# 2017–18 Air Force Falcons men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Air Force Falcons men's basketball team represented the United States Air Force Academy during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Falcons, led by sixth-year head coach Dave Pilipovich, played their home games at the Clune Arena on the Air Force Academy's main campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 12–19, 6–12 in Mountain West play to finish in ninth place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to UNLV.

## Previous season

The Falcons finished the season 12–21, 4–14 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for tenth place. They defeated Wyoming in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Colorado State.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Daniel Hummer | 4 | G | 6'0" | 175 | Sophomore | Upper Arlington, OH | Transferred to Ohio State |
| Zach Kocur | 5 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Senior | Denver, CO | Graduated |
| Nicholas Wells | 10 | G | 6'5" | 194 | Freshman | Marietta, GA | No longer on team roster |
| Kyle Broekhuis | 25 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Senior | Colorado Springs, CO | Graduated |
| Garrett Scheer | 31 | F | 6'6" | 185 | Freshman | Las Vegas, NV | No longer on team roster |
| Hayden Graham | 35 | F | 6'5" | 195 | Senior | Austin, TX | Graduated |
| Brendan Leonard | 40 | C | 6'8" | 235 | Junior | Olympia, WA | No longer on team roster |
| Keegan Culp | 41 | F | 6'4" | 186 | Freshman | Carmel, IN | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Ryan Swan | 43 | F | 6'6" | 227 | Freshman | Aurora, CO | No longer on team roster |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jeff Fesperman SG | San Antonio, TX | Churchill High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Abraham Kinrade SF | Maquoketa, IA | Maquoketa High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 13, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| A.J. Walker SG | San Angelo, TX | St. Mary's Hall | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | N/A | Sep 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Charlie O'Briant PF | Atlanta, GA | Greater Atlanta Christian School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 3, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Zach Couper SG | Rockford, IL | Boylan Central Catholic High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Oct 24, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| 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 October 6, 2017. ||||||

## Preseason

In a vote by conference media at the Mountain West media day, the Falcons were picked to finish in last place in the Mountain West.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 7, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Colorado Christian | W 97–74 | | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 12, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas State Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase | W 65–57 | 1–0 | Clune Arena (1,511) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Nov 14, 2017* 5:00 pm | | Canisius Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase | W 93–79 | 2–0 | Clune Arena (1,002) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase | W 57–47 | 3–0 | Clune Arena (1,355) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Pacific Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase | L 71–83 | 3–1 | Clune Arena (1,510) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm, P12N | | at Colorado | L 69–81 | 3–2 | Coors Events Center (7,427) Boulder, CO |
| Nov 29, 2017* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State MW–MVC Challenge | L 64–74 | 3–3 | Hulman Center (3,797) Terre Haute, IN |
| Dec 2, 2017* 1:00 pm | | at Denver | W 61–59 | 4–3 | Magness Arena (1,401) Denver, CO |
| Dec 4, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Western State (CO) | W 79–67 | 5–3 | Clune Arena (1,535) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Abilene Christian | L 58–62 | 5–4 | Clune Arena (1,602) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Dec 8, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at UC Riverside | L 48–67 | 5–5 | SRC Arena (899) Riverside, CA |
| Dec 17, 2017* 11:30 am | | vs. Army Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival | L 54–79 | 5–6 | Madison Square Garden (9,515) New York City, NY |
| Dec 22, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Johnson & Wales (CO) | W 111–68 | 6–6 | Clune Arena (1,818) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| Dec 27, 2017 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at New Mexico | L 58–87 | 6–7 (0–1) | The Pit (10,514) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 30, 2017 5:00 pm | | at Fresno State | L 59–71 | 6–8 (0–2) | Save Mart Center (6,188) Fresno, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 12:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Nevada | L 75–86 | 6–9 (0–3) | Clune Arena (2,254) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Jan 10, 2018 8:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | UNLV | L 76–81 | 6–10 (0–4) | Clune Arena (1,911) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Jan 13, 2018 3:00 pm | | at San Jose State | W 78–71 | 7–10 (1–4) | Event Center Arena (1,405) San Jose, CA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State | W 76–71 | 8–10 (2–4) | Moby Arena (3,216) Fort Collins, CO |
| Jan 20, 2018 2:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Fresno State | Postponed | Postponed | Clune Arena Colorado Springs, CO |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Utah State | L 49–71 | 8–11 (2–5) | Smith Spectrum (6,974) Logan, UT |
| Jan 27, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Boise State | L 64–70 | 8–12 (2–6) | Clune Arena (2,436) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 3, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at San Diego State | L 51–80 | 8–13 (2–7) | Viejas Arena (11,482) San Diego, CA |
| Feb 6, 2018 8:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Colorado State | W 78–73 | 9–13 (3–7) | Clune Arena (2,556) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 10, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | New Mexico | W 100–92 | 10–13 (4–7) | Clune Arena (2,851) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 14, 2018 8:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at UNLV | L 73–81 | 10–14 (4–8) | Thomas & Mack Center (9,027) Paradise, NV |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Boise State | L 52–76 | 10–15 (4–9) | Taco Bell Arena (7,530) Boise, ID |
| Feb 21, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | San Diego State | L 56–67 | 10–16 (4–10) | Clune Arena (1,868) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm | | Utah State | W 75–65 | 11–16 (5–10) | Clune Arena (3,267) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 26, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Fresno State | L 48–54 | 11–17 (5–11) | Clune Arena (2,150) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Wyoming | L 54–66 | 11–18 (5–12) | Arena-Auditorium (5,731) Laramie, WY |
| Mar 3, 2018 2:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 83–61 | 12–18 (6–12) | Clune Arena (3,018) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 2018 12:00 pm, Stadium | (9) | at (8) UNLV First round | L 90–97 $^{OT}$ | 12–19 | Thomas & Mack Center (4,994) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
* $^1$ Game originally canceled due to the January 2018 United States federal government shutdown. Rescheduled to February 26.