# 2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represented the University of California, Riverside during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by interim head coach Justin Bell, played their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena in Riverside, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 9–22, 4–12 in Big West play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to UC Davis.
On January 1, 2018, three days before conference play was to start, head coach Dennis Cutts, who was in his fifth season at UC Riverside, was fired after posting a 5–9 record to start the season. Associate head coach Justin Bell was named interim head coach. On March 14, the school hired TCU assistant coach David Patrick as head coach.

## Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2016–17 season 7–21, 5–11 in Big West play to finish in eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they were defeated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Gentrey Thomas | 0 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | East Preston, NS | Graduated |
| Malik Thames | 11 | G | 6'2" | 165 | Senior | Sacramento, CA | Graduated |
| Secean Johnson | 20 | F | 6'5" | 215 | Senior | Philadelphia, PA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| Ryker Pierce | 31 | G/F | 6'5" | 205 | RS Sophomore | Rexburg, ID | Junior college transferred from Cowley CC |

### 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Alec Hickman PG | San Juan Capistrano, CA | JSerra Catholic High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | May 17, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ajani Kennedy PF | Moreno Valley, CA | Rancho Verde High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Feb 2, 2017 |
| 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 December 4, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Quebec Tour ||||||
| Aug 2, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at Université Laval | W 73–68 | 1–0 | Quebec City, QC |
| Aug 3, 2017* 4:00 pm | | at UQAM | W 79–39 | 2–0 | Quebec City, QC |
| Aug 5, 2017* 10:00 am | | at QC United | W 63–48 | 3–0 | Quebec City, QC |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 4, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Stanislaus State | W 81–65 | | Student Recreation Center Arena Riverside, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N | | at California | W 74–66 | 1–0 | Haas Pavilion (7,083) Berkeley, CA |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Loyola Marymount | L 64–76 | 1–1 | Gersten Pavilion (891) Los Angeles, CA |
| Nov 18, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Portland State | L 82–94 | 1–2 | Student Recreation Center Arena Riverside, CA |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Western New Mexico | W 75–57 | 2–2 | Student Recreation Center Arena (363) Riverside, CA |
| Nov 26, 2017* 1:00 pm, FS1 | | at Michigan | L 42–87 | 2–3 | Crisler Center (9,841) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Pacific | L 55–57 | 2–4 | Student Recreation Center Arena (372) Riverside, CA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | L 56–68 | 2–5 | GCU Arena (6,844) Phoenix, AZ |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Pepperdine | L 59–70 | 2–6 | Firestone Fieldhouse (942) Malibu, CA |
| Dec 8, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Air Force | W 67–48 | 3–6 | Student Recreation Center Arena (899) Riverside, CA |
| Dec 17, 2017* 12:00 pm | | at Montana | L 61–77 | 3–7 | Dahlberg Arena (2,817) Missoula, MT |
| Dec 20, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Valparaiso | W 73–60 | 4–7 | Student Recreation Center Arena (454) Riverside, CA |
| Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm | | UC Merced | W 91–46 | 5–7 | Student Recreation Center Arena (460) Riverside, CA |
| Dec 28, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | L 82–90 | 5–8 | UCCU Center (2,936) Orem, UT |
| Dec 30, 2017* 1:00 pm | | at Seattle | L 71–95 | 5–9 | Connolly Center (833) Seattle, WA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | L 65–68 | 5–10 (0–1) | Titan Gym (878) Fullerton, CA |
| Jan 6, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UC Santa Barbara | L 57–65 | 5–11 (0–2) | The Thunderdome (1,882) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UC Davis | L 65–75 | 5–12 (0–3) | Student Recreation Center Arena (870) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 6:00 pm | | Long Beach State | L 68–75 | 5–13 (0–4) | Student Recreation Center Arena (567) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Cal State Northridge | L 57–66 | 5–14 (0–5) | Student Recreation Center Arena (507) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Irvine | L 40–79 | 5–15 (0–6) | Bren Events Center (1,361) Irvine, CA |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UC Santa Barbara | L 69–76 | 5–16 (0–7) | Student Recreation Center Arena (569) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Cal Poly | L 68–71 | 5–17 (0–8) | Robert A. Mott Athletics Center (1,217) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Feb 7, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Hawaii | W 64–60 | 6–17 (1–8) | Stan Sheriff Center (5,206) Honolulu, HI |
| Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm | | UC Irvine | L 52–62 | 6–18 (1–9) | Student Recreation Center Arena (504) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 14, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 69–62 | 7–18 (2–9) | Matadome (615) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket | | Hawaii | L 69–74 $^{OT}$ | 7–19 (2–10) | Student Recreation Center Arena (465) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal State Fullerton | W 69–65 | 8–19 (3–10) | Student Recreation Center Arena (582) Riverside, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm | | at UC Davis | L 63–64 | 8–20 (3–11) | The Pavilion (2,704) Davis, CA |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal Poly | W 72–63 | 9–20 (4–11) | Student Recreation Center Arena (350) Riverside, CA |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Long Beach State | L 59–77 | 9–21 (4–12) | Walter Pyramid (2,930) Long Beach, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm, FS West | (8) | vs. (1) UC Davis Quarterfinals | L 66–70 | 9–22 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time.. ||||||
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