2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team represented Jacksonville State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by second-year head coach Ray Harper, played their home games at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 23–13, 11–7 in OVC play to finish in fourth place. They defeated Tennessee Tech in the quarterfinals of the OVC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Murray State. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Canisius and Central Arkansas to advance to the semifinals where they lost to North Texas.

2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball
Cayman Islands Classic Mainland champion
CBI, semifinals
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	23–13 (11–7 OVC)
Head coach	Ray Harper (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Chase Richardson Jake Morton Tommy Wade
Home arena	Pete Mathews Coliseum
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Murray State †	16	–	2		.889			26	–	6		.813
Belmont	15	–	3		.833			24	–	9		.727
Austin Peay	12	–	6		.667			19	–	15		.559
Jacksonville State	11	–	7		.611			23	–	13		.639
Tennessee Tech	10	–	8		.556			19	–	14		.576
Tennessee State	10	–	8		.556			15	–	15		.500
Southeast Missouri State*	8	–	10		.444			14	–	17		.452
Eastern Illinois	7	–	11		.389			12	–	19		.387
SIU Edwardsville	5	–	13		.278			9	–	21		.300
UT Martin	5	–	13		.278			10	–	21		.323
Eastern Kentucky	5	–	13		.278			11	–	20		.355
Morehead State	4	–	14		.222			8	–	21		.276
*ineligible for postseason due to APR violations
† 2018 OVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2016–17 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.

Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Jacksonville State was picked to finish in 2nd place in the OVC. Malcolm Drumwright and Norbertas Giga were named to the 2017–18 Preseason All-OVC Men's Basketball Team.^[1]

After five years of divisional play in the OVC, the conference eliminated divisions for the 2017–18 season. Additionally, for the first time, each conference team will play 18 conference games.^[1]

