# 2017–18 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 East Tennessee Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by third-year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee as of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 25–9, 14–4 in SoCon play to finish in second place. They defeated Chattanooga and Furman to advance to the championship game of the SoCon tournament where they lost to UNC Greensboro. Despite having 25 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2016–17 season 27–8, 14–4 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for the SoCon regular season championship. They defeated Mercer, Samford and UNC Greensboro to become champions of the SoCon tournament. They earned the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Florida.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Kentucky | L 63–81 | 0–1 | BB&T Arena (3,586) Highland Heights, KY |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Savannah State Adolph Rupp Classic | W 76–61 | 1–1 | Tiger Arena (965) Savannah, GA |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 7 Kentucky Adolph Rupp Classic | L 61–78 | 1–2 | Rupp Arena (20,378) Lexington, KY |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Delaware State Adolph Rupp Classic | W 81–57 | 2–2 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,562) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Troy Adolph Rupp Classic | L 65–73 | 2–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 25, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fort Wayne Adolph Rupp Classic | W 83–73 | 3–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,919) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Fordham | W 82–77 | 4–3 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,158) Bronx, NY |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Kentucky | W 84–71 | 5–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,484) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hiwassee | W 94–48 | 6–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,321) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 16, 2017* 2:00 pm, FSN | | at No. 10 Xavier | L 66–68 | 6–4 | Cintas Center (10,432) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 81–73 | 7–4 | Calihan Hall (893) Detroit, MI |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Georgia Southern | W 79–59 | 8–4 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,050) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 28, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Tusculum | W 84–65 | 9–4 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,218) Johnson City, TN |
| SoCon regular season ||||||
| Dec 31, 2017 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Mercer | W 74–55 | 10–4 (1–0) | Hawkins Arena (3,069) Macon, GA |
| Jan 4, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 90–72 | 11–4 (2–0) | Pete Hanna Center (894) Homewood, AL |
| Jan 6, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 85–66 | 12–4 (3–0) | McKenzie Arena (4,444) Chattanooga, TN |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | W 68–58 | 13–4 (4–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,038) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 13, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | VMI | W 89–48 | 14–4 (5–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,218) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | W 62–61 | 15–4 (6–0) | Timmons Arena (1,806) Greenville, SC |
| Jan 20, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Carolina | W 66-50 | 16-4 (7-0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,412) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer | W 84–75 | 17–4 (8–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,770) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wofford | W 75–62 | 18–4 (9–0) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (3,400) Spartanburg, SC |
| Jan 29, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at The Citadel | W 73–71 | 19–4 (10–0) | McAlister Field House (412) Charleston, SC |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 96–76 | 20–4 (11–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,019) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | W 81–61 | 21–4 (12–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (6,149) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 10, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at VMI | W 70–56 | 22–4 (13–0) | Cameron Hall (3,253) Lexington, VA |
| Feb 12, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNC Greensboro | L 56–74 | 22–5 (13–1) | Greensboro Coliseum (4,179) Greensboro, NC |
| Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 72–61 | 23–5 (14–1) | Ramsey Center (1,836) Cullowhee, NC |
| Feb 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | L 82–84 | 23–6 (14–2) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,911) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | L 71–75 | 23–7 (14–3) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (6,005) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 25, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Furman | L 76–79 | 23–8 (14–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,908) Johnson City, TN |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| Mar 3, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (10) Chattanooga Quarterfinals | W 77–59 | 24–8 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,431) Asheville, NC |
| Mar 4, 2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (3) Furman Semifinals | W 63–52 | 25–8 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,546) Asheville, NC |
| Mar 5, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (1) UNC Greensboro Championship game | L 47–62 | 25–9 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,823) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||