# 2017–18 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by first-year head coach Joe Pasternack, played their home games at the UC Santa Barbara Events Center, better known as The Thunderdome, in Santa Barbara, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 23–9, 11–5 in Big West play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated Cal Poly before losing to UC Irvine in the semifinals. Despite winning 23 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Previous season

The Gauchos finished the 2016–17 season 6–22, 4–12 in Big West play to finish in last place. As a result, they failed to quality for the Big West tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Eric Childress | 1 | G | 6'0" | 190 | Senior | Hawthorne, CA | Graduated |
| Tide Osifeso | 11 | G | 5'10" | 155 | Sophomore | Rancho Cucamonga, CA | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Scotty Harris | 34 | G | 6'5" | 190 | Freshman | Portola Valley, CA | Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons |
| Tyler Jackson | 35 | C | 7'2" | 284 | RS Freshman | Oak Park, CA | Transferred to San Francisco State |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Leland King II | 1 | F | 6'7" | 215 | RS Senior | Inglewood, CA | Transferred from Nevada. Will be eligible to play immediately since King II graduated from Nevada. |
| Marcus Jackson | 55 | G | 6'3" | 185 | RS Senior | Acton, CA | Transferred from Rice. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jackson graduated from Rice. |
| Zack Moore | | F | 6'5" | 200 | Sophomore | Bellevue, WA | Transferred from Seattle. Under NCAA transfer rules, Moore will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Devearl Ramsey | | G | 5'10" | 170 | Sophomore | Chatsworth, CA | Transferred from Nevada. Under NCAA transfer rules, Ramsey will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marcus Shaver #57 PG | Phoenix, AZ | Saint Mary's High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 17, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| 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 December 4, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Fresno Pacific | W 92–69 | | The Thunderdome (1,032) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 11, 2017* 1:00 pm | | North Dakota State | W 85–66 | 1–0 | The Thunderdome (1,892) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 4:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Pittsburgh Legends Classic campus site game | L 62–70 | 1–1 | Petersen Events Center (2,685) Pittsburgh, PA |
| Nov 17, 2017* 5:00 pm | | at No. 16 Texas A&M Legends Classic campus site game | L 65–84 | 1–2 | Reed Arena (7,275) College Station, TX |
| Nov 20, 2017* 7:30 pm | | at Pepperdine Legends Classic Sub Regional semifinals | W 92–84 | 2–2 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,682) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 21, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. Montana Legends Classic Sub Regional finals | W 80–73 | 3–2 | Firestone Fieldhouse (1,239) Malibu, CA |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Prairie View A&M | W 69–66 | 4–2 | The Thunderdome (1,012) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at San Francisco | W 79–72 | 5–2 | War Memorial Gymnasium (1,720) San Francisco, CA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | San Diego | W 67–57 | 6–2 | The Thunderdome (1,716) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Omaha | W 77–70 | 7–2 | The Thunderdome (1,322) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 1:00 pm | | at Montana State | W 91–69 | 8–2 | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,271) Bozeman, MT |
| Dec 17, 2017* 5:00 pm, P12N | | at USC | L 87–98 | 8–3 | Galen Center (3,519) Los Angeles, CA |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm | | San Diego Christian | W 87–69 | 9–3 | The Thunderdome (1,271) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Dec 23, 2017* 7:05 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 82–72 | 10–3 | Hornets Nest (802) Sacramento, CA |
| Dec 30, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Pacific Union | W 81–49 | 11–3 | The Thunderdome (1,101) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Cal Poly Blue–Green Rivalry | L 79–80 | 11–4 (0–1) | Robert A. Mott Athletics Center (2,631) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | UC Riverside | W 65–57 | 12–4 (1–1) | The Thunderdome (1,882) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 10:00 pm | | at Hawaii | L 76–77 | 12–5 (1–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,719) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal State Fullerton | W 83–64 | 13–5 (2–2) | The Thunderdome (1,714) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | UC Irvine | W 70–58 | 14–5 (3–2) | The Thunderdome (3,823) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm, FS West | | at Cal State Fullerton | W 70–65 | 15–5 (4–2) | Titan Gym (1,033) Fullerton, CA |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | W 76–69 | 16–5 (5–2) | Student Recreation Center Arena (569) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Hawaii | W 84–82 $^{OT}$ | 17–5 (6–2) | The Thunderdome (2,317) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal State Northridge | W 75–51 | 18–5 (7–2) | The Thunderdome (2,229) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UC Davis | W 90–81 | 19–5 (8–2) | The Pavilion (3,392) Davis, CA |
| Feb 15, 2018 6:00 pm | | at Long Beach State | W 80–70 | 20–5 (9–2) | Walter Pyramid (3,015) Long Beach, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm | | UC Davis | L 54–71 | 20–6 (9–3) | The Thunderdome (2,883) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | at UC Irvine | L 49–69 | 20–7 (9–4) | Bren Events Center (2,318) Irvine, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | W 82–73 | 21–7 (10–4) | Matadome (1,122) Northridge, CA |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Long Beach State | L 69–70 | 21–8 (10–5) | The Thunderdome (1,743) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal Poly Blue–Green Rivalry | W 86–61 | 22–8 (11–5) | The Thunderdome (4,823) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 10:30 pm, FS West | (2) | vs. (7) Cal Poly Quarterfinals | W 75–53 | 23–8 | Honda Center (3,311) Anaheim, CA |
| Mar 9, 2018 10:30 pm, ESPNU | (2) | vs. (3) UC Irvine Semifinals | L 58–61 | 23–9 | Honda Center (3,984) Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.. ||||||
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