# 2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Hawks, led by 12th-year head coach Brian Jones, played their home games at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 6–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They defeated Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Montana.
This season was the last for North Dakota as a full Big Sky member. On July 1, 2018, the school will join the Summit League in all sports except for football, in which it will remain a Big Sky member before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020.

## Previous season

The Fighting Hawks finished the 2016–17 season 22–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. In the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Portland State, Idaho, and Weber State to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and the school's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a No. 15 seed in the West region, they lost to No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Arizona in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Corey Baldwin | 1 | G | 6'3" | 190 | Senior | Bridgeport, CT | Graduated |
| Carson Shanks | 5 | C | 7'0" | 230 | RS Junior | Prior Lake, MN | Graduate transferred to Loyola–Chicago |
| Shane Benton | 10 | C | 7'0" | 230 | RS Senior | Cedar Rapids, IA | Graduated |
| Wheeler Baker | 13 | G | 6'2" | 175 | Sophomore | Brooklyn Park, MN | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Thomas Blake | 20 | G | 6'2" | 200 | RS Senior | Hagerstown, MD | Walk-on; graduated |
| Quinton Hooker | 21 | G | 6'0" | 205 | Senior | Brooklyn Park, MD | Graduated |
| Devon Pekas | 25 | G | 6'4" | 210 | Senior | Hawley, MN | Graduated |
| Drick Bernstine | 43 | F | 6'8" | 220 | RS Junior | Aurora, CO | Graduate transferred to Washington State |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jaqwan McCauley | 10 | G/F | 6'6" | 210 | Junior | Greensboro, NC | Junior college transferred from Tyler Junior College. |
| Dale Jones | 13 | F | 6'7" | 227 | Senior | Waterloo, IA | Transferred from Iowa. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jones graduated from Iowa. |

### 2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Garrett Franken SF | Atlantic, IA | Atlantic High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Jul 10, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Tray Buchanan PG | East Moline, IL | United Township High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | N/A | Sep 25, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Aanen Moody SG | Dickinson, ND | Dickinson High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 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: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 23, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 10, 2017* 8:30 pm | | vs. Troy Rainbow Classic | W 83–80 | 1–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,764) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 12, 2017* 9:00 pm | | at Hawaii Rainbow Classic | L 78–81 | 1–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,180) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 13, 2017* 8:30 pm | | vs. Arkansas–Pine Bluff Rainbow Classic | W 80–71 | 2–1 | Stan Sheriff Center (5,078) Honolulu, HI |
| Nov 19, 2017* 1:00 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | L 70–92 | 2–2 | Pinnacle Bank Arena (10,249) Lincoln, NE |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northland College | W 79–48 | 3–2 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,570) Grand Forks, ND |
| Nov 25, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Utah Valley | L 75–83 $^{OT}$ | 3–3 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,669) Grand Forks, ND |
| Nov 28, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Presentation College | W 82–75 | 4–3 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,614) Grand Forks, ND |
| Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | at Creighton | L 68–111 | 4–4 | CenturyLink Center (15,069) Omaha, NE |
| Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm | | North Dakota State | L 79–88 | 4–5 | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (3,057) Grand Forks, ND |
| Dec 12, 2017* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | at South Dakota State | L 63–99 | 4–6 | Frost Arena (1,874) Brookings, SD |
| Dec 16, 2017* 7:00 pm, RTNW | | at No. 12 Gonzaga | L 83–89 $^{OT}$ | 4–7 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, WA |
| Dec 29, 2017 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Idaho | L 57–74 | 4–8 (0–1) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,597) Grand Forks, ND |
| Dec 31, 2017 4:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Eastern Washington | L 64–77 | 4–9 (0–2) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,548) Grand Forks, ND |
| Jan 4, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Montana | L 79–109 | 4–10 (0–3) | Dahlberg Arena (3,220) Missoula, MT |
| Jan 6, 2018 3:00 pm | | at Montana State | L 68–79 | 4–11 (0–4) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,883) Bozeman, MT |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm | | Idaho State | W 81–58 | 5–11 (1–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,707) Grand Forks, ND |
| Jan 13, 2018 2:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Weber State | W 89–79 | 6–11 (2–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,188) Grand Forks, ND |
| Jan 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | North Dakota State | W 86–77 | 7–11 | Scheels Arena (4,105) Fargo, ND |
| Jan 20, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | L 91–94 $^{OT}$ | 7–12 (2–5) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,059) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 25, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Eastern Washington | L 71–95 | 7–13 (2–6) | Reese Court (1,679) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 27, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Idaho | L 71–96 | 7–14 (2–7) | Cowan Spectrum (1,818) Moscow, ID |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Montana State | W 75–74 | 8–14 (3–7) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,885) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 3, 2018 4:00 pm, ELVN | | Montana | L 67–72 | 8–15 (3–8) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,089) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 8, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Weber State | L 76–84 | 8–16 (3–9) | Dee Events Center (6,275) Ogden, UT |
| Feb 10, 2018 8:00 pm | | at Idaho State | L 67–82 | 8–17 (3–10) | Holt Arena (1,708) Pocatello, ID |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm, MidcoSN | | Southern Utah | W 61–57 | 9–17 (4–10) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,456) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 17, 2018 4:00 pm | | Northern Arizona | W 86–81 $^{OT}$ | 10–17 (5–10) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,970) Grand Forks, ND |
| Feb 24, 2018 3:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | L 66–79 | 10–18 (5–11) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,895) Grand Forks, ND |
| Mar 1, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Sacramento State | W 90–73 | 11–18 (6–11) | Hornets Nest (501) Sacramento, CA |
| Mar 3, 2018 3:00 pm | | at Portland State | L 90–97 $^{OT}$ | 11–19 (6–12) | Pamplin Sports Center (715) Portland, OR |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Mar 6, 2018 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | (8) | vs. (9) Montana State First round | W 76–74 | 12–19 | Reno Events Center (986) Reno, NV |
| Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm, ELVN | (8) | vs. (1) Montana Quarterfinals | L 76–84 | 12–20 | Reno Events Center (1,110) Reno, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time Source. ||||||