# 2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by seventh-year head coach Mark Montgomery, played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). They finished the season 13–19, 6–12 in MAC play, to finish in last place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Kent State.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2016–17 season 15–17, 7–11 in MAC play, to finish in a tie for fourth place in the West Division. As the No. 9 seed in the MAC tournament, they lost in the first round to Eastern Michigan.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

Following the season, assistant coach Lou Dawkins left the school to take an assistant coach position at Cleveland State. Assistant coach Jason Larson was not retained by the school following the season.
On April 28, 2017, the school hired Lamar Chapman as an assistant coach. On October 12, Brandon Watkins was hired as an assistant to round out the coaching staff.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Dontel Highsmith | 34 | G | 6' 2" | 200 | Senior | Dowagiac, MI | Graduated and transferred to Cleveland State |
| Marin Maric | 34 | C | 6' 11" | 250 | Senior | Split, Croatia | Graduated and transferred to DePaul |
| Laytwan Porter | 14 | G | 6' 2" | 165 | Sophomore | Rockford, IL | Transferred |
| Nick Wagner | 14 | G | 6' 3" | 190 | Freshman | Galesville, WI | Transferred |
| Marshawn Wilson | 14 | G | 6' 3" | 205 | Sophomore | Oakdale, MN | Left school during season |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Safir 'Gairges' Daow SG | Australia | Victory Rock Prep School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Eugene 'Marlo' Brown SF | Detroit, MI | DME Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Owen Hamilton #37 C | Prescott, WI | Prescott High School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Sep 18, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Rod Henry-Hayes SG | Zion, IL | Zion-Benton Township High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 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 October 5, 2016. ||||||
Source:

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | St. Francis (IL) Postponed (unsafe court conditions), make-up November 16 | | | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| November 14, 2017* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Green Bay | W 85–65 | 1–0 | Convocation Center (858) DeKalb, IL |
| November 16, 2017* 7:00 p.m. | | St. Francis (IL) | W 70–60 | 2–0 | Convocation Center (514) DeKalb, IL |
| November 20, 2017* 4:00 p.m., Flohoops.com | | vs. Penn Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 80–93 | 2–1 | Germain Arena (823) Estero, FL |
| November 21, 2017* 12:30 p.m., Flohoops.com | | vs. Florida Atlantic Gulf Coast Showcase consolation round | L 67–77 | 2–2 | Germain Arena (841) Estero, FL |
| November 22, 2017* 10:00 a.m., Flohoops.com | | vs. Manhattan Gulf Coast Showcase 7th-place game | W 70–68 | 3–2 | Germain Arena (868) Estero, FL |
| November 26, 2017* 3:30 p.m. | | Rockford | W 105–53 | 4–2 | Convocation Center (649) DeKalb, IL |
| November 29, 2017* 8:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | L 62–75 | 4–3 | Convocation Center (1,216) DeKalb, IL |
| December 2, 2017* 2:05 p.m., WAC Digital Network | | at Chicago State | W 95–77 | 5–3 | Jones Convocation Center (463) Chicago, IL |
| December 4, 2017* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Iowa State | L 80–94 | 5–4 | Hilton Coliseum (13,894) Ames, IA |
| December 9, 2017* 12:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Central Connecticut | W 61–55 | 6–4 | Convocation Center (641) DeKalb, IL |
| December 18, 2017* 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | at Marquette | L 70–79 | 6–5 | BMO Harris Bradley Center (12,532) Milwaukee, WI |
| December 21, 2017* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | UIC | W 69–63 | 7–5 | Convocation Center (889) Dekalb, IL |
| December 29, 2017* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | at Iowa | L 75–98 | 7–6 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,665) Iowa City, IA |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Kent State | W 75–61 | 8–6 (1–0) | Convocation Center (918) DeKalb, IL |
| January 6, 2018 2:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Ohio | L 68–78 | 8–7 (1–1) | Convocation Center (7,066) Athens, OH |
| January 9, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | L 57–66 | 8–8 (1–2) | Stroh Center (2,013) Bowling Green, OH |
| January 13, 2018 3:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Eastern Michigan | W 72–66 | 9–8 (2–2) | Convocation Center (1,144) DeKalb, IL |
| January 16, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Buffalo | L 67–95 | 9–9 (2–3) | Alumni Arena (2,098) Amherst, NY |
| January 20, 2018 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Akron | L 67–82 | 9–10 (2–4) | James A. Rhodes Arena (3,378) Akron, OH |
| January 23, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Bowling Green | W 93–62 | 10–10 (3–4) | Convocation Center (883) DeKalb, IL |
| January 27, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Western Michigan | L 72–79 | 10–11 (3–5) | University Arena (3,116) Kalamazoo, MI |
| January 30, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Central Michigan | L 67–81 | 10–12 (3–6) | McGuirk Arena (1,820) Mount Pleasant, MI |
| February 3, 2018 3:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Miami (OH) | L 65–81 | 10–13 (3–7) | Convocation Center (1,280) DeKalb, IL |
| February 6, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Toledo | L 77–82 | 10–14 (3–8) | Savage Arena (3,861) Toledo, OH |
| February 10, 2018 3:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Buffalo | W 90–88 $^{OT}$ | 11–14 (4–8) | Convocation Center (1,565) DeKalb, IL |
| February 13, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Central Michigan | L 72–80 | 11–15 (4–9) | Convocation Center (799) DeKalb, IL |
| February 17, 2018 3:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Western Michigan | W 75–67 | 12–15 (5–9) | Convocation Center (1,743) DeKalb, IL |
| February 20, 2018 6:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Ball State | L 68–77 | 12–16 (5–10) | Worthen Arena (3,745) Muncie, IN |
| February 24, 2018 11:00 a.m., ESPN3 | | at Eastern Michigan | L 53–82 | 12–17 (5–11) | Convocation Center (1,821) Ypsilanti, MI |
| February 27, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Toledo | L 67–97 | 12–18 (5–12) | Convocation Center (869) DeKalb, IL |
| March 2, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Ball State | W 66–65 | 13–18 (6–12) | Convocation Center (1,007) DeKalb, IL |
| MAC tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2018 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | (12) | at (5) Kent State First round | L 59–61 | 13–19 | MAC Center (2,024) Kent, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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