# 2017–18 Penn Quakers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Penn Quakers men's basketball team represented the University of Pennsylvania during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Quakers, led by third-year head coach Steve Donahue, played their home games at The Palestra as members of the Ivy League. They finished the season 24–9, 12–2 in Ivy League play to win a share of the Ivy League regular season championship with Harvard. In the Ivy League tournament, they defeated Yale and Harvard to become Ivy League Tournament champions. They received the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Kansas.

## Previous season

The Quakers finished the 2016–17 season 13–15, 6–8 in Ivy League play to finish in fourth place. They lost in the semifinals of the inaugural Ivy League tournament to Princeton.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dylan Jones | 13 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Senior | Houston, TX | Graduate transferred to Rice |
| Shawn Simmons | 23 | G | 6'4" | 170 | Junior | Virginia Beach, VA | Eligibility ended |
| Matt Howard | 24 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Senior | Columbia, SC | Graduated |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordan Salzman PG | Locust Valley, NY | Locust Valley High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Mar 2, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Eddie Scott SF | Bowie, MD | Gonzaga College High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Jul 29, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jelani Willams SG | Washington, DC | Sidwell Friends School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Sep 4, 2016 |
| Recruiting 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. Retrieved November 21, 2017. ||||||

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Eze Dike #78 PG | Meridian, NH | Kimball Union Academy | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Mar 2, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 62 |||||||
| 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. Retrieved November 21, 2017. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 1:00 pm | | at Fairfield | L 72–80 | 0–1 | Webster Bank Arena Bridgeport, CT |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, NBCSP | | La Salle Big 5 | L 71–75 $^{2OT}$ | 0–2 | Palestra (2,073) Philadelphia, PA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Navy | W 66–45 | 1–2 | Palestra (2,051) Philadelphia, PA |
| Nov 18, 2017* 11:30 am | | Penn State Brandywine | W 99–40 | 2–2 | Palestra (2,007) Philadelphia, PA |
| Nov 20, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. Northern Illinois Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | W 93–80 | 3–2 | Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:30 pm | | vs. Towson Gulf Coast Showcase semifinals | L 71–79 | 3–3 | Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL |
| Nov 22, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. UMKC Gulf Coast Showcase 3rd place game | W 68–65 | 4–3 | Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL |
| Nov 25, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Monmouth | W 101–96 $^{4OT}$ | 5–3 | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,425) West Long Branch, NJ |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | at No. 4 Villanova Big 5 | L 62–90 | 5–4 | Jake Nevin Field House (2,200) Villanova, PA |
| Dec 4, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Howard | W 81–68 | 6–4 | Burr Gymnasium (425) Washington, DC |
| Dec 6, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at Lafayette | W 73–68 | 7–4 | Kirby Sports Center (1,328) Easton, PA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 3:00 pm, NBCSN | | at Dayton | W 78–70 | 8–4 | UD Arena (13,350) Dayton, OH |
| Dec 27, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Delaware State | W 105–52 | 9–4 | Palestra (2,011) Philadelphia, PA |
| Dec 29, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Toledo | L 72–85 | 9–5 | Palestra (2,316) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 5, 2018 7:00 pm, NBCSP+ | | Princeton Rivalry | W 76–70 | 10–5 (1–0) | Palestra (3,789) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 12, 2018 8:00 pm | | Cornell | W 69–61 | 11–5 (2–0) | Palestra (2,176) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm | | Columbia | W 77–71 | 12–5 (3–0) | Palestra (2,084) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 20, 2018* 2:00 pm, NBCSP | | Temple Big 5 | L 51–60 | 12–6 | Palestra (7,233) Philadelphia, PA |
| Jan 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, NBCSP | | Saint Joseph's Big 5 | W 67–56 | 13–6 | Palestra (7,682) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 2, 2018 7:00 pm | | Brown | W 95–90 | 14–6 (4–0) | Palestra (2,518) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm, NBCSP | | Yale | W 59–50 | 15–6 (5–0) | Palestra (2,518) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 6, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Princeton Rivalry | W 82–65 | 16-6 (6-0) | Jadwin Gymnasium (2,115) Princeton, NJ |
| Feb 9, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Dartmouth | W 64–61 | 17–6 (7–0) | Leede Arena (659) Hanover, NH |
| Feb 10, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Harvard | L 67–76 | 17–7 (7–1) | Lavietes Pavilion (1,636) Boston, MA |
| Feb 16, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Columbia | W 74–62 | 18–7 (8–1) | Levien Gymnasium (2,008) New York, NY |
| Feb 17, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Cornell | W 79–71 | 19–7 (9–1) | Newman Arena (2,283) Ithaca, NY |
| Feb 23, 2018 7:00 pm | | Dartmouth | W 74–46 | 20–7 (10–1) | Palestra (2,355) Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | Harvard | W 74–71 | 21–7 (11–1) | Palestra (6,586) Philadelphia, PA |
| Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ELVN | | at Yale | L 79–80 | 21–8 (11–2) | John J. Lee Amphitheater (1,380) New Haven, CT |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Brown | W 99–93 | 22–8 (12–2) | Pizzitola Sports Center (1,192) Providence, RI |
| Ivy League tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | (2) | (3) Yale Semifinals | W 80–57 | 23–8 | Palestra Philadelphia, PA |
| Mar 11, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | (1) Harvard Championship | W 68–65 | 24–8 | Palestra (5,564) Philadelphia, PA |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, TBS | (16 MW) | vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Kansas First Round | L 60–76 | 24–9 | Intrust Bank Arena (14,390) Wichita, KS |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||