# 2017–18 UAB Blazers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UAB Blazers basketball team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Blazers, led by second-year head coach Robert Ehsan, played their home games at the Bartow Arena as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 20–13, 10–8 C-USA play to finish in sixth place. The defeated Florida Atlantic in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing to Western Kentucky. Despite winning 20 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2016–17 season 17–16, 9–9 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They defeated Charlotte in the first round of the C-USA tournament before losing to Louisiana Tech.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Hakeem Baxter | 0 | G | 6'2" | 186 | Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated |
| Denzell Watts | 1 | G | 6'2" | 235 | Senior | Flint, MI | Graduated |
| Javien Williams | 10 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Freshman | Birmingham, AL | Transferred to Tallahassee CC |
| Dirk Williams | 11 | G | 6'5" | 178 | Senior | Homewood, AL | Graduated |
| Tosin Mehinti | 21 | F | 6'9" | 244 | Senior | Lagos, Nigeria | Graduated |
| Tyler Madison | 22 | G | 6'4" | 222 | Senior | Columbiana, AL | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jalen Perry | 21 | G | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Louisville, KY | Junior college transferred from John A. Logan College. |

### Incoming recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Makhtar Gueye #64 PF | Lake Forest, IL | ASPIRE Basketball Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | N/A | Oct 24, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Luis Hurtado #83 SG | Weston, FL | The Sagemont School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 17, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| Zack Bryant PG | Jacksonville, FL | Providence School of Jacksonville | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Aug 9, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A 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. ||||||

### Recruiting class of 2018

College recruiting information (2018) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tamel Pearson #31 C | Chicago, IL | Morgan Park High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | N/A | Sep 4, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 79 |||||||
| Ryan Boyce SF | Memphis, TN | East High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 13, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Jude Akabueze C | Lagos, Nigeria | North Marion High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 208 lb (94 kg) | Nov 19, 2017 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Morehouse | W 84–69 | | Bartow Arena (3,203) Birmingham, AL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10* 7:00 pm | | Jacksonville | W 96–67 | 1–0 | Bartow Arena (3,106) Birmingham, AL |
| November 13* 7:00 pm | | Chattanooga Cayman Islands Classic campus site game | W 89–47 | 2–0 | Bartow Arena (2,985) Birmingham, AL |
| November 16* 7:00 pm | | LeMoyne–Owen | W 81–57 | 3–0 | Bartow Arena (2,828) Birmingham, AL |
| November 20* 4:00 pm | | vs. Richmond Cayman Islands Classic quarterfinals | L 50–63 | 3–1 | John Gray Gymnasium (650) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 21* 4:00 pm | | vs. Buffalo Cayman Islands Classic consolation round | L 91–96 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | John Gray Gymnasium (404) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 22* 11:00 am | | vs. Iowa Cayman Islands Classic 7th place game | L 85–95 | 3–3 | John Gray Gymnasium (1,020) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 26* 3:00 pm | | Mississippi College | W 90–53 | 4–3 | Bartow Arena (3,222) Birmingham, AL |
| November 30* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | Memphis Bartow Classic | W 71–56 | 5–3 | Bartow Arena (4,920) Birmingham, AL |
| December 5* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Troy | W 90–78 | 6–3 | Trojan Arena (3,213) Troy, AL |
| December 9* 3:30 pm, SECN | | at Auburn Rivalry | L 80–85 | 6–4 | Auburn Arena (7,965) Auburn, AL |
| December 16* 2:15 pm | | vs. Alabama A&M BHM JAM | W 90–58 | 7–4 | Legacy Arena (7,209) Birmingham, AL |
| December 20* 7:00 pm | | New Orleans | W 74–67 | 8–4 | Bartow Arena (3,229) Birmingham, AL |
| December 23* 2:00 pm | | Mississippi Valley State | W 74–57 | 9–4 | Bartow Arena (2,783) Birmingham, AL |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| December 30 4:00 pm, Stadium | | Middle Tennessee | L 60–63 | 9–5 (0–1) | Bartow Arena (4,143) Birmingham, AL |
| January 4, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Florida Atlantic | W 75–44 | 10–5 (1–1) | FAU Arena (1,091) Boca Raton, FL |
| January 6 6:00 pm | | at FIU | W 75–64 | 11–5 (2–1) | FIU Arena (515) Miami, FL |
| January 11 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 86–75 | 12–5 (3–1) | Bartow Arena (3,351) Birmingham, AL |
| January 13 4:00 pm, Stadium | | Louisiana Tech | W 74–62 | 13–5 (4–1) | Bartow Arena (3,743) Birmingham, AL |
| January 18 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at WKU | L 69–77 | 13–6 (4–2) | E. A. Diddle Arena (5,643) Bowling Green, KY |
| January 20 6:00 pm | | at Marshall | L 78–86 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (4–3) | Cam Henderson Center (6,740) Huntington, WV |
| January 25 7:00 pm, beIN | | UTEP | W 85–78 | 14–7 (5–3) | Bartow Arena (3,013) Birmingham, AL |
| January 27 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UTSA | L 70–82 | 14–8 (5–4) | Bartow Arena (4,259) Birmingham, AL |
| February 1 6:00 pm | | at Charlotte | W 76–64 | 15–8 (6–4) | Halton Arena (3,266) Charlotte, NC |
| February 3 6:00 pm | | at Old Dominion | L 60–65 | 15–9 (6–5) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,481) Norfolk, VA |
| February 8 7:00 pm | | North Texas | L 60–67 | 15–10 (6–6) | Bartow Arena (3,383) Birmingham, AL |
| February 10 7:00 pm | | Rice | W 61–56 | 16–10 (7–6) | Bartow Arena (3,703) Birmingham, AL |
| February 15 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Louisiana Tech | L 60–73 | 16–11 (7–7) | Thomas Assembly Center (3,562) Ruston, LA |
| February 17 4:00 pm | | at Southern Miss | W 87–69 | 17–11 (8–7) | Reed Green Coliseum (2,405) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 24 6:00 pm, Stadium | | at No. 24 Middle Tennessee | L 54–79 | 17–12 (8–8) | Murphy Center (9,717) Murfreesboro, TN |
| March 1 7:00 pm, beIN | | Marshall | W 91–77 | 18–12 (9–8) | Bartow Arena (3,156) Birmingham, AL |
| March 4 7:00 pm | | WKU | W 101–73 | 19–12 (10–8) | Bartow Arena (4,363) Birmingham, AL |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| March 7 9:00 pm, Stadium | (6) | vs. (11) Florida Atlantic First round | W 83–72 | 20–12 | The Ford Center at The Star (5,198) Frisco, TX |
| March 7 9:00 pm, Stadium | (6) | vs. (3) WKU Quarterfinals | L 70–98 | 20–13 | The Ford Center at The Star (2,531) Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
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