# 2017–18 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach was Bruce Pearl in his fourth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at the Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 26–8, 13–5 in SEC play to win a share of the SEC regular season championship. They lost to Alabama in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament. The Tigers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003, where they defeated College of Charleston to advance to the Second Round where they lost to Clemson.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2016–17 season 18–14, 7–11 in SEC play to finish in 11th place. They lost in the first round of the SEC tournament to Missouri.

## FBI investigation

On September 26, 2017, federal prosecutors in New York announced charges of fraud and corruption against 10 people involved in college basketball, including Auburn associate head coach Chuck Person. The charges allege that Person and others allegedly received benefits from financial advisers and others to influence student-athletes to retain their services. Shortly thereafter, the school suspended Person without pay. Person was indicted by a federal grand jury and subsequently fired by Auburn on November 7, 2017.
Before Auburn's exhibition game on November 2, 2017, the school announced that it would hold players Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy out of games indefinitely due to eligibility concerns raised over the FBI investigation. On January 12, 2018, the NCAA ruled that Wiley would regain his eligibility in the 2018–19 season, ruling him ineligible for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| T. J. Dunans | 4 | G | 6'5" | 174 | RS Senior | Atlanta, GA | Graduated |
| LaRon Smith | 12 | F | 6'8" | 215 | RS Senior | Palm Bay, FL | Graduated |
| T. J. Lang | 23 | G | 6'7" | 210 | Junior | Mobile, AL | Transferred to South Florida |
| Mike Cohen | 25 | G | 5'10" | 175 | Freshman | Voorhees, NJ | Walk-on; didn't return |
| Devin Waddell | 31 | F | 6'5" | 225 | Senior | Summerfield, NC | Graduated |
| Ronnie Johnson | 35 | G | 6'0" | 180 | RS Senior | Indianapolis, IN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Malik Dunbar | 14 | G/F | 6'6" | 225 | Junior | North Augusta, SC | Junior college transferred College of Central Florida |
| Samir Doughty | 20 | G | 6'4" | 185 | RS Sophomore | Philadelphia, PA | Transferred from VCU. Under NCAA transfer rules, Doughty will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Chuma Okeke SF | Fairburn, GA | Westlake High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jul 24, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Davion Mitchell PG | Hinesville, GA | Liberty County School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 15, 2016 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 21 Rivals: 11 ESPN: 28 ||||||
| 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: "Auburn 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017. "2017 Auburn Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Barry | L 95–100 $^{OT}$ | | 21 – Heron | 8 – Murray | 7 – Harper | Auburn Arena (6,374) Auburn, AL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | Norfolk State | W 102–74 | 1–0 | 31 – Brown | 7 – Tied | 5 – Heron | Auburn Arena (7,419) Auburn, AL |
| November 16, 2017* 10:30 am, ESPNU | | vs. Indiana State Charleston Classic quarterfinals | W 83–64 | 2–0 | 15 – Brown | 12 – Murray | 7 – Harper | TD Arena (2,136) Charleston, SC |
| November 17, 2017* 10:00 am, ESPN2 | | vs. Temple Charleston Classic semifinals | L 74–88 | 2–1 | 19 – McLemore | 11 – Murray | 7 – Harper | TD Arena (1,970) Charleston, SC |
| November 19, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Hofstra Charleston Classic 3rd place game | W 89–78 | 3–1 | 22 – Heron | 6 – Tied | 3 – Mitchell | TD Arena (2,263) Charleston, SC |
| November 24, 2017* 6:00 pm, SECN | | Winthrop | W 119–85 | 4–1 | 31 – Heron | 10 – Heron | 7 – Harper | Auburn Arena (7,197) Auburn, AL |
| November 29, 2017* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Dayton Charleston Classic non-bracket game | W 73–60 | 5–1 | 21 – Heron | 14 – McLemore | 3 – Harper | UD Arena (13,125) Dayton, OH |
| December 3, 2017* 2:00 pm, SECN+ | | George Mason | W 79–63 | 6–1 | 19 – Heron | 10 – McLemore | 3 – Tied | Auburn Arena (6,164) Auburn, AL |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | Gardner–Webb | W 80–55 | 7–1 | 20 – Murray | 11 – McLemore | 10 – Harper | Auburn Arena (6,232) Auburn, AL |
| December 9, 2017* 3:30 pm, SECN | | UAB Rivalry | W 85–80 | 8–1 | 27 – Brown | 9 – McLemore | 5 – Harper | Auburn Arena (7,565) Auburn, AL |
| December 16, 2017* 5:00 pm, SECN | | vs. Middle Tennessee BHM JAM | W 76–70 | 9–1 | 16 – Tied | 7 – Spencer | 7 – Harper | Legacy Arena (7,209) Birmingham, AL |
