# 2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team

The 2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by third year head coach Jon Harris, played their home games at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 5–13 in OVC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. Due to Southeast Missouri State being ineligible for postseason play due to APR violations, the Cougars received the No. 8 seed in the OVC tournament where they lost in the first round to Tennessee Tech.

## Previous season

The Cougars finished the 2016–17 season 6–24, 1–15 in OVC play to finish in last place in the West Division. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, SIUE was picked to finish in 12th place in the OVC.
After five years of divisional play in the OVC, the conference eliminated divisions for the 2017–18 season. Additionally, for the first time, each conference team will play 18 conference games.

## Season summary

The Cougars finished the regular season with nine wins and twenty losses, an improvement over the two preceding seasons. Their conference record of 5–12 placed them in a tie for ninth place in the conference standings.

### Post season

The Cougars' ninth place tie was broken by their 2–1 record versus Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin. With Southeast Missouri ineligible for post season play, the Cougars earned the No. 8 seed in the OVC tournament, the schools' first slot in the tournament since 2015.

### Awards and honors

Prior to the start of the OVC Tournament, the conference announced the Cougars senior forward Jalen Henry was named to the All-OVC Second Team.
On March 27, the Ohio Valley Conference announced that the SIUE men's team are the recipients of the 2017-18 OVC Team Sportsmanship Award for men's basketball.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 5, 2017* 2:00 pm, OVCDN | | Brescia | W 95–75 | — | 19 – Henry | 8 – Simmons, Torres & Team | 10 – Benton | Vadalabene Center (1,059) Edwardsville, IL |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at No. 20 Purdue | L 74–105 | 0–1 | 20 – Torres | 7 – Ellis | 6 – Benton | Mackey Arena (13,934) West Lafayette, IN |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Valparaiso | L 69–94 | 0–2 | 21 – Henry & Kinchen | 9 – Henry | 5 – Benton | Vadalabene Center (1,353) Edwardsville, IL |
| Nov 18, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stetson | W 80–76 | 1–2 | 23 – Kinchen | 13 – Henry | 5 – Kinchen | Edmunds Center (475) DeLand, FL |
| Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | Western Illinois | L 67–69 | 1–3 | 26 – Kinchen | 8 – Henry | 4 – Henry | Vadalabene Center (1,126) Edwardsville, IL |
| Nov 25, 2017* 3:30 pm, FS2 | | at Creighton | L 66–103 | 1–4 | 19 – Ellis & Henry | 9 – Henry | 2 – McFarland & Stewart | CenturyLink Center Omaha (15,607) Omaha, NE |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | L 59–86 | 1–5 | 16 – Ellis | 11 – Henry | 3 – Ellis | SIU Arena (3,333) Carbondale, IL |
| Dec 3, 2017* 1:00 pm, Mastodons All-Access | | at Fort Wayne | L 71–86 | 1–6 | 16 – Henry & McCoy | 5 – Awet | 6 – Ellis | Memorial Coliseum (1,315) Fort Wayne, IN |
| Dec 6, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at IUPUI | W 82–81 | 2–6 | 21 – Henry | 9 – Henry | 4 – Ellis | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (809) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 10, 2017* 2:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | South Alabama | W 76–75 | 3–6 | 26 – Henry | 12 – Henry | 5 – Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,155) Edwardsville, IL |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Chicago State | W 88–76 | 4–6 | 19 – Ellis & Henry | 6 – Henry | 8 – Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,005) Edwardsville, IL |
| Dec 22, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | L 52–70 | 4–7 | 14 – Ellis | 8 – Ellis | 5 – Ellis | McGuirk Arena (1,664) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season |||||||||
| Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | at Austin Peay | L 58–78 | 4–8 (0–1) | 14 – Benton | 6 – Benton, Ellis & D, Jackson | 5 – Kinchen | Dunn Center (1,648) Clarksville, TN |
| Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | at Murray State | L 63–87 | 4–9 (0–2) | 13 – Kinchen | 6 – B.Jackson | 3 – Kinchen | CFSB Center (2,986) Murray, KY |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | at Eastern Kentucky | W 85–82 | 5–9 (1–2) | 35 – Henry | 7 – McFarland | 5 – Benton | McBrayer Arena (1,120) Richmond, KY |
| Jan 6, 2018 3:15 pm, OVCDN | | at Morehead State | W 70–65 | 6–9 (2–2) | 16 – Henry | 11 – Henry | 8 – Kinchen | Ellis Johnson Arena (1,442) Morehead, KY |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Belmont | L 61–76 | 6–10 (2–3) | 14 – Kinchen | 8 – Ellis | 3 – Bentom & Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,165) Edwardsville, IL |
| Jan 13, 2018 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | Tennessee State | W 82–79 | 7–10 (3–3) | 19 – B. Jackson | 7 – B. Jackson | 9 – Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,346) Edwardsville, IL |
| Jan 18, 2018 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | Southeast Missouri State | L 74–86 | 7–11 (3–4) | 22 – McFarland | 9 – McFarland | 5 – Bentom & Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,147) Edwardsville, IL |
| Jan 20, 2018 1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | UT Martin | L 69–70 | 7–12 (3–5) | 21 – Henry | 6 – McFarland & Simmons | 5 – Bentom & Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,234) Edwardsville, IL |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm, OVCDN | | at Tennessee State | L 57–85 | 7–13 (3–6) | 11 – Ellis, Henry & McFarland | 9 – Ellis | 3 – Ellis & McFarland | Gentry Complex (1,291) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, OVCDN | | at Belmont | L 72–83 | 7–14 (3–7) | 17 – Henry | 5 – B.Jackson | 2 – Benton, Ellis & McFarland | Curb Event Center (2,454) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | Tennessee Tech | L 67–68 | 7–15 (3–8) | 27 – Ellis | 12 – McFarland | 5 – Kinchen | Vadalabene Center (1,153) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 3, 2018 1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Jacksonville State | W 75–67 | 9–15 (4–8) | 15 – McFarland | 8 – Team | 5 – Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,507) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, OVCDN | | Eastern Illinois | L 74–78 | 8–16 (4–9) | 21 – Kinchen | 10 – Simmons | 4 – Benton & Ellis | Vadalabene Center (1,205) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 10, 2018 1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Murray State | L 66–75 | 8–17 (4–10) | 18 – Henry | 10 – Simmons & Team | 4 – McFarland | Vadalabene Center (1,517) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | at UT Martin | W 70–69 | 9–17 (5–10) | 25 – Simmons | 8 – Simmons | 4 – Ellis | Skyhawk Arena (1,001) Martin, TN |
| Feb 17, 2018 4:15 pm, OVCDN | | at Southeast Missouri State | L 74–79 | 9–18 (5–11) | 19 – Ellis | 9 – Simmons | 4 – Kinchen | Show Me Center (1,697) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Feb 22, 2018 7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN | | Austin Peay | L 82–86 | 9–19 (5–12) | 26 – Henry | 7 – Henry | 3 – Benton, Henry & Kinchen | Vadalabene Center (1,583) Edwardsville, IL |
| Feb 24, 2018 3:15 pm, OVCDN | | at Eastern Illinois | L 56–68 | 9–20 (5–13) | 20 – Henry | 11 – Simmons | 3 – McFarland | Lantz Arena (1,550) Charleston, IL |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament |||||||||
| Feb 28, 2018 6:30 pm, OVCDN | (8) | vs. (5) Tennessee Tech First Round | L 51–60 | 9–21 | 14 – Henry | 15 – Henry | 4 – Benton | Ford Center (654) Evansville, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. |||||||||