# 2017–18 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball team represented the Marshall University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thundering Herd, led by fourth-year head coach Dan D'Antoni, played their home games at the Cam Henderson Center as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 25–11, 12–6 in C-USA play to finish in fourth place. They defeated UTSA, Southern Miss, and Western Kentucky to become champions of the C-USA tournament. They received C-USA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where, as a No. 13 seed, they upset Wichita State in the first round before losing to West Virginia in the second round.

## Previous season

The Thundering Herd finished the 2016–17 season 20–15, 10–8 in C-USA play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Florida Atlantic, Old Dominion, and Louisiana Tech to advance to the championship game of the C-USA tournament. There they lost to top-seeded Middle Tennessee. Despite finishing with 20 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ky're Allison | 5 | G | 6'2" | 181 | Freshman | Portsmouth, Ohio | Transferred to Sinclair Community College |
| Stevie Browning | 2 | G | 6'3" | 188 | RS Senior | Logan, West Virginia | Graduated |
| Jacob Kilgore | 4 | F | 6'5" | 191 | Sophomore | Huntington, West Virginia | Walk-on; did not return |
| Austin Loop | 35 | G | 6'4" | 210 | RS Senior | South Webster, Ohio | Graduated |
| Aleksa Nikolić | 21 | G | 6'6.5" | 221 | RS Sophomore | Pančevo, Serbia | Graduated; did not return |
| Ryan Taylor | 25 | F | 6'5" | 249 | RS Senior | Indianapolis, Indiana | Graduated |
| Terrence Thompson | 1 | F | 6'7" | 217 | Junior | Durham, North Carolina | Graduate transferred to Wake Forest |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Dani Koljanin | 1 | F | 6'8" | 219 | Junior | Pula, Croatia | Junior college transferred from Monroe College |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jarrod West PG | Clarksburg, West Virginia | Notre Dame High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 179 lb (81 kg) | Sep 15, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Darius George SF | Staunton, Virginia | Robert E. Lee High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Sep 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tanner Robinette PF | Honaker, Virginia | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Sep 26, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ||||||
| Iran Bennett C | North Carolina | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 290 lb (130 kg) | Oct 17, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| 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: "Marshall Basketball Commitment List". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017. "2017 Marshall Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 4, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 29, 2017* 4:00 pm | | West Virginia Tech | W 99–81 | | Cam Henderson Center (4,820) Huntington, WV |
| Nov 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | West Virginia Wesleyan | W 95–76 | | Cam Henderson Center (4,559) Huntington, WV |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm | | UT Martin Global Sports Invitational | W 102–91 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | Cam Henderson Center (5,754) Huntington, WV |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern Global Sports Invitational | W 83–74 | 2–0 | Cam Henderson Center (4,674) Huntington, WV |
| Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Morehead State | L 83–86 | 2–1 | Ellis Johnson Arena (3,857) Morehead, KY |
| Nov 19, 2017* 5:00 pm, BTN+ | | at Illinois Global Sports Invitational | L 74–91 | 2–2 | State Farm Center (10,022) Champaign, IL |
| Nov 22, 2017* 8:00 pm | | North Carolina Central Global Sports Invitational | W 92–84 | 3–2 | Cam Henderson Center (4,572) Huntington, WV |
| Nov 26, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Concord | W 106–70 | 4–2 | Cam Henderson Center (4,654) Huntington, WV |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at William & Mary | L 104–114 | 4–3 | Kaplan Arena (1,727) Williamsburg, VA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Akron | W 86–64 | 5–3 | Cam Henderson Center (5,104) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Chattanooga | W 70–66 | 6–3 | Cam Henderson Center (4,811) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Toledo | W 93–87 | 7–3 | Savage Arena (4,369) Toledo, OH |
| Dec 16, 2017* 8:00 pm | | Ohio | W 99–96 $^{OT}$ | 8–3 | Cam Henderson Center (5,117) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 19, 2017* 6:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 9 Xavier | L 77–81 | 8–4 | Cintas Center (10,431) Cincinnati, OH |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 91–71 | 9–4 | Cam Henderson Center (5,218) Huntington, WV |
| Conference USA regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | Southern Miss | W 85–66 | 10–4 (1–0) | Cam Henderson Center (5,537) Huntington, WV |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Louisiana Tech | W 78–65 | 11–4 (2–0) | Cam Henderson Center (5,683) Huntington, WV |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm, STADIUM | | Western Kentucky | L 87–112 | 11–5 (2–1) | Cam Henderson Center (6,826) Huntington, WV |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Charlotte | W 91–83 | 12–5 (3–1) | Dale F. Halton Arena (4,640) Charlotte, NC |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Old Dominion | L 76–82 | 12–6 (3–2) | Ted Constant Convocation Center (6,287) Norfolk, VA |
| Jan 18, 2018 8:00 pm, beIN | | Middle Tennessee | W 73–63 | 13–6 (4–2) | Cam Henderson Center (5,320) Huntington, WV |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | UAB | W 86–78 $^{OT}$ | 14–6 (5–2) | Cam Henderson Center (6,740) Huntington, WV |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm, STADIUM | | at Western Kentucky | L 74–85 | 14–7 (5–3) | E. A. Diddle Arena (7,362) Bowling Green, KY |
| Feb 1, 2018 8:00 pm, beIN | | at UTSA | L 77–81 | 14–8 (5–4) | Convocation Center (1,042) San Antonio, TX |
| Feb 3, 2018 9:00 pm | | at UTEP | W 74–65 | 15–8 (6–4) | Don Haskins Center (6,061) El Paso, TX |
| Feb 8, 2018 8:00 pm | | FIU | W 76–66 | 16–8 (7–4) | Cam Henderson Center (5,078) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | Florida Atlantic | W 79–68 | 17–8 (8–4) | Cam Henderson Center (5,761) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 15, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Rice | W 93–80 | 18–8 (9–4) | Tudor Fieldhouse (1,694) Houston, TX |
| Feb 17, 2018 6:00 pm | | at North Texas | W 74–72 | 19–8 (10–4) | The Super Pit (4,115) Denton, TX |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, STADIUM | | Old Dominion | L 79–84 | 19–9 (10–5) | Cam Henderson Center (5,829) Huntington, WV |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | Charlotte | W 103–75 | 20–9 (11–5) | Cam Henderson Center (6,575) Huntington, WV |
| Mar 1, 2018 8:00 pm, beIN | | at UAB | L 77–91 | 20–10 (11–6) | Bartow Arena (3,156) Birmingham, AL |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, STADIUM | | at No. 24 Middle Tennessee | W 76–67 | 21–10 (12–6) | Murphy Center (10,050) Murfreesboro, TN |
| Conference USA tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 7:30 pm, STADIUM | (4) | vs. (5) UTSA Quarterfinals | W 95–81 | 22–10 | Ford Center at The Star (2,531) Frisco, TX |
| Mar 9, 2018 1:30 pm, CBSSN | (4) | vs. (9) Southern Miss Semifinals | W 85–75 | 23–10 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| Mar 10, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (4) | vs. (3) Western Kentucky Championship | W 67–66 | 24–10 | Ford Center at The Star Frisco, TX |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 2018* 1:30 pm, TNT | (13 E) | vs. (4 E) No. 16 Wichita State First Round | W 81–75 | 25–10 | Viejas Arena (10,892) San Diego, CA |
| Mar 18, 2018* 9:40 pm, TBS | (13 E) | vs. (5 E) No. 15 West Virginia Second Round/Rivalry | L 71–94 | 25–11 | Viejas Arena (11,628) San Diego, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source