| December 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | at Murray State | W 81–77 | 10–1 | 18 – Murray | 9 – Murray | 4 – Harper | CFSB Center (6,478) Murray, KY |
| December 23, 2017* 1:30 pm, ESPN2 | | UConn | W 89–64 | 11–1 | 13 – Tied | 10 – Spencer | 7 – Harper | Auburn Arena (8,039) Auburn, AL |
| December 30, 2017* 2:30 pm, SECN | | Cornell | W 98–77 | 12–1 | 19 – Brown | 10 – Okeke | 7 – Harper | Auburn Arena (8,493) Auburn, AL |
| SEC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 23 Tennessee | W 94–84 | 13–1 (1–0) | 18 – Tied | 9 – Tied | 4 – Okeke | Thompson–Boling Arena (14,755) Knoxville, TN |
| January 6, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 22 Arkansas | W 88–77 | 14–1 (2–0) | 17 – Heron | 8 – Murray | 8 – Harper | Auburn Arena (8,950) Auburn, AL |
| January 9, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 22 | Ole Miss | W 85–70 | 15–1 (3–0) | 16 – Murray | 9 – McLemore | 4 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| January 13, 2018 2:30 pm, SECN | No. 22 | at Mississippi State | W 76–68 | 16–1 (4–0) | 23 – Brown | 9 – Murray | 4 – Harper | Humphrey Coliseum (8,443) Starkville, MS |
| January 17, 2018 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 17 | at Alabama Rivalry | L 71–76 | 16–2 (4–1) | 12 – Brown | 10 – Murray | 5 – Mitchell | Coleman Coliseum (15,383) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| January 20, 2018 5:00 pm, SECN | No. 17 | Georgia | W 79–65 | 17–2 (5–1) | 28 – Brown | 8 – McLemore | 6 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| January 24, 2018 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 19 | at Missouri | W 91–73 | 18–2 (6–1) | 21 – Harper | 12 – Heron | 6 – Harper | Mizzou Arena (15,061) Columbia, MO |
| January 27, 2018 5:00 pm, SECN | No. 19 | LSU | W 95–70 | 19–2 (7–1) | 21 – Heron | 9 – Heron | 8 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| January 30, 2018 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 11 | at Ole Miss | W 79–70 | 20–2 (8–1) | 23 – Brown | 10 – Murray | 7 – Harper | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (8,043) Oxford, MS |
| February 3, 2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 11 | Vanderbilt | W 93–81 | 21–2 (9–1) | 25 – Brown | 5 – Tied | 14 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| February 7, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 8 | Texas A&M | L 80–81 | 21–3 (9–2) | 28 – Heron | 4 – Tied | 8 – Harper | Auburn Arena (7,631) Auburn, AL |
| February 10, 2018 2:30 pm, SECN | No. 8 | at Georgia | W 78–61 | 22–3 (10–2) | 24 – Harper | 7 – Murray | 7 – Harper | Stegeman Coliseum (10,523) Athens, GA |
| February 14, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | Kentucky | W 76–66 | 23–3 (11–2) | 18 – Tied | 11 – Tied | 7 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| February 17, 2018 2:30 pm, SECN | No. 10 | at South Carolina | L 75–84 | 23–4 (11–3) | 16 – Heron | 9 – Okeke | 2 – Okeke | Colonial Life Arena (14,995) Columbia, SC |
| February 21, 2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 12 | Alabama Rivalry | W 90–71 | 24–4 (12–3) | 21 – Harper | 10 – Okeke | 6 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| February 24, 2018 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 12 | at Florida | L 66–72 | 24–5 (12–4) | 22 – Heron | 10 – Okeke | 5 – Brown | O'Connell Center (10,503) Gainesville, FL |
| February 27, 2018 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 14 | at Arkansas | L 82–91 | 24–6 (12–5) | 28 – Heron | 10 – Okeke | 5 – Harper | Bud Walton Arena (15,733) Fayetteville, AR |
| March 3, 2018 2:30 pm, SECN | No. 14 | South Carolina | W 79–70 | 25–6 (13–5) | 29 – Brown | 9 – Okeke | 8 – Harper | Auburn Arena (9,121) Auburn, AL |
| SEC Tournament |||||||||
| March 9, 2018 12:00 pm, ESPN | (1) No. 16 | vs. (9) Alabama Quarterfinals | L 63–81 | 25–7 | 18 – Heron | 8 – Murray | 4 – Harper | Scottrade Center (16,364) St. Louis, MO |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 16, 2018 6:27 pm, truTV | (4 MW) No. 19 | vs. (13 MW) College of Charleston First Round | W 62–58 | 26–7 | 16 – Heron | 9 – Okeke | 2 – Tied | Viejas Arena (10,092) San Diego, CA |
| March 18, 2018 6:10 pm, TBS | (4 MW) No. 19 | vs. (5 MW) No. 20 Clemson Second Round | L 53–84 | 26–8 | 12 – Tied | 9 – Spencer | 3 – Okeke | Viejas Arena (11,628) San Diego, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 17 | 19 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 19 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | 24 | 20 | 19 | 13 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 21 | 23 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings