# 2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by third-year head coach Matt McMahon, played their home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–6, 16–2 in OVC play to win the OVC regular season championship. They defeated Jacksonville State and Belmont to become champions of the OVC tournament. They earned the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to West Virginia.

## Previous season

The Racers finished the 2016–17 season 16–17, 8–8 in OVC play to finish in third place in the West Division. As the No. 7 seed in the OVC tournament, they defeated Tennessee Tech and Morehead State before losing to UT Martin in the semifinals.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Murray State was picked to finish in 3rd place in the OVC. Jonathan Stark was picked as the Preseason OVC Player of the Year, and Terrell Miller was also 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 will play 18 conference games.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | McKendree | W 98–82 | | CFSB Center Murray, KY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Brescia | W 118–61 | 1–0 | CFSB Center (2,993) Murray, KY |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Middle Tennessee | L 67–72 | 1–1 | CFSB Center (3,854) Murray, KY |
| Nov 18, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wright State | W 80–61 | 2–1 | Nutter Center (4,009) Fairborn, OH |
| Nov 25, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern Illinois | W 81–73 | 3–1 | CFSB Center (3,062) Murray, KY |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Harris–Stowe | W 85–56 | 4–1 | CFSB Center (2,542) Murray, KY |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Florida A&M | W 80–59 | 5–1 | CFSB Center (3,021) Murray, KY |
| Dec 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, NBCSC | | at Illinois State | W 78–72 | 6–1 | Redbird Arena (5,150) Normal, IL |
| Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at Saint Louis | L 55–69 | 6–2 | Chaifetz Arena (4,971) St. Louis, MO |
| Dec 16, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Marist | W 100–63 | 7–2 | CFSB Center (2,250) Murray, KY |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Auburn | L 77–81 | 7–3 | CFSB Center (6,478) Murray, KY |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 81–72 | 8–3 | Calihan Hall (1,107) Detroit, MI |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | Eastern Illinois | W 80–52 | 9–3 (1–0) | CFSB Center (2,846) Murray, KY |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm | | SIU Edwardsville | W 87–63 | 10–3 (2–0) | CFSB Center (2,986) Murray, KY |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | Southeast Missouri State | W 89–73 | 11–3 (3–0) | CFSB Center (2,728) Murray, KY |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | UT Martin | W 82–58 | 12–3 (4–0) | CFSB Center (4,781) Murray, KY |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Jacksonville State | L 71–76 | 12–4 (4–1) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (3,004) Jacksonville, AL |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Tennessee Tech | W 71–45 | 13–4 (5–1) | Eblen Center (2,054) Cookeville, TN |
| Jan 18, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Belmont | L 72–79 | 13–5 (5–2) | Curb Event Center (2,354) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Tennessee State | W 76–57 | 14–5 (6–2) | Gentry Complex (2,611) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 25, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | Morehead State | W 87–81 | 15–5 (7–2) | CFSB Center (4,454) Murray, KY |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 88–73 | 16–5 (8–2) | CFSB Center (4,070) Murray, KY |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 87–75 | 17–5 (9–2) | Show Me Center (2,035) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Feb 03, 2018 6:00 pm | | at UT Martin | W 66–53 | 18–5 (10–2) | Skyhawk Arena (3,247) Martin, TN |
| Feb 8, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | Austin Peay | W 84–63 | 19–5 (11–2) | CFSB Center (4,339) Murray, KY |
| Feb 10, 2018 1:00 pm, FSMW | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 75–66 | 20–5 (12–2) | Vadalabene Center (1,517) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | Jacksonville State | W 68–60 | 21–5 (13–2) | CFSB Center (3,902) Murray, KY |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | Tennessee Tech | W 75–65 | 22–5 (14–2) | CFSB Center (6,495) Murray, KY |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Eastern Illinois | W 76–66 | 23–5 (15–2) | Lantz Arena (1,313) Charleston, IL |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Austin Peay | W 73–64 | 24–5 (16–2) | Dunn Center (4,343) Clarksville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) | vs. (4) Jacksonville State Semifinals | W 70–63 | 25–5 | Ford Center (3,403) Evansville, IN |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (2) Belmont Championship | W 68–51 | 26–5 | Ford Center (4,280) Evansville, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2018* 3:00 pm, TNT | (12 E) | vs. (5 E) No. 15 West Virginia First Round | L 68–85 | 26–6 | Viejas Arena (10,892) San Diego, CA |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West Source. All times are in Central Time. ||||||