# 2017–18 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team

The 2017–18 New Mexico Lobos men's basketball team represented the University of New Mexico during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lobos were led by first-year head coach Paul Weir. They played their home games at Dreamstyle Arena, more commonly known as The Pit, in Albuquerque, New Mexico as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 19–15, 12–6 in Mountain West play to finish in third place. They defeated Wyoming and Utah State to advance to the championship game of the Mountain West tournament where they lost to San Diego State.

## Previous season

The Lobos finished the season 17–14, 10–8 in Mountain West play to finish in fifth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament to Fresno State. On March 31, head coach Craig Neal was fired from the program.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Adam Cumber | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS So. | Albuquerque, NM | Walk-on; Left team. |
| Aher Uguak | G/F | 6'7" | 206 | Fr. | Edmonton, Alberta | Transferred to Loyola–Chicago |
| Damien Jefferson | G/F | 6'5" | 190 | Fr. | East Chicago, Indiana | Transferred to Creighton. |
| Elijah Brown | G | 6'4" | 200 | RS Jr. | Orange County, California | Graduated; Transferred to Oregon. |
| Holt Shelley | F | 6'9" | 221 | Fr. | Cliff, New Mexico | Walk-on; left team for personal reasons. |
| Jalen Harris | G | 6'2" | 156 | Fr. | Wilson, North Carolina | Transferred to Arkansas. |
| Jordan Hunter | G | 5'11" | 180 | So. | Beaumont, Texas | Transferred to Lamar. |
| Obij Aget | C | 7'1" | 220 | Sr. | Juba, South Sudan | Graduated. |
| Tim Williams | F | 6'8" | 240 | RS Sr. | Flossmoor, Illinois | Graduated. |
| Xavier Adams | G | 6'4" | 205 | Jr. | Flower Mound, Texas | Transferred to Pittsburg State. |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Antino Jackson | G | 6'0" | 170 | Sr. | Houston, TX | Graduate transfer from Akron. Will be eligible to play immediately. |
| Chris McNeal | G | 6'1" | 185 | Jr. | Jackson, TN | Junior college transfer from Indian Hills Community College. McNeal is eligible to play immediately. |
| Jachai Simmons | F | 6'8" | 190 | Jr. | Plainfield, NJ | Junior college transfer from Midland College. Simmons is eligible to play immediately. |
| JaQuan Lyle | G | 6'5" | 210 | Jr. | Evansville, IN | Transfer from Ohio State. Will have to redshirt for the 2017–18 season due to NCAA transfer rules, with 2 years of remaining eligibility. |
| Troy Simons | G | 6'3" | 195 | Jr. | Pittsburgh, PA | Junior college transfer from Polk State College. Simons is eligible to play immediately. |
| Vance Jackson | F | 6'9" | 235 | So. | Los Angeles, CA | Transfer from Connecticut. Will have to redshirt for the 2017–18 season due to NCAA transfer rules, with 3 years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Makuach Maluach F | Sydney, Australia | Newington College | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 20, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Vladimir Pinchuk F | Hagen, Germany | Phoenix Hagen | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Aug 11, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| 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 New Mexico Basketball Commits". ESPN.com. ||||||

### 2018 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Drue Drinnon PG | Mableton, GA | University School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Oct 29, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 82 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| 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: ||||||

