# 2017–18 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by eighth-year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 11–5 in Big West play, to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara before losing to Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.

## Previous season

The Anteaters finished the 2016–17 season 21–15, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season Big West championship, the school's fifth regular season title. They defeated UC Riverside in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament and the Long Beach State in the semifinals before falling to UC Davis in the championship game. As a regular season champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Anteaters received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 8 seed. There, they lost to No. 1 seed Illinois State in the first round. The season marked the school's fifth straight season with at least 20 wins.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jaron Martin | 0 | G | 5'10" | 170 | Senior | Sunland, CA | Graduated |
| Luke Nelson | 10 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Worthing, England | Graduated |
| Ioannis Dimakopoulos | 12 | C | 7'2" | 255 | Senior | Patras, Greece | Graduated |
| Adam Liberman | 32 | C | 6'10" | 240 | Freshman | Valley Village, CA | Walk-on; did not return |

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Solomon Ruddell #64 C | Morro Bay, CA | The Hill School | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Collin Welp #95 PF | Seattle, WA | Seattle Prep | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: 63 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: n/a Rivals: n/a ESPN: n/a ||||||
| 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: "ESPN – UC Irvine Basketball Recruiting 2017". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Alaska Anchorage | W 73–66 | | Bren Events Center (3,035) Irvine, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 6:15 pm | | at South Dakota State | L 54–65 | 0–1 | Frost Arena (2,669) Brookings, SD |
| Nov 12, 2017* 3:00 pm, Altitude | | at Denver | W 83–69 | 1–1 | Magness Arena (1,202) Denver, CO |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Chapman | W 91–52 | 2–1 | Bren Events Center (1,241) Irvine, CA |
| Nov 17, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kansas State Las Vegas Invitational | L 49–71 | 2–2 | Bramlage Coliseum (6,451) Manhattan, KS |
| Nov 19, 2017* 11:00 am, P12N | | at Arizona State Las Vegas Invitational | L 78–99 | 2–3 | Wells Fargo Arena (5,394) Tempe, AZ |
| Nov 23, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. Rider Las Vegas Invitational | L 82–90 | 2–4 | Orleans Arena (3,245) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 24, 2017* 11:00 am | | vs. Northern Arizona Las Vegas Invitational | W 77–71 | 3–4 | Orleans Arena (3,325) Paradise, NV |
| Nov 26, 2017* 3:00 pm, P12N | | at No. 23 UCLA | L 63–87 | 3–5 | Pauley Pavilion (8,329) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Whittier | W 112–65 | 4–5 | Bren Events Center (1,050) Irvine, CA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Nevada | L 65–76 | 4–6 | Bren Events Center (1,869) Irvine, CA |
| Dec 6, 2017* 6:00 pm, MWN | | at Utah State | L 59–62 | 4–7 | Smith Spectrum (5,443) Logan, UT |
| Dec 9, 2017* 6:00 pm, WAC Digital | | at UTRGV | L 59–73 | 4–8 | UTRGV Fieldhouse (602) Edinburg, TX |
| Dec 16, 2018* 5:00 pm, W.TV | | at Saint Mary's | L 66–73 | 4–9 | McKeon Pavilion (2,809) Moraga, CA |
| Dec 19, 2017* 6:00 pm, Big Sky TV/Pluto TV | | at Montana | L 68–86 | 4–10 | Dahlberg Arena (3,106) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 21, 2017* 6:30 pm, Big Sky TV/Pluto TV | | vs. Idaho Boise Showcase | W 67–59 | 5–10 | CenturyLink Arena (4,096) Boise, ID |
| Dec 28, 2017* 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | New Mexico State | L 60–65 | 5–11 | Bren Events Center (2,036) Irvine, CA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | at UC Davis | L 53–64 | 5–12 (0–1) | The Pavilion (1,203) Davis, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | Long Beach State Black & Blue Rivalry | W 86–73 | 6–12 (1–1) | Bren Events Center (1,723) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:30 pm, FS West | | Cal State Fullerton | L 64–67 | 6–13 (1–2) | Bren Events Center (1,484) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | at Cal State Northridge | W 71–54 | 7–13 (2–2) | Matadome (559) Northridge, CA |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal Poly | W 80–73 | 8–13 (3–2) | Bren Events Center (1,429) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 58–70 | 8–14 (3–3) | The Thunderdome (3,823) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UC Riverside | W 79–40 | 9–14 (4–3) | Bren Events Center (1,361) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:30 pm, FS Prime Ticket | | at Long Beach State Black & Blue Rivalry | W 75–68 | 10–14 (5–3) | Walter Pyramid (2,833) Long Beach, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 63–25 | 11–14 (6–3) | Titan Gym (1,506) Fullerton, CA |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | W 77–56 | 12–14 (7–3) | Bren Events Center (1,198) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm, Big West TV | | at UC Riverside | W 62–52 | 13–14 (8–3) | The SRC (504) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 15, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hawaii | L 61–62 | 13–15 (8–4) | Bren Events Center (1,424) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm, Big West TV | | at Cal Poly | W 75–58 | 14–15 (9–4) | Mott Gym (2,403) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:30 pm, FS Prime Ticket | | UC Santa Barbara Homecoming | W 69–49 | 15–15 (10–4) | Bren Events Center (2,318) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 10:00 pm, Spectrum Sports HI | | at Hawaii | W 66–57 | 16–15 (11–4) | Stan Sheriff Center (7,353) Honolulu, HI |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | UC Davis | L 84–90 $^{OT2}$ | 16–16 (11–5) | Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 6:00 pm, FS West/Prime Ticket | (3) | vs. (6) Hawaii Quarterfinals | W 68–67 | 17–16 | Honda Center (3,311) Anaheim, CA |
| Mar 9, 2018 9:30 pm, ESPNU | (3) | vs. (2) UC Santa Barbara Quarterfinals | W 61–58 | 18–16 | Honda Center (3,984) Anaheim, CA |
| Mar 10, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (3) | vs. (4) Cal State Fullerton Championship game | L 55–71 | 18–17 | Honda Center (5,664) Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||
Source