Roster

2017–18 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Jamall Gregory 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Jr Washington, D.C. G 1 Maurice Dunlap 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Greenwood, Mississippi G/F 2 Mohamed Abuarisha 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Hadera, Israel G/F 3 Tyrik Edwards 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So Hopkinsville, Kentucky G 4 Deon Wright 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Oxford, Alabama G 5 Des Curry 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Sr Jacksonville, Alabama F 11 Jacara Cross 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Lithonia, Georgia F/C 12 Norbertas Giga 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Kaunas, Lithuania G 13 Detrick Mostella 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Decatur, Alabama F 14 Jason Burnell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr DeLand, Florida G 21 Malcolm Drumwright 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Rancho Cucamonga, California G 23 Marlon Hunter 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Memphis, Tennessee F 30 Cam Martin 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Pampa, Texas F 31 Christian Cunningham 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Albuquerque, New Mexico G 34 Ashton Spears 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Independence, Louisiana G/F 44 Ty Hudson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Baton Rouge, 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 Last update: November 8, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 02, 2017* 7:00 pm		Delta State	W 78–41		Pete Mathews Coliseum (547) Jacksonville, AL
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 7:00 pm		Tennessee Wesleyan	W 100–42	1–0	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,524) Jacksonville, AL
Nov 13, 2017* 11:00 am, NBCSW		at Richmond Cayman Islands Classic	W 91–64	2–0	Robins Center (6,805) Richmond, VA
Nov 15, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Buffalo Cayman Islands Classic	L 76–81	2–1	Alumni Arena (2,319) Amherst, NY
Nov 20, 2017* 4:00 pm		vs. Savannah State Cayman Islands Classic Mainland semifinals	W 86–71	3–1	McKenzie Arena (2,332) Chattanooga, TN
Nov 21, 2017* 7:30 pm, ESPN3		vs. Chattanooga Cayman Islands Classic Mainland finals	W 77–75 ^OT	4–1	McKenzie Arena (2,211) Chattanooga, TN
Nov 26, 2017* 2:00 pm, SECN+		at Mississippi State	L 56–59	4–2	Humphrey Coliseum (6,034) Starkville, MS
Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm		Alabama State	W 77–69	5–2	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,769) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 3, 2017* 2:00 pm		Samford	W 89–58	6–2	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,018) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 9, 2017* 1:00 pm		Louisiana–Monroe	W 75–56	7–2	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,154) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 12, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N		at Oregon State	L 69–70	7–3	Gill Coliseum (3,900) Corvallis, OR
Dec 16, 2017* 3:00 pm		USC Upstate	W 77–61	8–3	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,222) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 18, 2017* 7:00 pm		Howard	W 62–60	9–3	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,008) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 21, 2017* 12:00 pm		Chattanooga	L 67–70	9–4	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,002) Jacksonville, AL
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
Dec 28, 2017 7:30 pm		Eastern Kentucky	W 76–58	10–4 (1–10)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,137) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 30, 2017 4:30 pm		Morehead State	W 76–69	11–4 (2–0)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,011) Jacksonville, AL
Jan 4, 2018 7:30 pm		at Tennessee State	L 60–67	11–5 (2–1)	Gentry Complex (831) Nashville, TN
Jan 6, 2018 5:00 pm		at Belmont	W 64–60	12–5 (3–1)	Curb Event Center (1,789) Nashville, TN
Jan 11, 2018 7:30 pm		Murray State	W 76–71	13–5 (4–1)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (3,004) Jacksonville, AL
Jan 13, 2018 4:30 pm		Austin Peay	L 67–87	13–6 (4–2)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,933) Jacksonville, AL
Jan 18, 2018 6:00 pm, CBSSN		at Morehead State	W 58–57	14–6 (5–2)	Ellis Johnson Arena (3,673) Morehead, KY
Jan 20, 2018 6:00 pm		at Eastern Kentucky	W 68–60	15–6 (6–2)	McBrayer Arena (1,610) Richmond, KY
Jan 25, 2018 7:30 pm		UT Martin	L 63–67	15–7 (6–3)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,482) Jacksonville, AL
Jan 27, 2018 7:00 pm		Southeast Missouri State	W 78–60	16–7 (7–3)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,688) Jacksonville, AL
Feb 1, 2018 7:30 pm		at Eastern Illinois	W 75–56	17–7 (8–3)	Lantz Arena (1,643) Charleston, IL
Feb 3, 2018 1:00 pm		at SIU Edwardsville	L 67–75	17–8 (8–4)	Vadalabene Center (1,507) Edwardsville, IL
Feb 8, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Tennessee Tech	W 82–65	18–8 (9–4)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,009) Jacksonville, AL
Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm		Tennessee State	L 47–65	18–9 (9–5)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,876) Jacksonville, AL
Feb 15, 2018 7:00 pm		at Murray State	L 60–68	18–10 (9–6)	CFSB Center (3,902) Murray, KY
Feb 17, 2018 7:00 pm		at Austin Peay	L 57–60	18–11 (9–7)	Dunn Center (2,353) Clarksville, TN
Feb 22, 2018 8:00 pm, ESPNU		Belmont	W 78–67	19–11 (10–7)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,393) Jacksonville, AL
Feb 24, 2018 7:30 pm		at Tennessee Tech	W 66–57	20–11 (11–7)	Eblen Center (2,757) Cookeville, TN
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
Mar 1, 2018 6:30 pm	(4)	vs. (5) Tennessee Tech Quarterfinals	W 73–70	21–11	Ford Center (914) Evansville, IN
Mar 2, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPNU	(4)	vs. (1) Murray State Semifinals	L 63–70	21–12	Ford Center (3,403) Evansville, IN
CBI
Mar 14, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Canisius First round	W 80–78 ^OT	22–12	Koessler Athletic Center (870) Buffalo, NY
Mar 15, 2018* 7:00 pm		at Central Arkansas Quarterfinals	W 80–59	23–12	Farris Center (2,570) Conway, AR
Mar 21, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at North Texas Semifinals	L 68–90	23–13	The Super Pit (2,784) Denton, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. Source^[2]

References

1. "Belmont Picked As 2017-18 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites; Murray State's Stark Tabbed Preseason Player of the Year". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
2. "2017-18 Men's Basketball Schedule".