2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball season

The 2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in early March.

2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)CBS Sports Network, Stadium, beIN Sports, ESPN3
2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Regular season championsMiddle Tennessee
Runners-upOld Dominion
Season MVPNick King
Tournament
ChampionsMarshall
  Runners-upWestern Kentucky
Finals MVPJon Elmore
2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Middle Tennessee16–2 .889  25–8  .758
Old Dominion15–3 .833  25–7  .781
Western Kentucky14–4 .778  27–11  .711
Marshall †12–6 .667  25–11  .694
UTSA11–7 .611  20–15  .571
UAB10–8 .556  20–13  .606
North Texas8–10 .444  20–18  .526
FIU8–10 .444  14–18  .438
Southern Miss7–11 .389  16–18  .471
Louisiana Tech7–11 .389  17–16  .515
Florida Atlantic6–12 .333  12–19  .387
UTEP6–12 .333  11–20  .355
Rice4–14 .222  7–24  .226
Charlotte2–16 .111  6–23  .207
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner

Middle Tennessee claimed the outright regular season championship with a win over Western Kentucky on March 1, 2018.[1] Old Dominion finished in second place in the regular season, one game behind the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee's Nick King was named C-USA Player of the Year and UTSA's Steve Henson was named the Coach of the Year.[2]

The C-USA Tournament was held from March 7 through 10, 2018 at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Marshall defeated Western Kentucky to win the tournament championship for the first time. As a result, the Thundering Herd received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. No other C-USA school received an NCAA Tournament bid. The Herd went 1–1 in the Tournament. Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. The teams combined go 4–2 in the NIT, with Western Kentucky advancing to the semifinals. North Texas and UTSA received bids to the CBI and CIT respectively.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On March 5, 2017, North Texas fired head coach Tony Benford after five years without a winning season.[3] On March 13, the school hired Arkansas State head coach Grant McCasland to the same role.[4]

On March 21, 2017, Rice head coach Mike Rhoades resigned to become the head coach at VCU.[5] He finished at Rice with a three-year record of 47–52. On March 23, the school promoted assistant coach Scott Pera to head coach.[6]

On November 27, 2017 UTEP dropped to 1–5 on the season, head coach Tim Floyd announced that he was retiring effective immediately.[7][8] The school had previously announced a new athletic director, Jim Senter, a week prior, but Floyd said that had nothing to do with his decision.[9][10] Assistant Phil Johnson was named interim head coach of the Miners the next day.[11]

On December 14, 2017, Charlotte head coach Mark Price was fired after a 3–6 start to the season and was replaced by Houston Fancher.[12] Fancher was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.[13]

Coaches
Team Head coach Previous job Year at school Overall record C-USA record C-USA championships NCAA Tournaments
Charlotte Houston Fancher
(interim)		 Charlotte
(asst.)		 0 3–17 2–16 0 0
FIU Anthony Evans Norfolk State 5 65–94 33–55 0 0
Florida Atlantic Michael Curry Philadelphia 76ers
(asst.)		 4 39–84 19–53 0 0
Louisiana Tech Eric Konkol Miami
(asst.)		 3 63–36 33–21 0 0
Marshall Dan D'Antoni Los Angeles Lakers
(asst.)		 4 73–63 41–31 1 1
Middle Tennessee Kermit Davis LSU
(asst.)		 16 332–188 68–20 2 2
North Texas Grant McCasland Arkansas State 1 20–18 8–10 0 0
Old Dominion Jeff Jones American 5 114–58 61–27 0 0
Rice Scott Pera Rice
(asst.)		 1 7–24 4–14 0 0
Southern Miss Doc Sadler Iowa State
(asst.)		 4 38–81 21–50 0 0
UAB Robert Ehsan UAB
(asst.)		 2 37–29 19–17 0 0
UTEP Phil Johnson
(interim)		 UTEP
(asst.)		 0 10–15 6–12 0 0
UTSA Steve Henson Oklahoma
(asst.)		 3 34–33 18–18 0 0
WKU Rick Stansbury Texas A&M
(asst.)		 2 42–28 23–13 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2017–18 season.
  • Overall and C-USA records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2017–18 season.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

Source[14]

