# 2017–18 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by second-year head coach Jeff Linder and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 26–12, 11–7 in Big Sky play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Northern Arizona and Weber State to advance to the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament to Montana. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they defeated Drake, San Diego, Sam Houston State and UIC to become CIT champions.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2016–17 season 11–18, 7–11 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. On October 8, 2016, the school self-imposed a postseason ban amid an ongoing NCAA investigation.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Gerad Davis | 1 | G | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Las Vegas, NV | Transferred to pursue football |
| Kyle Carey | 2 | G | 6'6" | 190 | Freshman | London, England | Transferred to Barry |
| D. J. Miles | 3 | G | 6'6" | 195 | Junior | Lakewood, CO | Graduate transferred to Fort Lewis |
| Mike Ranson | 5 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Freshman | Pueblo, CO | Transferred to Fort Lewis |
| Jon'te Dotson | 30 | G | 6'3" | 185 | Senior | Denver, CO | Walk-on; graduated |
| Jeremy Verhagen | 33 | F | 6'10" | 220 | RS Junior | Florence, AZ | Graduate transferred to Nicholls State |

## 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Matej Drgon PF | Slovakia | Get Better Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Johnatan Reyes PG | San Antonio, TX | Clark High School | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | N/A |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Jalen Sanders SF | Highlands Ranch, CO | Valor Christian High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 18, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Johnson & Wales | W 106–51 | | Bank of Colorado Arena Greeley, CO |
| Nov 5, 2017* 5:00 pm | | at Colorado State Puerto Rico relief fund exhibition game | L 79–83 | | Moby Arena (1,079) Fort Collins, CO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, P12N | | at Colorado | L 51–66 | 0–1 | Coors Events Center (7,740) Boulder, CO |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm | | UC Davis | L 59–74 | 0–2 | Bank of Colorado Arena (895) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 17, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at Pepperdine | W 84–82 | 1–2 | Firestone Fieldhouse (805) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern New Mexico Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 99–60 | 2–2 | Bank of Colorado Arena (857) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. Youngstown State Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 80–67 | 3–2 | Sanford Pentagon (1,105) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 25, 2017* 5:30 pm | | vs. South Dakota Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 63–62 | 4–2 | Sanford Pentagon (1,248) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 26, 2017* 10:30 am | | vs. Southern Miss Sanford Pentagon Showcase | W 77–63 | 5–2 | Sanford Pentagon (101) Sioux Falls, SD |
| Nov 29, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at UC Davis | L 51–56 | 5–3 | The Pavilion (1,779) Davis, CA |
| Dec 3, 2017* 5:00 pm | | Western State | W 87–75 | 6–3 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,069) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 10, 2017* 5:00 pm | | Oklahoma Panhandle State | W 104–53 | 7–3 | Bank of Colorado Arena (797) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 13, 2017* 5:00 pm, CET | | Denver | W 83–63 | 8–3 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,153) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Wyoming | W 91–84 | 9–3 | Arena-Auditorium (4,289) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 22, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at UNLV | L 91–94 | 9–4 | Thomas & Mack Center (9,192) Paradise, NV |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 29, 2017 7:00 pm | | Eastern Washington | W 88–75 | 10–4 (1–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,047) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 31, 2017 2:00 pm | | Idaho | W 81–77 | 11–4 (2–0) | Bank of Colorado Arena (960) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Montana State | L 64–76 | 11–5 (2–1) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,542) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 6, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Montana | L 80–89 | 11–6 (2–2) | Dahlberg Arena (4,119) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, CET | | Weber State | L 74–78 | 11–7 (2–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,792) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 94–80 | 12–7 (3–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,165) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ELVN | | North Dakota | W 94–91 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (4–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,059) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 25, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Idaho | W 80–63 | 14–7 (5–3) | Cowan Spectrum (1,122) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 27, 2018 3:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 65–67 | 14–8 (5–4) | Reese Court (1,674) Cheney, WA |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Montana | L 79–88 | 14–9 (5–5) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,413) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm, CET | | Montana State | W 86–63 | 15–9 (6–5) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,617) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Idaho State | W 85–82 | 16–9 (7–5) | Holt Arena (1,336) Pocatello, ID |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Weber State | L 66–71 $^{OT}$ | 16–10 (7–6) | Dee Events Center (6,909) Ogden, UT |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, CET | | Northern Arizona | W 95–60 | 17–10 (8–6) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,524) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm, CET | | Southern Utah | W 97–80 | 18–10 (9–6) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,683) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm | | at North Dakota | W 79–66 | 19–10 (10–6) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,895) Grand Forks, ND |
| Mar 1, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Portland State | W 85–78 | 20–10 (11–6) | Pamplin Sports Center (644) Portland, OR |
| Mar 3, 2018 8:05 pm | | at Sacramento State | L 77–88 | 20–11 (11–7) | Hornets Nest (686) Sacramento, CA |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 2018 2:30 pm, Pluto TV | (5) | vs. (12) Northern Arizona First round | W 82–59 | 21–11 | Reno Events Center (986) Reno, NV |
| Mar 8, 2018 2:30 pm, ELVN | (5) | vs. (4) Weber State Quarterfinals | W 80–55 | 22–11 | Reno Events Center (1,110) Reno, NV |
| Mar 9, 2018 5:30 pm, ELVN | (5) | vs. (1) Montana Semifinals | L 89–91 | 22–12 | Reno Events Center (1,236) Reno, NV |
| CIT ||||||
| Mar 18, 2018* 3:00 pm | | Drake Second round | W 81–72 | 23–12 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,074) Greeley, CO |
| Mar 21, 2018* 8:00 pm | | at San Diego Quarterfinals | W 86–75 | 24–12 | Jenny Craig Pavilion (1,053) San Diego, CA |
| Mar 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Sam Houston State Semifinals | W 99–80 | 25–12 | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,019) Greeley, CO |
| Mar 30, 2018* 5:00 pm, CBSSN | | UIC Championship | W 76–71 | 26–12 | Bank of Colorado Arena (3,198) Greeley, CO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||