## Preseason

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

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 27, 2017* 7:00 pm | | BYU Charity Exhibition for Hurricane Victims | L 73–79 | | Dreamstyle Arena (4,902) Albuquerque, NM |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern New Mexico | W 147–76 | 1–0 | Dreamstyle Arena (10,695) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Omaha Emerald Coast Classic campus-site game | W 103–71 | 2–0 | Dreamstyle Arena (9,601) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 17, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | L 56–75 | 2–1 | Pan American Center (6,839) Las Cruces, NM |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Tennessee Tech Emerald Coast Classic campus-site game | L 96-104 | 2–2 | Dreamstyle Arena (9,703) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 24, 2017* 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. TCU Emerald Coast Classic semifinals | L 67–69 | 2–3 | The Arena at NWFSC (1,000) Niceville, FL |
| Nov 25, 2017* 2:00 pm | | vs. Maryland Emerald Coast Classic 3rd place game | L 65–80 | 2–4 | The Arena at NWFSC (1,250) Niceville, FL |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Evansville MW–MVC Challenge | W 78–59 | 3–4 | Dreamstyle Arena (8,943) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at UTEP | L 76–88 | 3–5 | Don Haskins Center (6,394) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Colorado | L 57–75 | 3–6 | Coors Events Center (6,610) Boulder, CO |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | New Mexico State Rio Grande Rivalry | L 62–65 | 3–7 | Dreamstyle Arena (12,768) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 16, 2017* 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | No. 23 Arizona | L 73–89 | 3–8 | Dreamstyle Arena (13,207) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:30 pm, ATTSNRM | | Rice | W 78–69 | 4–8 | Dreamstyle Arena (9,415) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Prairie View A&M | W 87–78 | 5–8 | Dreamstyle Arena (9,423) Albuquerque, NM |
| Mountain West regular season ||||||
| Dec 27, 2017 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | Air Force | W 87–58 | 6–8 (1–0) | Dreamstyle Arena (10,514) Albuquerque, NM |
| Dec 30, 2017 3:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Nevada | L 74–77 | 6–9 (1–1) | Lawlor Events Center (9,530) Reno, NV |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Boise State | L 62–90 | 6–10 (1–2) | Taco Bell Arena (7,557) Boise, ID |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | San Jose State | W 80–47 | 7–10 (2–2) | Dreamstyle Arena (10,799) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, Stadium | | Wyoming | W 75–66 | 8–10 (3–2) | Dreamstyle Arena (9,846) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 13, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fresno State | L 80–89 | 8–11 (3–3) | Save Mart Center (6,244) Fresno, CA |
| Jan 17, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UNLV | W 85–81 | 9–11 (4–3) | Thomas & Mack Center (10,546) Paradise, NV |
| Jan 20, 2018 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | San Diego State | W 79–75 | 10–11 (5–3) | Dreamstyle Arena (11,418) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Colorado State | W 80–65 | 11–11 (6–3) | Dreamstyle Arena (12,438) Albuquerque, NM |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Utah State | L 80–89 | 11–12 (6–4) | Smith Spectrum (6,345) Logan, UT |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at San Jose State | W 71–68 | 12–12 (7–4) | Event Center Arena (2,151) San Jose, CA |
| Feb 6, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | Boise State | L 71–73 | 12–13 (7–5) | Dreamstyle Arena (11,357) Albuquerque, NM |
| Feb 10, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Air Force | L 92–100 | 12–14 (7–6) | Clune Arena (2,851) Colorado Springs, CO |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm | | Utah State | W 78–63 | 13–14 (8–6) | Dreamstyle Arena (9,737) Albuquerque, NM |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Wyoming | W 119–114 | 14–14 (9–6) | Arena-Auditorium (4,321) Laramie, WY |
| Feb 24, 2018 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | UNLV | W 91–90 | 15–14 (10–6) | Dreamstyle Arena (12,080) Albuquerque, NM |
| Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm, ATTSNRM | | at Colorado State | W 108–87 | 16–14 (11–6) | Moby Arena (2,917) Fort Collins, CO |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fresno State | W 95–86 | 17–14 (12–6) | Dreamstyle Arena (13,069) Albuquerque, NM |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (6) Wyoming Quarterfinals | W 85–75 | 18–14 | Thomas & Mack Center (6,753) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 9, 2018 8:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (7) Utah State Semifinals | W 83–68 | 19–14 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,224) Paradise, NV |
| Mar 10, 2018 4:00 pm, CBS | (3) | vs. (5) San Diego State Championship Game | L 75–82 | 19–15 | Thomas & Mack Center (8,456) Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||