Rank Team
1. Middle Tennessee (8)
2. UAB (4)
3. Louisiana Tech (2)
4. Old Dominion
5. UTEP
6. Western Kentucky
7. Marshall
8. Charlotte
9. UTSA
10. Southern Miss
11. North Texas
12. Florida Atlantic
13. Rice
14. FIU

() first place votes

Preseason All-C-USA Team

Source[15]

Recipient School
Daquan Bracey La Tech
William Lee UAB
Jon Elmore Marshall
Justin Johnson WKU
Chris Cokely UAB
Jon Davis Charlotte
Ahmad Caver Old Dominion
Giddy Potts Middle Tennessee
Jacobi Boykins La Tech
Omega Harris UTEP

Conference schedules

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Charlotte FIU FAU LaTech Marshall MTSU UNT ODU Rice USM UAB UTEP UTSA WKU
vs. Charlotte –2–0 1–1 1–02–01–00–12–01–01–01–0 1–0 1–0 2–0
vs. FIU 0–2–1–10–1 1–01–01–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 1–01–00–11–0
vs. Florida Atlantic 1–1 1–1–1–0 1–01–01–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–00–10–11–0
vs. Louisiana Tech 0–11–0 0–1 –1–0 2–00–11–00–11–11–1 1–12–01–0
vs. Marshall 0–20–10–10–1 –0–20–1 2–00–1 0–1 1–10–1 1–0 2–0
vs. Middle Tennessee 0–1 0–10–10–2 2–0–0–10–1 0–10–2 0–20–1 0–1 0–2
vs. North Texas 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–01–0 1–0–1–00–21–00–11–10–2 1–0
vs. Old Dominion 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–10–21–00–1–0–10–10–1 0–1 0–1 2–0
vs. Rice 0–11–1 1–1 1–01–0 1–02–01–0–1–01–01–1 2–0 1–0
vs. Southern Miss 0–11–0 0–1 1–11–0 2–00–11–00–1–2–0 1–11–11–0
vs. UAB 0–1 0–10–11–1 1–12–01–01–0 0–10–2 –0–1 1–0 1–1
vs. UTEP 0–1 0–11–01–11–0 1–01–1 1–0 1–1 1–11–0 –2–01–0
vs. UTSA 0–1 1–01–00–20–1 1–02–0 1–0 0–2 1–10–1 0–2–0–1
vs. WKU 0–20–10–10–1 0–22–00–1 0–20–1 0–1 1–10–1 1–0 –
Total 2–168–106–127–1112–616–28–1015–34–147–1110–86–1211–714–4

Players of the Week

Throughout the conference regular season, the C-USA offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.[16]

Week Player of the week Freshman of the week
November 13, 2017 Jon Elmore, Marshall Keaton Wallace, UTSA
November 20, 2017 Nick King, Middle Tennessee Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
November 27, 2017 Chris Cokley, UAB Jake Ohmer, Western Kentucky
December 4, 2017 Jon Elmore, Marshall Keaton Wallace, UTSA
December 11, 2017 Nick King, Middle Tennessee Keaton Wallace, UTSA
December 18, 2017 Ajdin Penava, Marshall Taveion Hollingsworth, Western Kentucky
December 26, 2017 Nick King, Middle Tennessee Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
January 2, 2018 Roosevelt Smart, North Texas Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
January 8, 2018 Darius Thompson, Western Kentucky Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
January 16, 2018 Roosevelt Smart, North Texas Zack Byrant, UAB
January 22, 2018 C. J. Burks, Marshall Anthony Duruji, Louisiana Tech
January 29, 2018 Ronald Delph, FAU Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
February 7, 2018 Brian Beard, FIU Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
February 12, 2018 Nick King, Middle Tennessee Taveion Hollingsworth, Western Kentucky
February 19, 2018 C. J. Burks, Marshall Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
February 26, 2018 Jon Elmore, Marshall Najja Hunter, Rice
March 4, 2018 Jon Davis, Charlotte
Trey Porter, Old Dominion		 Zack Bryant, UAB

All-C-USA honors and awards

Following the regular season, the conference selected outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches.[17][18]

Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Nick King, Middle Tennessee
Coach of the Year Steve Henson, UTSA
Defensive Player of the Year Ajdin Penava, Marshall
Freshman of the Year Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Newcomer of the Year Nick King, Middle Tennessee
Sixth Man of the Year Deon Lyle, UTSA
All-C-USA First Team Jon Elmore, Marshall
Nick King, Middle Tennessee
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
Chris Cokley, UAB
Justin Johnson, WKU
All-C-USA Second Team C. J. Burks, Marshall
Giddy Potts, Middle Tennessee
Roosevelt Smart, North Texas
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Darius Thompson, WKU
All-C-USA Third Team Brian Beard, FIU
Ronald Delph, FAU
Jacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech
Ajdin Penava, Marshall
B. J. Stith, Old Dominion
All-C-USA Defensive Team Brian Beard, FIU
Ajdin Penava, Marshall
Tyrik Dixon, Middle Tennessee
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
William Lee, UAB
All-C-USA Freshman Team Anthony Duruji, Louisiana Tech
Zack Bryant, UAB
Jhivvan Jackson, UTSA
Keaton Wallace, UTSA
Taveion Hollingsworth, WKU

Postseason

C-USA Tournament
Main article: 2018 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament

Only the top 12 conference teams were eligible for the tournament.

Session Game Matchup Score Television
First Round – Wednesday, March 7
1 1 No. 8 FIU vs. No. 9 Southern Miss 68–69 Stadium
2 No. 5 UTSA vs. No. 12 UTEP 71–58
3 No. 7 North Texas vs. No. 10 Louisiana Tech 62–68
4 No. 6 UAB vs. No. 11 Florida Atlantic 83–72
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 8
2 5 No. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 9 Southern Miss 68–71OT Stadium
6 No. 4 Marshall vs. No. 5 UTSA 95–81
7 No. 2 Old Dominion vs. No. 10 Louisiana Tech 62–58
8 No. 3 Western Kentucky vs. No. 6 UAB 98–70
Semifinals – Friday, March 9
3 9 No. 4 Marshall vs. No. 9 Southern Miss 85–75 CBSSN
10 No. 2 Old Dominion vs. No. 3 Western Kentucky 49–57
Championship – Saturday, March 10
4 11 No. 3 Western Kentucky vs. No. 4 Marshall 66–67 CBSSN

NCAA tournament
Main article: 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Seed Region School First Four First Round Second Round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
13 East Marshall N/A defeated (4) Wichita State 81–75 eliminated by (5) West Virginia 71–94

National Invitation Tournament
Main article: 2018 National Invitation Tournament
Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
3 Baylor Middle Tennessee defeated (6) Vermont 91–64 eliminated by (2) Louisville 68–84
4 USC Western Kentucky defeated (5) Boston College 79–62 defeated (1) USC 79–75 defeated (2) Oklahoma State 92–84 eliminated by (2) Utah 64–69
W–L (%): 2–0 (1.000) 1–1 (.500) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) Total: 4–2 (.667)

References
  1. "Blue Raiders take C-USA title after dominating WKU". GoBlueRaiders. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  2. "King, Henson Named Player, Coach of the Year". Conference USA. Retrieved 2018-03-07.
  3. "North Texas fires head coach Tony Benford after 5 seasons". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  4. "North Texas hires McCasland as new coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
  5. http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/rice/article/Mike-Rhoades-leaving-Rice-for-VCU-job-11018710.php
  6. Payne, Terrence (2017-03-23). "Rice promotes Scott Pera to head coach". CollegeBasketballTalk. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
  7. "UTEP's Tim Floyd, a former coach of the Chicago Bulls, announces his retirement". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  8. "UTEP's Floyd retires after Miners fall to 1–5". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  9. "Citing 'new world of college basketball,' Tim Floyd abruptly retires from coaching". kansascity. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  10. Villasana, Jose (2017-11-28). "UTEP's new athletic director: We are going to engage our community". KVIA. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  11. Dauster, Rob. "UTEP announces that Phil Johnson will replace Tim Floyd". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  12. Reed, Steve (December 14, 2017). "Charlotte fires basketball coach, former NBA star Mark Price". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  13. "Charlotte 49ers interim coach Houston Fancher: 'I ... hurt in my heart for Mark (Price)". charlotteobserver. Retrieved 2018-03-21.
  14. "2017-18 Basketball Preseason Polls Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  15. "2017-18 C-USA Basketball Preseason Team". Conference USA. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  16. "C-USA Notebook" (PDF).
  17. "C-USA Announces All-Conference Teams".
  18. "2018 Superlative Awards Announced".
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