# 2017–18 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Northern Kentucky Norse men's basketball team represented Northern Kentucky University (NKU) during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Norse, led by third-year head coach John Brannen, played their home games at BB&T Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 22–10, 15–3 in Horizon League play to win the Horizon League regular season championship. They were upset in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League tournament by No. 8 seed Cleveland State. As a regular season league champion who failed to win their league tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Louisville.
The Norse shared their home arena, BB&T Arena, with the University of Cincinnati's men's basketball team during the season while Cincinnati's home arena, Fifth Third Arena, underwent renovations during the season.

## Previous season

The Norse finished the 2016–17 season 24–11, 13–6 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for third place. As the No. 4 seed in the Horizon League tournament, they defeated Wright State, Youngstown State, and Milwaukee to win the Horizon League tournament. They received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in the school's first year of eligibility after its transition to a Division I school. They lost in the first round to Kentucky.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Brandon Maxwell | 2 | G | 6'2" | 190 | Sophomore | Orlando, FL | Transferred |
| Blake Spellman | 3 | G | 5'11" | 180 | Freshman | Lee's Summit, MO | Transferred to Central Missouri |
| Brennan Gillis | 13 | F | 6'7" | 215 | Sophomore | Indianapolis, IN | Left the team for personal reasons |
| Matt Rosenwinkel | 22 | G | 6'2" | 230 | Senior | Rochelle, IL | Walk-on; graduated |
| Cole Murray | 25 | G | 6'7" | 210 | Senior | Delphi, IN | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Tyler Sharpe | 15 | G | 6'1" | 185 | Sophomore | Louisville, KY | Transferred from Louisville. Under NCAA transfer rules, Sharpe will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility. |

