2016–17 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team represented Jacksonville State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by first-year head coach Ray Harper, played their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama as members of the East Division of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 9–7 in OVC play to finish in third place in the East Division. As the No. 4 seed in the OVC tournament, they defeated Southeast Missouri State, top-seeded Belmont, and UT Martin to win the tournament title. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, its first ever appearance, where it lost in the first round to Louisville.

2016–17 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball
Ohio Valley tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Division	East Division
Record	20–15 (9–7 OVC)
Head coach	Ray Harper (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Chase Richardson Jake Morton Tommy Wade
Home arena	Pete Mathews Coliseum
Seasons ← 2015–16 2017–18 →

2016–17 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
East
Belmont	15	–	1		.938			23	–	7		.767
Morehead State	10	–	6		.625			14	–	16		.467
Jacksonville State †	9	–	7		.563			20	–	15		.571
Tennessee State	8	–	8		.500			17	–	13		.567
Tennessee Tech	8	–	8		.500			12	–	20		.375
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	11		.313			12	–	19		.387
West
UT Martin	10	–	6		.625			22	–	13		.629
Southeast Missouri St.	9	–	7		.563			15	–	18		.455
Murray State	8	–	8		.500			16	–	17		.485
Austin Peay	7	–	9		.438			11	–	19		.367
Eastern Illinois	6	–	10		.375			14	–	15		.483
SIU Edwardsville	1	–	15		.063			6	–	24		.200
† 2017 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2015–16 season 8–23, 4–12 in OVC play to finish in last place in the East Division. As a result, they failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

Following the season, Jacksonville State and head coach James Green mutually agreed to part ways.^[1] On April 6, 2016, the school hired Ray Harper as head coach.^[2]

Preseason

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors, Jacksonville State was picked to finish last in the East Division of the OVC.^[3]

