* 4:00 p.m. | | vs. Savannah State Cayman Islands Classic Mainland semifinals | W 86–71 | 3–1 | McKenzie Arena (2,332) Chattanooga, TN |
| November 21, 2017* 7:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | vs. Chattanooga Cayman Islands Classic Mainland finals | W 77–75 $^{OT}$ | 4–1 | McKenzie Arena (2,211) Chattanooga, TN |
| November 26, 2017* 2:00 p.m., SECN+ | | at Mississippi State | L 56–59 | 4–2 | Humphrey Coliseum (6,034) Starkville, MS |
| November 30, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Alabama State | W 77–69 | 5–2 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,769) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 3, 2017* 2:00 p.m. | | Samford | W 89–58 | 6–2 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,018) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 9, 2017* 1:00 p.m. | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 75–56 | 7–2 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,154) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 12, 2017* 9:00 p.m., P12N | | at Oregon State | L 69–70 | 7–3 | Gill Coliseum (3,900) Corvallis, OR |
| December 16, 2017* 3:00 p.m. | | USC Upstate | W 77–61 | 8–3 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,222) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 18, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | Howard | W 62–60 | 9–3 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,008) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 21, 2017* 12:00 p.m. | | Chattanooga | L 67–70 | 9–4 | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,002) Jacksonville, AL |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2017 7:30 p.m. | | Eastern Kentucky | W 76–58 | 10–4 (1–10) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,137) Jacksonville, AL |
| December 30, 2017 4:30 p.m. | | Morehead State | W 76–69 | 11–4 (2–0) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,011) Jacksonville, AL |
| January 4, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | at Tennessee State | L 60–67 | 11–5 (2–1) | Gentry Complex (831) Nashville, TN |
| January 6, 2018 5:00 p.m. | | at Belmont | W 64–60 | 12–5 (3–1) | Curb Event Center (1,789) Nashville, TN |
| January 11, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | Murray State | W 76–71 | 13–5 (4–1) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (3,004) Jacksonville, AL |
| January 13, 2018 4:30 p.m. | | Austin Peay | L 67–87 | 13–6 (4–2) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,933) Jacksonville, AL |
| January 18, 2018 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Morehead State | W 58–57 | 14–6 (5–2) | Ellis Johnson Arena (3,673) Morehead, KY |
| January 20, 2018 6:00 p.m. | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 68–60 | 15–6 (6–2) | McBrayer Arena (1,610) Richmond, KY |
| January 25, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | UT Martin | L 63–67 | 15–7 (6–3) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,482) Jacksonville, AL |
| January 27, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Southeast Missouri State | W 78–60 | 16–7 (7–3) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,688) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 1, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | at Eastern Illinois | W 75–56 | 17–7 (8–3) | Lantz Arena (1,643) Charleston, IL |
| February 3, 2018 1:00 p.m. | | at SIU Edwardsville | L 67–75 | 17–8 (8–4) | Vadalabene Center (1,507) Edwardsville, IL |
| February 8, 2018 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Tennessee Tech | W 82–65 | 18–8 (9–4) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,009) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 10, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | Tennessee State | L 47–65 | 18–9 (9–5) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,876) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 15, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at Murray State | L 60–68 | 18–10 (9–6) | CFSB Center (3,902) Murray, KY |
| February 17, 2018 7:00 p.m. | | at Austin Peay | L 57–60 | 18–11 (9–7) | Dunn Center (2,353) Clarksville, TN |
| February 22, 2018 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Belmont | W 78–67 | 19–11 (10–7) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,393) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 24, 2018 7:30 p.m. | | at Tennessee Tech | W 66–57 | 20–11 (11–7) | Eblen Center (2,757) Cookeville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| March 1, 2018 6:30 p.m. | (4) | vs. (5) Tennessee Tech Quarterfinals | W 73–70 | 21–11 | Ford Center (914) Evansville, IN |
| March 2, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | (4) | vs. (1) Murray State Semifinals | L 63–70 | 21–12 | Ford Center (3,403) Evansville, IN |
| CBI ||||||
| March 14, 2018* 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Canisius First round | W 80–78 $^{OT}$ | 22–12 | Koessler Athletic Center (870) Buffalo, NY |
| March 15, 2018* 7:00 p.m. | | at Central Arkansas Quarterfinals | W 80–59 | 23–12 | Farris Center (2,570) Conway, AR |
| March 21, 2018* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at North Texas Semifinals | L 68–90 | 23–13 | The Super Pit (2,784) Denton, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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