# 2017–18 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Valparaiso Crusaders men's basketball team represented Valparaiso University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by second-year head coach Matt Lottich, played their home games at the Athletics–Recreation Center as first-year members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 15–17, 6–12 in MVC play to finish in last place. They lost in the first round of the Missouri Valley tournament to Missouri State.

## Previous season

The Crusaders finished the 2016–17 season 24–9, 14–4 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for the Horizon League regular season championship. As the No. 2 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they lost to Milwaukee in the quarterfinals. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Illinois.
The season marked the Crusaders' final season as a member of the Horizon League as the school announced on May 25, 2017, that it would be joining the Missouri Valley Conference effective July 1, 2017.

## Offseason
### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Parker Hazen SF | Columbia City, Indiana | Columbia City High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 78 ||||||
| Marten Linssen PF | Düsseldorf, Germany | Bayer Giants Leverkusen | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Mileek McMillan PF | Merrillville, IN | Merrillville High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 220 lb (100 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: ||||||
Source

## Preseason

In the conference's preseason poll, the Crusaders were picked to finish in sixth place in the MVC. Senior guard Tevonn Walker was named to the preseason All-MVC second team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Robert Morris (IL) | W 117–69 | | 17 – Bradford | 10 – Hazen | 6 – Joseph | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,134) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 2, 2017* 7:00 pm | | at Chicago State | W 77–42 | | – | – | – | Jones Convocation Center Chicago, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | North Park | W 88–46 | 1–0 | 20 – Bradford | 10 – Golder | 3 – Walker | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,682) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Trinity Christian | W 83–46 | 2–0 | 18 – Walker | 9 – Kiser | 4 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,545) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 94–69 | 3–0 | 22 – Walker | 5 – Golder | 7 – Evelyn | Vadalabene Center (1,353) Edwardsville, IL |
| Nov 19, 2017* 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Southeastern Louisiana Savannah Invitational | W 83–50 | 4–0 | 18 – Burton | 6 – Smits | 4 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,651) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford Savannah Invitational | W 88–67 | 5–0 | 26 – Walker | 9 – Walker | 6 – Joseph | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,259) Valparaiso, IN |
| Nov 24, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. Kent State Savannah Invitational | W 77–67 | 6–0 | 17 – Walker | 7 – Linssen | 7 – Evelyn | Savannah Civic Center Savannah, GA |
| Nov 25, 2017* 6:30 pm | | vs. UNC Wilmington Savannah Invitational | W 79–70 | 7–0 | 30 – Evelyn | 8 – Tied | 1 – 3 tied | Savannah Civic Center (547) Savannah, GA |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Utah State MW–MVC Challenge | W 72–65 | 8–0 | 25 – Walker | 9 – Walker | 4 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,949) Valparaiso, IN |
| Dec 7, 2017* 5:30 pm, FS1 | | at No. 21 Purdue | L 50–80 | 8–1 | 19 – Burton | 10 – Sorolla | 2 – Bradford | Mackey Arena (14,232) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec 9, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 70–71 | 8–2 | 17 – Burton | 11 – Joseph | 6 – Evelyn | Worthen Arena (5,009) Muncie, IN |
| Dec 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | L 50–84 | 8–3 | 16 – Burton | 6 – Tied | 3 – Bradford | Allstate Arena (5,299) Rosemont, IL |
| Dec 18, 2017* 9:00 pm | | at Santa Clara | W 76–68 | 9–3 | 14 – Burton | 6 – Kiser | 4 – 4 tied | Leavey Center (1,305) Santa Clara, CA |
| Dec 20, 2017* 9:00 pm | | at UC Riverside | L 60–73 | 9–4 | 15 – Joseph | 7 – Smits | 3 – Tied | SRC Center (454) Riverside, CA |
| MVC regular season |||||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 6:00 pm, NBCSC | | at Indiana State | L 64–73 | 9–5 (0–1) | 19 – Tied | 7 – Joseph | 2 – Linssen | Hulman Center (3,269) Terre Haute, IN |
| Dec 31, 2017 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Missouri State | L 50–67 | 9–6 (0–2) | 13 – Joseph | 5 – Joseph | 4 – Walker | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,440) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | L 71–80 | 9–7 (0–3) | 25 – Walker | 7 – Walker | 3 – Tied | Carver Arena (5,294) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 6, 2018 3:00 pm, NBCSC | | Southern Illinois | W 83–72 | 10–7 (1–3) | 17 – Tied | 8 – Walker | 6 – Bradford | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,966) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Drake | W 77–60 | 11–7 (2–3) | 26 – Walker | 6 – Walker | 8 – Joseph | Knapp Center (2,710) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Northern Iowa | L 76–81 | 11–8 (2–4) | 19 – Evelyn | 6 – Golder | 9 – Bradford | McLeod Center (4,707) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Missouri State | L 57–64 | 11–9 (2–5) | 12 – Golder | 7 – Joseph | 3 – Bradford | JQH Arena (4,876) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 21, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Loyola–Chicago | L 54–70 | 11–10 (2–6) | 19 – Evelyn | 6 – Tied | 2 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (4,040) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Evansville | L 65–75 | 11–11 (2–7) | 17 – Evelyn | 6 – 3 tied | 4 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,219) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 27, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Illinois State | L 65–76 | 11–12 (2–8) | 20 – Evelyn | 7 – Kiser | 4 – Evelyn | Redbird Arena (5,024) Bloomington, IL |
| Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 69–63 | 12–12 (3–8) | 20 – Evelyn | 6 – Smits | 2 – 3 tied | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,228) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | L 59-65 | 12–13 (3–9) | 16 – Walker | 9 – Evelyn | 5 – Golder | SIU Arena (5,694) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Evansville | L 59-63 | 12–14 (3–10) | 15 – Tied | 6 – Kiser | 4 – Evelyn | Ford Center (3,425) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 11, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | Illinois State | W 74–58 | 13–14 (4–10) | 22 – Evelyn | 9 – Kiser | 5 – Tied | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,330) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 71–80 | 13–15 (4–11) | 18 – Walker | 8 – Kiser | 5 – Walker | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (2,091) Chicago, IL |
| Feb 17, 2018 8:00 pm, NBCSC | | Bradley | W 77–64 | 14–15 (5–11) | 16 – Golder | 7 – Golder | 6 – Joseph | Athletics–Recreation Center (3,021) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 20, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Northern Iowa | L 63–68 | 14–16 (5–12) | 19 – Evelyn | 5 – Golder | 3 – Golder | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,071) Valparaiso, IN |
| Feb 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Drake | W 69–64 | 15–16 (6–12) | 22 – Smits | 9 – Tied | 4 – Evelyn | Athletics–Recreation Center (4,025) Valparaiso, IN |
| MVC tournament |||||||||
| Mar 1, 2018 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | (10) | vs. (7) Missouri State First round | L 79–83 | 15–17 | 25 – Walker | 6 – Evelyn | 5 – Bradford | Scottrade Center (4,852) St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source