Roster

2016–17 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown F 0 Immanuel Griggs 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Newnan, Georgia G 1 Greg Tucker 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Charleston, Missouri G/F 2 Mohamed Abuarisha 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Hadera, Israel G/F 3 Derrick Green 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Baltimore, Maryland G 4 Tyrik Edwards 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr Hopkinsville, Kentucky G 5 Des Curry 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Jacksonville, Alabama G 10 Deshawn Jones 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Gulfport, Mississippi F 11 Jacara Cross 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Lithonia, Georgia F/C 12 Norbertas Giga 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Kaunas, Lithuania G 15 Erik Durham 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Springfield, Missouri G 21 Malcolm Drumwright 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Rancho Cucamonga, California G 25 Keeto Browne 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Sydney, Australia F 31 Christian Cunningham 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Albuquerque, New Mexico G/F 33 Andre Statam 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Cape Girardeau, Missouri G 34 Ashton Spears 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Independence, Louisiana	Head coach Ray Harper (Kentucky Wesleyan) Assistant coach(es) Chase Richardson (Western Kentucky) Jake Morton (Miami (FL)) Tommy Wade (Southeast Missouri State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
10/28/2016* 7:00 pm		Shorter	W 105–82		Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,777) Jacksonville, AL
11/03/2016* 7:00 pm		Spring Hill	W 72–62		Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,434) Jacksonville, AL
Regular season
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Tulsa	W 84–73	1–0	Reynolds Center (3,604) Tulsa, OK
11/13/2016* 1:05 pm		at Missouri State	L 65–91	1–1	JQH Arena (3,330) Springfield, MO
11/16/2016* 8:00 pm		at WKU Global Sports Classic	L 67–74	1–2	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,226) Bowling Green, KY
11/18/2016* 6:00 pm, FSSW		at TCU Global Sports Classic	L 60–79	1–3	Schollmaier Arena (5,839) Fort Worth, TX
11/22/2016* 7:30 pm		Dalton State	W 81–50	2–3	Pete Mathews Coliseum (871) Jacksonville, AL
11/25/2016* 1:00 pm		vs. Cal State Fullerton Global Sports Classic	W 61–38	3–3	Thomas & Mack Center  Paradise, NV
11/26/2016* 3:30 pm		vs. Northern Arizona Global Sports Classic	W 76–63	4–3	Thomas & Mack Center (244) Paradise, NV
11/29/2016* 7:00 pm		at Alabama State	W 72–69	5–3	Dunn–Oliver Acadome (1,259) Montgomery, AL
12/04/2016* 7:00 pm		at Samford	L 77–81	5–4	Pete Hanna Center (1,563) Birmingham, AL
12/10/2016* 7:00 pm		at Louisiana–Monroe	L 83–88 ^OT	5–5	Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,035) Monroe, LA
12/12/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at Maryland	L 66–92	5–6	Xfinity Center (13,646) College Park, MD
12/14/2016* 6:00 pm		at Howard	W 72–59	6–6	Burr Gymnasium (100) Washington, D.C.
12/18/2016* 2:00 pm		at USC Upstate	W 67–66	7–6	Hodge Center (512) Spartanburg, SC
12/21/2016* 1:00 pm		at Chattanooga	L 57–73	7–7	McKenzie Arena (3,370) Chattanooga, TN
12/29/2016 7:00 pm		at UT Martin	W 90–72	8–7 (1–0)	Skyhawk Arena (1,604) Martin, TN
12/31/2016 3:15 pm		at Eastern Illinois	W 57–56	9–7 (2–0)	Lantz Arena (1,059) Charleston, IL
01/05/2017 7:30 pm		Murray State	L 63–76	9–8 (2–1)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,206) Jacksonville, AL
01/07/2017 7:00 pm		Austin Peay	W 71–68	10–8 (3–1)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,504) Jacksonville, AL
01/10/2017* 7:00 pm		Fort Valley State	W 81–69	11–8	Pete Mathews Coliseum  Jacksonville, AL
01/14/2017 7:30 pm		at Tennessee Tech	W 74–59	12–8 (4–1)	Eblen Center (2,882) Cookeville, TN
01/19/2017 7:00 pm		at Belmont	L 60–77	12–9 (4–2)	Curb Event Center (1,680) Nashville, TN
01/21/2017 7:30 pm		at Tennessee State	W 86–79	13–9 (5–2)	Gentry Complex (5,106) Nashville, TN
01/26/2017 7:00 pm		Eastern Kentucky	L 52–57	13–10 (5–3)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,552) Jacksonville, AL
01/28/2017 11:00 am, ASN		Morehead State	L 69–72	13–11 (5–4)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,021) Jacksonville, AL
02/01/2017 7:00 pm		Southeast Missouri State	W 74–62	14–11 (6–4)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,011) Jacksonville, AL
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		at SIU Edwardsville	W 72–61	15–11 (7–4)	Vadalabene Center (1,203) Edwardsville, IL
02/09/2017 6:00 pm, CBSSN		Belmont	L 53–66	15–12 (7–5)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,370) Jacksonville, AL
02/11/2017 4:30 pm		Tennessee State	W 63–57	16–12 (8–5)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,920) Jacksonville, AL
02/18/2017 7:00 pm		Tennessee Tech	L 78–79 ^OT	16–13 (8–6)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,822) Jacksonville, AL
02/23/2017 6:00 pm		at Eastern Kentucky	L 65–68	16–14 (8–7)	McBrayer Arena (1,600) Richmond, KY
02/25/2017 3:15 pm		at Morehead State	W 70–61	17–14 (9–7)	Ellis Johnson Arena (734) Morehead, KY
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
03/02/2017 6:30 pm	(4)	vs. (5) Southeast Missouri State Quarterfinals	W 74–51	18–14	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1,001) Nashville, TN
03/03/2017 6:30 pm, ESPNU	(4)	vs. (1) Belmont Semifinals	W 65–59	19–14	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (2,355) Nashville, TN
03/04/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2	(4)	vs. (2) UT Martin Championship	W 66–55	20–14	Nashville Municipal Auditorium (1,303) Nashville, TN
NCAA tournament
03/17/17 1:45 pm, CBS	(15 MW)	vs. (2 MW) No. 10 Louisville First Round	L 63–78	20–15	Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,255) Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest Region. All times are in Central Time. Source^[4]^[5]

References

1. "Jacksonville State parts ways with men's basketball coach James Green". AL.com. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
2. "Jacksonville State hires Ray Harper as men's basketball coach". AL.com. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
3. "Belmont Picked As 2016-17 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites; Bruins' Bradds Tabbed Preseason Player of the Year". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
4. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule".
5. "2021-22 Jacksonville State Gamecocks Schedule".