| Year: | 2017–18 |
| Team: | UCF Knights |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Conference: | American Athletic Conference |
| Short Conf: | AAC |
| Record: | 19–13 |
| Conf Record: | 9–9 |
| Head Coach: | Johnny Dawkins |
| Hc Year: | 2nd |
| Asst Coach1: | Kevin Norris |
| Ac1 Year: | 2nd |
| Asst Coach2: | Vince Taylor |
| Ac2 Year: | 1st |
| Asst Coach3: | Robbie Laing |
| Ac3 Year: | 2nd |
| Arena: | CFE Arena |
The 2017–18 UCF Knights men's basketball team represented the University of Central Florida during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Knights are members of the American Athletic Conference. The Knights, in the program's 49th season of basketball, were led by second-year head coach Johnny Dawkins and played their home games at the CFE Arena on the university's main campus in Orlando, Florida.[1] [2] They finished the season 19–13 overall and 9–9 in AAC play to finish in 6th place. In the AAC tournament, they defeated East Carolina in the first round before losing to Houston in the quarterfinals.
The Knights finished the 2016–17 season 24–12, 11–7 in AAC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated Memphis in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament before losing in the semifinals to SMU. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Colorado, Illinois State, and Illinois to advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden for the first time in school history. There they lost to the eventual NIT Champion, TCU.
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tank Efinanayi | 0 | G/F | 6'6" | 210 | Senior | Graduated | ||
| 12 | G | 6'5" | 215 | RS Senior | Graduated | |||
| 14 | F | 6'8" | 230 | RS Senior | Graduated |
|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=6 style= |AAC regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| American Athletic Conference tournament