2017–18 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team explained

Mode:Basketball
Year:2017–18
Team:UC Irvine Anteaters
Conference:Big West Conference
Short Conf:Big West
Record:18–17
Conf Record:11–5
Hc Year:8th
Asst Coach2:Ryan Badrtalei
Asst Coach3:Michael Wilder
Stadium:Bren Events Center

The 2017–18 UC Irvine Anteaters men's basketball team represented the University of California, Irvine during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Anteaters were led by eighth-year head coach Russell Turner and played their home games at the Bren Events Center as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 11–5 in Big West play, to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated Hawaii and UC Santa Barbara before losing to Cal State Fullerton in the championship game.

Previous season

The Anteaters finished the 2016–17 season 21–15, 12–4 in Big West play to win the regular season Big West championship, the school's fifth regular season title. They defeated UC Riverside in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament and the Long Beach State in the semifinals before falling to UC Davis in the championship game.[1] As a regular season champion who did not win their conference tournament, the Anteaters received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 8 seed. There, they lost to No. 1 seed Illinois State in the first round.[2] The season marked the school's fifth straight season with at least 20 wins.

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Jaron Martin 0 G 5'10" 170 Senior Sunland, CAGraduated
10 G 6'3" 190 Senior Worthing, EnglandGraduated
12 C 7'2" 255 Senior Patras, GreeceGraduated
Adam Liberman 32 C 6'10" 240 Freshman Valley Village, CAWalk-on; did not return

2017 recruiting class

Schedule and results

|-!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Big West regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Big West tournamentSource[3] [4]

Notes and References

  1. News: Dilbeck . Steve . 2017-03-11 . UC Davis gets back at UC Irvine in ugly Big West tournament championship win . 2024-03-27 . Los Angeles Times . en-US . 0458-3035.
  2. News: 2017-03-15 . Illinois State beats UC Irvine 85–71 in NIT . 2024-03-27 . chicagotribune.com . en-US . Associated Press.
  3. Web site: 2017-18 Men's Basketball Schedule . 2024-03-27 . ucirvinesports.com . en.
  4. Web site: UC Irvine Anteaters Basketball 2017–18 Schedule – Anteaters Home and Away – ESPN . 2024-03-27 . ESPN.com.