# 2017–18 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Winthrop Eagles men's basketball team represented Winthrop University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by sixth-year head coach Pat Kelsey, played their home games at the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, South Carolina as members of the Big South Conference. They finished the season 19–12, 12–6 in Big South play to finish in a tie for second place. They defeated Gardner–Webb in the quarterfinals of the Big South tournament before losing in the semifinals to Radford.

## Previous season

The Eagles finished the season 26–7, 15–3 in Big South play to finish in a tie for the regular season Big South championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big South tournament, they defeated Charleston Southern, Gardner–Webb, and Campbell to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, their first bid since 2010. In the NCAA Tournament, they lost in the first round to Butler.
On March 21, 2017, head coach Pat Kelsey initially left Winthrop to take the head coaching job at Massachusetts, but backed out two days later citing "personal reasons" and returned to Winthrop.

## Preseason

The Eagles were picked to finish second in conference play in a preseason Big South poll. Senior G/F Xavier Cooks was named to the All-Big South preseason first team.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Southern Illinois | L 66–81 | 0–1 | Winthrop Coliseum (2,675) Rock Hill, SC |
| Nov 14, 2017* 8:00 pm | | at Colorado State | L 76–80 | 0–2 | Moby Arena (2,697) Fort Collins, CO |
| Nov 18, 2017* 4:00 pm | | Central Penn | W 106–65 | 1–2 | Winthrop Coliseum (1,968) Rock Hill, SC |
| Nov 21, 2017* 11:00 am | | Mars Hill | W 104–49 | 2–2 | Winthrop Coliseum (4,761) Rock Hill, SC |
| Nov 24, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Auburn | L 85–119 | 2–3 | Auburn Arena (7,197) Auburn, AL |
| Nov 26, 2017* 7:00 pm | | South Carolina State | W 86–61 | 3–3 | Winthrop Coliseum (1,107) Rock Hill, SC |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | W 93–74 | 4–3 | Timmons Arena (1,351) Greenville, SC |
| Dec 2, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Reinhardt | W 107–76 | 5–3 | Winthrop Coliseum (759) Rock Hill, SC |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Georgia | L 82–87 | 5–4 | Stegeman Coliseum (6,405) Athens, GA |
| Dec 16, 2017* 2:00 pm | | at Alabama State | W 88–80 | 6–4 | Dunn–Oliver Acadome Montgomery, AL |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, MASN | | at VCU | L 55–69 | 6–5 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| Big South regular season ||||||
| Dec 30, 2017 2:00 pm | | High Point | W 76–60 | 7–5 (1–0) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,168) Rock Hill, SC |
| Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Radford | L 79–85 | 7–6 (1–1) | Dedmon Center (634) Radford, VA |
| Jan 6, 2018 2:00 pm | | at Campbell | L 77–88 | 7–7 (1–2) | Gore Arena (1,620) Buies Creek, NC |
| Jan 9, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Liberty | L 70–73 | 7–8 (1–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,085) Rock Hill, SC |
| Jan 12, 2018 7:30 pm | | at Charleston Southern | W 64–53 | 8–8 (2–3) | CSU Field House (881) North Charleston, SC |
| Jan 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | Gardner–Webb | W 90–67 | 9–8 (3–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (996) Rock Hill, SC |
| Jan 18, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | UNC Asheville | W 85–58 | 10–8 (4–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (3,347) Rock Hill, SC |
| Jan 21, 2018 4:00 pm | | at Presbyterian | W 81–68 | 11–8 (5–3) | Templeton Center (433) Clinton, SC |
| Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Longwood | W 95–78 | 12–8 (6–3) | Willett Hall (1,737) Farmville, VA |
| Jan 27, 2018 2:00 pm | | Campbell | W 75–64 | 13–8 (7–3) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,271) Rock Hill, SC |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Liberty | L 61–77 | 13–9 (7–4) | Vines Center (2,422) Lynchburg, VA |
| Feb 3, 2018 2:00 pm | | Radford | W 75–57 | 14–9 (8–4) | Winthrop Coliseum (1,980) Rock Hill, SC |
| Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Presbyterian | W 63–49 | 15–9 (9–4) | Winthrop Coliseum (655) Rock Hill, SC |
| Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm | | at High Point | W 82–70 | 16–9 (10–4) | Millis Athletic Center (1,342) High Point, NC |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Gardner–Webb | W 90–71 | 17–9 (11–4) | Paul Porter Arena (1,252) Boiling Springs, NC |
| Feb 18, 2018 2:00 pm | | Longwood | W 79–64 | 18–9 (12–4) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,331) Rock Hill, SC |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm | | at UNC Asheville | L 75–89 | 18–10 (12–5) | Kimmel Arena (2,978) Asheville, NC |
| Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm | | Charleston Southern | L 75–78 | 18–11 (12–6) | Winthrop Coliseum (2,418) Rock Hill, SC |
| Big South tournament ||||||
| Mar 1, 2018 3:30 pm, ESPN3 | (3) | vs. (6) Gardner–Webb Quarterfinals | W 72–68 | 19–11 | Kimmel Arena (1,159) Asheville, NC |
| Mar 2, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (3) | vs. (2) Radford Semifinals | L 52–61 | 19–12 | Kimmel Arena (2,318) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||