# 2017–18 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Toledo Rockets men's basketball team represented the University of Toledo during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Rockets, led by eighth-year head coach Tod Kowalczyk, played their home games at Savage Arena, as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. With win over Northern Illinois on February 27, 2018, the Rockets clinched the MAC West division championship. They finished the season 23–11, 13–5 in MAC play to win the MAC West division championship. As the No. 2 seed in the MAC tournament, they defeated Miami and Eastern Michigan before losing to Buffalo in the tournament championship. Despite winning 23 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Rockets finished the 2016–17 season 17–17, 9–9 in MAC play to finish in third place in the West Division. As the No. 7 seed in the MAC tournament. they defeated Bowling Green in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Ohio. They received an invitation to the College Basketball Invitational where they lost in the first round to George Washington.

## Offseason
### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Logan Hill PF | Massillon, OH | Jackson High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jun 25, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Marreon Jackson PG | Cleveland, OH | Garfield Heights High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Feb 15, 2016 |
| 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 October 5, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 24, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at Findlay | L 86–89 | | Croy Gymnasium (1,215) Findlay, OH |
| November 4, 2017* 2:30 pm | | Trine | W 116–59 | | Savage Arena Toledo, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 11, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Saint Joseph's | W 98–87 | 1–0 | Savage Arena (3,609) Toledo, OH |
| November 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Ohio Northern | W 72–62 | 2–0 | Savage Arena (3,584) Toledo, OH |
| November 18, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Oakland Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 87–74 | 3–0 | Savage Arena (4,436) Toledo, OH |
| November 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Syracuse Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 64–72 | 3–1 | Carrier Dome (16,237) Syracuse, NY |
| November 24, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at Cornell | L 70–77 | 3–2 | Newman Arena (704) Ithaca, NY |
| November 28, 2017* 8:00 pm, Jayhawk TV | | at No. 2 Kansas Hoophall Miami Invitational | L 58–96 | 3–3 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| December 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Texas Southern Hoophall Miami Invitational | W 71–69 | 4–3 | Savage Arena (3,199) Toledo, OH |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, WADL/ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 89–86 | 5–3 | Calihan Hall (1,218) Detroit, MI |
| December 9, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Marshall | L 87–93 | 5–4 | Savage Arena (4,369) Toledo, OH |
| December 16, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | L 69–77 | 5–5 | Savage Arena (3,932) Toledo, OH |
| December 20, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jackson State | W 83–57 | 6–5 | Savage Arena (3,410) Toledo, OH |
| December 23, 2017* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 77–62 | 7–5 | Wolstein Center (1,597) Cleveland, OH |
| December 29, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at Penn | W 85–72 | 8–5 | Palestra (2,316) Philadelphia, PA |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2018 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Buffalo | L 94–104 | 8–6 (0–1) | Alumni Arena (1,100) Amherst, NY |
| January 5, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | Akron | W 67–65 | 9–6 (1–1) | Savage Arena (4,155) Toledo, OH |
| January 9, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | W 84–61 | 10–6 (2–1) | Savage Arena (3,594) Toledo, OH |
| January 13, 2018 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | W 93–82 | 11–6 (3–1) | McGuirk Arena (2,819) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| January 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ohio | W 91–57 | 12–6 (4–1) | Convocation Center (6,040) Athens, OH |
| January 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Kent State | W 72–65 | 13–6 (5–1) | Savage Arena (4,970) Toledo, OH |
| January 23, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | W 85–81 | 14–6 (6–1) | University Arena (2,014) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Bowling Green | W 101–75 | 15–6 (7–1) | Savage Arena (6,812) Toledo, OH |
| January 30, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Ball State | L 63–75 | 15–7 (7–2) | Savage Arena (4,227) Toledo, OH |
| February 3, 2018 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Akron | W 77–56 | 16–7 (8–2) | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,584) Akron, OH |
| February 6, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Illinois | W 82–77 | 17–7 (9–2) | Savage Arena (3,861) Toledo, OH |
| February 9, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Miami (OH) | W 73–67 | 18–7 (10–2) | Millett Hall (3,525) Oxford, OH |
| February 13, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Ohio | W 82–74 | 19–7 (11–2) | Savage Arena (4,502) Toledo, OH |
| February 17, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 71–99 | 19–8 (11–3) | Worthen Arena (4,824) Muncie, IN |
| February 20, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 79–85 | 19–9 (11–4) | Convocation Center (984) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 23, 2018 6:30 pm, CBSSN | | Central Michigan | W 89–76 | 20–9 (12–4) | Savage Arena (4,883) Toledo, OH |
| February 27, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Northern Illinois | W 97–67 | 21–9 (13–4) | Convocation Center (869) DeKalb, IL |
| March 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | L 69–71 | 21–10 (13–5) | Savage Arena (4,291) Toledo, OH |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| March 8, 2018 6:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (7) Miami (OH) Quarterfinals | W 71–69 | 22–10 | Quicken Loans Arena Cleveland, OH |
| March 9, 2018 9:00 pm, CBSSN | (2) | vs. (3) Eastern Michigan Semifinals | W 64–63 | 23–10 | Quicken Loans Arena (4,625) Cleveland, OH |
| March 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (1) Buffalo Championship game | L 66–76 | 23–11 | Quicken Loans Arena (5,633) Cleveland, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||