### Recruiting class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Paul Djoko PG | France | Champagne Châlons-reims Basket | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Chris Vogt C | Mayfield, KY | Graves County High School | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| 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 December 19, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 4, 2017* 2:30 pm | | Urbana | W 81–26 | | 17 – McDonald | 8 – Garrett | 7 – Faulkner | BB&T Arena (2,713) Highland Heights, KY |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 10, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | East Tennessee State | W 81–63 | 1–0 | 22 – McDonald | 10 – McDonald | 5 – Faulkner/Holland | BB&T Arena (3,586) Highland Heights, KY |
| November 12, 2017* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wilmington (OH) | W 93–65 | 2–0 | 18 – McDonald | 15 – Garrett | 5 – Walton | BB&T Arena (2,491) Highland Heights, KY |
| November 17, 2017* 5:00 pm | | vs. James Madison The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase Quarterfinals | W 87–78 | 3–0 | 24 – Holland | 7 – Williams | 5 – Holland | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 18, 2017* 8:00 pm | | vs. Iona The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase Semifinals | W 85–72 | 4–0 | 20 – Williams | 6 – Williams | 5 – Garnett/Holland | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (417) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 19, 2017* 8:00 pm | | vs. Vermont The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase Championship | L 64–66 | 4–1 | 14 – Holland | 6 – McDonald | 5 – Holland | Kendal Isaacs National Gymnasium (477) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 25, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Memphis | L 74–76 | 4–2 | 19 – Holland | 8 – McDonald | 8 – Holland | FedExForum (5,369) Memphis, TN |
| November 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Berea | W 112–33 | 5–2 | 18 – Williams | 8 – Garrett | 7 – Faulkner | BB&T Arena (2,506) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 2, 2017* 7:00 pm, CW Cincinnati | | Morehead State | W 86–49 | 6–2 | 22 – McDonald | 7 – Garrett | 4 – Holland | BB&T Arena (4,064) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 6, 2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | L 71–84 | 6–3 | 22 – Williams | 6 – McDonald | 5 – Holland | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,484) Johnson City, TN |
| December 10, 2017* 6:00 pm, CW Cincinnati | | Eastern Kentucky | W 91–63 | 7–3 | 23 – McDonald | 9 – McDonald | 6 – Faulkner | BB&T Arena (3,622) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 17, 2017* 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMBC | L 75–76 | 7–4 | 24 – McDonald | 11 – McDonald | 6 – Holland | Retriever Activities Center (781) Catonsville, MD |
| December 19, 2017* 8:00 pm, SECN+ | | at No. 8 Texas A&M | L 58–64 | 7–5 | 16 – McDonald | 11 – McDonald | 7 – Holland | Reed Arena (6,595) College Station, TX |
| Horizon League regular season |||||||||
| December 28, 2017 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | IUPUI | W 77–59 | 8–5 (1–0) | 27 – McDonald | 10 – McDonald | 8 – Holland | BB&T Arena (4,203) Highland Heights, KY |
| December 30, 2017 7:00 pm, CW Cincinnati | | UIC | W 86–51 | 9–5 (2–0) | 19 – McDonald | 12 – McDonald | 5 – Holland/Tate | BB&T Arena (3,688) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 5, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Oakland | W 87–83 | 10–5 (3–0) | 21 – Williams | 12 – McDonald | 3 – Holland | Athletics Center O'rena (3,411) Rochester, MI |
| January 7, 2018 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Detroit | W 56–54 | 11–5 (4–0) | 16 – McDonald | 9 – McDonald | 3 – Garnett | Calihan Hall (1,061) Detroit, MI |
| January 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wright State | L 81–84 | 11–6 (4–1) | 22 – Holland | 10 – McDonald | 5 – Holland | BB&T Arena (4,987) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 15, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Cleveland State | W 70–55 | 12–6 (5–1) | 16 – Faulkner | 9 – Williams | 5 – McDonald | BB&T Arena (3,812) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 18, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Milwaukee | W 91–64 | 13–6 (6–1) | 25 – McDonald | 12 – McDonald | 10 – Holland | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,009) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 20, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Green Bay | W 77–65 | 14–6 (7–1) | 16 – Holland | 6 – Garnett/Holland | 4 – Garnett/Holland | Resch Center (3,119) Green Bay, WI |
| January 26, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Oakland | L 70–83 | 14–7 (7–2) | 19 – McDonald | 10 – McDonald | 5 – Faulkner | BB&T Arena (5,362) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 28, 2018 1:00 pm, CW Cincinnati | | Detroit | W 72–44 | 15–7 (8–2) | 13 – Williams | 13 – McDonald | 5 – Tate | BB&T Arena (3,696) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Youngstown State | W 95–84 | 16–7 (9–2) | 26 – McDonald | 16 – McDonald | 6 – Garnett | Beeghly Center (1,391) Youngstown, OH |
| February 3, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cleveland State | W 78–61 | 17–7 (10–2) | 21 – Holland | 11 – Williams | 7 – McDonald | Wolstein Center (1,853) Cleveland, OH |
| February 8, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 54–52 | 18–7 (11–2) | 16 – McDonald | 10 – McDonald | 6 – Holland | BB&T Arena (4,819) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 10, 2018 7:00 pm, CW Cincinnati | | Green Bay | W 86–80 | 19–7 (12–2) | 19 – Sharpe | 15 – McDonald | 6 – Garnett | BB&T Arena (6,455) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 16, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Wright State | L 67–69 | 19–8 (12–3) | 16 – Sharpe | 12 – McDonald | 4 – Holland | Nutter Center (7,205) Fairborn, OH |
| February 19, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 70–51 | 20–8 (13–3) | 27 – McDonald | 12 – McDonald | 4 – Holland | BB&T Arena (4,001) Highland Heights, KY |
| February 23, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UIC | W 79–72 | 21–8 (14–3) | 25 – Holland | 7 – McDonald | 3 – Faulkner/Holland/Tate | UIC Pavilion (3,168) Chicago, IL |
| February 25, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at IUPUI | W 75–56 | 22–8 (15–3) | 17 – Holland | 11 – McDonald | 3 – Holland | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,534) Indianapolis, IN |
| Horizon League tournament |||||||||
| March 3, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (8) Cleveland State Quarterfinals | L 80–89 | 22–9 | 24 – McDonald | 13 – McDonald | 5 – Holland | Little Caesars Arena (6,726) Detroit, MI |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (7) | at (2) Louisville First round – Baylor Bracket | L 58–66 | 22–10 | 19 – McDonald | 13 – McDonald | 3 – Tate | KFC Yum! Center (9,974) Louisville, KY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||