# 2017–18 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Pepperdine Waves men's basketball team represented Pepperdine University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Waves were led by seventh-year head coach Marty Wilson and played their home games at the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 6–26, 2–16 in WCC play to finish in last place. They defeated Santa Clara in the first round of the WCC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Saint Mary's.
On February 13, 2018, the school announced that head coach Marty Wilson would not return as head coach following the end of the season. He finished at Pepperdine with a seven-year record of 88–129 (91–139 when including his 3–10 record as interim head coach in 1995–96). On March 12, the school hired Lorenzo Romar as head coach. Romar returned to Pepperdine where he started his coaching career in 1996.

## Previous season

The Waves finished the 2016–17 season 9–22, 5–13 in WCC play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the WCC tournament to Pacific.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Jeremy Major | 3 | G | 5'10" | 175 | Senior | Pasadena, CA | Graduated |
| Nate Gehring | 12 | C | 6'10" | 225 | RS Sophomore | Waukee, IA | Transferred |
| Chris Reyes | 14 | F | 6'7" | 235 | Senior | La Verne, CA | Graduated |
| Jonathan Allen | 23 | G | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Nashville, TN | Walk-on; graduated |
| Craig LeCesne | 24 | F | 6'9" | 225 | Freshman | Oxie, Sweden | Transferred to San Bernardino Valley College |
| Lamond Murray Jr. | 30 | G/F | 6'5" | 200 | Senior | Torrance, CA | Graduated |
| Ryan Keenan | 44 | C | 6'10" | 240 | RS Sophomore | Woodbury, MN | Transferred |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Darnell Dunn | 12 | F | 6'5" | 225 | Junior | Kinston, NC | Junior college transferred from Miami Dade College. |
| Harrison Meads | 22 | F | 6'7" | | Junior | New Plymouth, New Zealand | Junior college transferred from Laramie County CC. |
| Matthew Atewe | 41 | F | 6'9" | 250 | RS Senior | Toronto, ON | Transferred from Washington. Will be eligible to play immediately since Atewe graduated from Washington. |

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jade' Smith #60 PG | Oakland, CA | St. Joseph Notre Dame High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 172 lb (78 kg) | Sep 19, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| Colbey Ross #76 PG | Aurora, CO | Eaglecrest High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 5, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 69 ||||||
| Trae Berhow SG | Watertown, MN | Watertown-Mayer High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "Pepperdine Waves 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. "2017 Pepperdine Waves Basketball Commits". Scout.com. "ESPN 2017 Pepperdine Waves Basketball recruits". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 5:30 pm, FCS | | at Oklahoma State Legends Classic Regional Round | L 47–78 | 0–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (5,386) Stillwater, OK |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Cal Lutheran | W 107–82 | 1–1 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,375) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | L 82–84 | 1–2 | Firestone Fieldhouse (805) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:30 pm | | UC Santa Barbara Legends Classic Subregional semifinals | L 84–92 | 1–3 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,682) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:30 pm | | Oral Roberts Legends Classic Subregional 3rd place game | W 80–76 | 2–3 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,239) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 24, 2017* 5:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 16 Texas A&M Legends Classic Regional Round | L 65–81 | 2–4 | Reed Arena (6,704) College Station, TX |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern Utah | L 82–88 | 2–5 | Firestone Fieldhouse (912) Malibu, CA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Cal Poly | L 81–91 | 2–6 | Robert A. Mott Athletics Center (1,384) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | UC Riverside | W 70–59 | 3–6 | Firestone Fieldhouse (942) Malibu, CA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Long Beach State | L 71–78 | 3–7 | Firestone Fieldhouse (976) Malibu, CA |
| Dec 16, 2017* 12:00 pm | | at Belmont | L 62–79 | 3–8 | Curb Event Center (1,427) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 19, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Weber State | L 67–72 | 3–9 | Dee Events Center (6,576) Ogden, UT |
| WCC regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm | | at Santa Clara | L 65–72 | 3–10 (0–1) | Leavey Center (1,192) Santa Clara, CA |
| Dec 30, 2017 1:00 pm, SPCSN | | at San Diego | L 66–74 | 3–11 (0–2) | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,521) San Diego, CA |
| Jan 4, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 19 Gonzaga | L 59–89 | 3–12 (0–3) | Firestone Fieldhouse (2,930) Mailbu, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 1:00 pm, SPCSN | | at San Francisco | L 67–80 | 3–13 (0–4) | Firestone Fieldhouse (795) Mailbu, CA |
| Jan 11, 2018 6:00 pm, BYUtv | | at BYU | L 63–83 | 3–14 (0–5) | Marriott Center (13,223) Provo, UT |
| Jan 13, 2018 5:00 pm, SPCSN | | at Saint Mary's | L 67–91 | 3–15 (0–6) | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,574) Malibu, CA |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Pacific | L 78–92 | 3–16 (0–7) | Alex G. Spanos Center (1,749) Stockton, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm | | at San Francisco | L 73–80 | 3–17 (0–8) | War Memorial Gymnasium (2,116) San Francisco, CA |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm, SPCSN | | Loyola Marymount | W 71–70 | 4–17 (1–8) | Firestone Fieldhouse (811) Malibu, CA |
| Jan 27, 2018 3:00 pm, SPCSN | | at Santa Clara | L 59–73 | 4–18 (1–9) | Firestone Fieldhouse (742) Malibu, CA |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Portland | L 76–85 $^{OT}$ | 4–19 (1–10) | Chiles Center (1,772) Portland, OR |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Pacific | L 72–81 | 4–20 (1–11) | Firestone Fieldhouse (723) Malibu, CA |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:30 pm, SPCSN | | at San Diego | L 66–68 | 4–21 (1–12) | Firestone Fieldhouse (763) Malibu, CA |
| Feb 10, 2018 3:00 pm | | at Loyola Marymount | L 79–85 | 4–22 (1–13) | Gersten Pavilion (3,150) Los Angeles, CA |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, BYUtv | | BYU | L 70–75 $^{OT}$ | 4–23 (1–14) | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,504) Mailbu, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 5:00 pm, SPCSN | | at No. 9 Gonzaga | L 67–81 | 4–24 (1–15) | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| Feb 22, 2018 5:00 pm | | at No. 22 Saint Mary's | L 61–75 | 4–25 (1–16) | McKeon Pavilion (3,167) Moraga, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm | | Portland | W 75–64 | 5–25 (2–16) | Firestone Fieldhouse (725) Malibu, CA |
| WCC tournament ||||||
| Mar 2, 2018 8:00 pm, SPCSN | (10) | vs. (7) Santa Clara First round | W 85–69 | 6–25 | Orleans Arena (6,747) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 3, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (10) | vs. (2) Saint Mary's Quarterfinals | L 66–69 | 6–26 | Orleans Arena (7,279) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||