# 2017–18 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team

The 2017–18 UC Davis Aggies men's basketball team represented the University of California, Davis during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Aggies, led by seventh-year head coach Jim Les, played their home games at The Pavilion as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 22–11, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season championship. In the Big West tournament, they defeated UC Riverside before losing to Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Aggies received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Utah.

## Previous season

The Aggies finished the 2016–17 season 23–13, 11–5 in Big West play to finish in second place. They defeated Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, and UC Irvine to win the Big West tournament. As a result, they earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 16 seed. They defeated North Carolina Central in the First Four before losing in the first round to Kansas.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Brynton Lemar | 0 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Senior | San Diego, CA | Graduated |
| Lawrence White | 1 | G | 6'4" | 203 | Senior | Burbank, CA | Graduated |
| Darius Graham | 2 | G | 5'10" | 180 | RS Senior | Sacramento, CA | Graduated |
| Georgi Funtarov | 12 | F | 6'8" | 214 | Senior | Sofia, Bulgaria | Graduated |
| J. T. Adenrele | 13 | F | 6'7" | 235 | RS Senior | Roseville, CA | Graduated |
| Mikey Henn | 24 | F | 6'8" | 230 | Freshman | Bellevue, WA | Transferred |
| Peter Hewitt | 40 | F | 6'9" | 215 | Freshman | Mountain View, CA | Transferred |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous school |
| T. J. Shorts | 0 | G | 5'10" | 160 | Junior | Tustin, CA | Junior college transferred from Saddleback College. |
| Stefan Gonzalez | 2 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Junior | Pocatello, ID | Transferred from Saint Mary's. Under NCAA transfer rules, Gonzalez will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |
| Matt Neufeld | 13 | C | 6'11" | 220 | Junior | Victoria, BC | Transferred from Saint Louis. Under NCAA transfer rules, Neufeld will have to sit out for the 2017–18 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2017 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Logan Strom PF | Norfolk, NE | Norfolk High School | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Sep 22, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Gio Nelson SG | Corona, CA | Centennial High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 24, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Delveion Jackson SG | Boise, ID | Centennial High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | May 5, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 75 ||||||
| 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 November 10, 2016. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 7, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Bethesda | W 111–56 | | The Pavilion Davis, CA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 13, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Northern Colorado | W 74–59 | 1–0 | Bank of Colorado Arena (895) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 15, 2017* 7:30 pm | | at Pacific | W 62–58 | 2–0 | Alex G. Spanos Center (2,506) Stockton, CA |
| Nov 18, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | L 71–80 | 2–1 | UCCU Center (2,726) Orem, UT |
| Nov 21, 2017* 7:00 pm | | vs. Sacramento State Sacramento Showcase | W 64–47 | 3–1 | Golden 1 Center (2,200) Sacramento, CA |
| Nov 26, 2017* 5:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington | L 70–77 | 3–2 | Alaska Airlines Arena (5,328) Seattle, WA |
| Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm | | Northern Colorado | W 56–51 | 4–2 | The Pavilion (1,779) Davis, CA |
| Dec 2, 2017* 12:00 pm, P12N | | at Washington State | W 81–67 | 5–2 | Beasley Coliseum (3,183) Pullman, WA |
| Dec 6, 2017* 7:30 pm | | Pacific | W 71–67 | 6–2 | The Pavilion (2,177) Davis, CA |
| Dec 9, 2017* 2:00 pm | | William Jessup | W 86–52 | 7–2 | The Pavilion (1,279) Davis, CA |
| Dec 15, 2017* 6:00 pm | | at San Francisco Las Vegas Classic | L 61–74 | 7–3 | War Memorial Gymnasium (2,231) San Francisco, CA |
| Dec 19, 2017* 7:00 pm, Stadium | | at Nevada Las Vegas Classic | L 73–88 | 7–4 | Lawlor Events Center (7,475) Reno, NV |
| Dec 22, 2017* 1:30 pm | | vs. Lamar Las Vegas Classic | W 77–68 | 8–4 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Dec 23, 2017* 2:30 pm | | vs. Radford Las Vegas Classic | L 62–72 | 8–5 | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| Dec 30, 2017* 2:00 pm | | Holy Names | W 89–62 | 9–5 | The Pavilion (996) Davis, CA |
| Big West regular season ||||||
| Jan 4, 2018 7:00 pm | | UC Irvine | W 64–53 | 10–5 (1–0) | The Pavilion (1,203) Davis, CA |
| Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UC Riverside | W 75–54 | 11–5 (2–0) | SRC Center (870) Riverside, CA |
| Jan 13, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Fullerton | L 70–85 | 11–6 (2–1) | Titan Gym (1,267) Fullerton, CA |
| Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm | | Long Beach State | W 84–75 | 11–6 (3–1) | The Pavilion (2,169) Davis, CA |
| Jan 20, 2018 9:00 pm | | at Hawaii | L 72–77 | 12–7 (3–2) | Stan Sheriff Center (6,581) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm | | Cal State Northridge | W 63–56 | 13–7 (4–2) | The Pavilion (1,075) Davis, CA |
| Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm | | Cal Poly | W 80–56 | 14–7 (5–2) | The Pavilion (3,111) Davis, CA |
| Feb 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Cal State Northridge | W 63–56 | 15–7 (6–2) | Matadome (1,006) Northridge, CA |
| Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Long Beach State | W 105–104 $^{2OT}$ | 16–7 (7–2) | Walter Pyramid (2,660) Long Beach, CA |
| Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm | | UC Santa Barbara | L 81–90 | 16–8 (7–3) | The Pavilion (3,392) Davis, CA |
| Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm | | Cal State Fullerton | L 66–68 | 16–9 (7–4) | The Pavilion (3,031) Davis, CA |
| Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm | | at Cal Poly | W 92–84 $^{3OT}$ | 17–9 (8–4) | Robert A. Mott Athletics Center (1,264) San Luis Obispo, CA |
| Feb 17, 2018 2:00 pm | | at UC Santa Barbara | W 71–54 | 18–9 (9–4) | The Thunderdome (2,883) Santa Barbara, CA |
| Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm | | UC Riverside | W 64–63 | 19–9 (10–4) | The Pavilion (2,704) Davis, CA |
| Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm | | Hawaii | W 70–59 | 20–9 (11–4) | The Pavilion (2,491) Davis, CA |
| Mar 3, 2018 7:30 pm | | at UC Irvine | W 90–84 $^{2OT}$ | 21–9 (12–4) | Bren Events Center (5,000) Irvine, CA |
| Big West tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm | (1) | vs. (8) UC Riverside Quarterfinals | W 70–66 | 22–9 | Honda Center Anaheim, CA |
| Mar 9, 2018 6:30 pm | (1) | vs. (4) Cal State Fullerton Semifinals | L 52–55 | 22–10 | Honda Center (3,984) Anaheim, CA |
| NIT ||||||
| Mar 14, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (7) | at (2) Utah First round – Saint Mary's Bracket | L 59–69 | 22–11 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (3,452) Salt Lake City, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time. ||||||