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2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball
2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	9–22 (4–12 Big West)
Head coach	Dennis Cutts (First 14 games); Justin Bell (interim);
Assistant coaches	Keith Wilkinson; Byron Rimm II;
Home arena	Student Recreation Center Arena
	Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Big West men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
UC Davis	12	–	4	.750	22	–	11	.667
UC Santa Barbara	11	–	5	.688	23	–	9	.719
UC Irvine	11	–	5	.688	18	–	17	.514
Cal State Fullerton †	10	–	6	.625	20	–	12	.625
Long Beach State	9	–	7	.563	15	–	18	.455
Hawai'i	8	–	8	.500	17	–	13	.567
Cal Poly	4	–	12	.250	9	–	22	.290
UC Riverside	4	–	12	.250	9	–	22	.290
Cal State Northridge	3	–	13	.188	6	–	24	.200

† 2018 Big West tournament winner

The 2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represented the University of California, Riverside during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by interim head coach Justin Bell, played their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena in Riverside, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 9–22, 4–12 in Big West play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to UC Davis.

On January 1, 2018, three days before conference play was to start, head coach Dennis Cutts, who was in his fifth season at UC Riverside, was fired after posting a 5–9 record to start the season.^[1] Associate head coach Justin Bell was named interim head coach.^[2] On March 14, the school hired TCU assistant coach David Patrick as head coach.^[3]^[4]

Previous season

The Highlanders finished the 2016–17 season 7–21, 5–11 in Big West play to finish in eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they were defeated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Gentrey Thomas	0	G	6'4"	195	Senior	East Preston, NS	Graduated
Malik Thames	11	G	6'2"	165	Senior	Sacramento, CA	Graduated
Secean Johnson	20	F	6'5"	215	Senior	Philadelphia, PA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Ryker Pierce	31	G/F	6'5"	205	RS Sophomore	Rexburg, ID	Junior college transferred from Cowley CC

2017 incoming recruits

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Alec Hickman PG	San Juan Capistrano, CA	JSerra Catholic High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	May 17, 2017
Alec Hickman PG	Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Ajani Kennedy PF	Moreno Valley, CA	Rancho Verde High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Feb 2, 2017
Ajani Kennedy PF	Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Alec Hickman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	JSerra Catholic HS	Riverside, California
G	1	DJ Sylvester	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS So	Morse HS	Victorville, California
G	3	Chance Murray	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Sr	Frederick K.C. Price III Schools Arizona State	Los Angeles, California
G	4	Marcus Berkley	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	RS Fr	Middlebrooks Academy	Garden Grove, California
G	5	Jayvon Brown	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	RS Jr	King Drew HS El Camino-Compton College	Los Angeles, California
F	10	Ajani Kennedy	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Rancho Verde HS	Moreno Valley, California
C	12	Idy Diallo	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	RS Jr	Cathedral HS Boston College	Dakar, Senegal
F	13	Eric Rwahwire	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS So	Saddleback Valley Christian School	Toronto, Canada
F	14	Brandon Rosser	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Sr	Temecula Valley HS Central Arizona College	Temecula, California
G	15	Dikymbe Martin	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	John W. North HS	Riverside, California
F	21	Alex Larsson	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	260 lb (118 kg)	Sr	Södertälje Knights	Södertälje, Sweden
G	22	Dominick Pickett (W)	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Fr	Rancho Verde HS	Moreno Valley, California
G	24	Koh Flippin (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	North Torrance HS	Torrance, California
F	25	James Jackson (W)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Monte Vista HS Northwest Kansas Technical College	Spring Valley, California
G	31	Ryker Pierce	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS Jr	Madison HS Cowley College	Rexburg, Idaho
C	32	Menno Dijkstra	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Jr	Canarias Basketball Academy Oakley College	Standdaarbuiten, Netherlands

Head coach

Justin Bell (UC Riverside)

Assistant coach(es)

Keith Wilkinson (USC)
Byron Rimm II (Cal State LA)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 21, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Quebec Tour
Aug 2, 2017* 4:00 pm		at Université Laval	W 73–68	1–0	Quebec City, QC
Aug 3, 2017* 4:00 pm		at UQAM	W 79–39	2–0	Quebec City, QC
Aug 5, 2017* 10:00 am		at QC United	W 63–48	3–0	Quebec City, QC
Exhibition
Nov 4, 2017* 2:00 pm		Stanislaus State	W 81–65		Student Recreation Center Arena Riverside, CA
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N		at California	W 74–66	1–0	Haas Pavilion (7,083) Berkeley, CA
Nov 15, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Loyola Marymount	L 64–76	1–1	Gersten Pavilion (891) Los Angeles, CA
Nov 18, 2017* 4:00 pm		Portland State	L 82–94	1–2	Student Recreation Center Arena Riverside, CA
Nov 22, 2017* 7:00 pm		Western New Mexico	W 75–57	2–2	Student Recreation Center Arena (363) Riverside, CA
Nov 26, 2017* 1:00 pm, FS1		at Michigan	L 42–87	2–3	Crisler Center (9,841) Ann Arbor, MI
Nov 30, 2017* 7:00 pm		Pacific	L 55–57	2–4	Student Recreation Center Arena (372) Riverside, CA
Dec 2, 2017* 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Grand Canyon	L 56–68	2–5	GCU Arena (6,844) Phoenix, AZ
Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Pepperdine	L 59–70	2–6	Firestone Fieldhouse (942) Malibu, CA
Dec 8, 2017* 7:00 pm		Air Force	W 67–48	3–6	Student Recreation Center Arena (899) Riverside, CA
Dec 17, 2017* 12:00 pm		at Montana	L 61–77	3–7	Dahlberg Arena (2,817) Missoula, MT
Dec 20, 2017* 7:00 pm		Valparaiso	W 73–60	4–7	Student Recreation Center Arena (454) Riverside, CA
Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm		UC Merced	W 91–46	5–7	Student Recreation Center Arena (460) Riverside, CA
Dec 28, 2017* 6:00 pm		at Utah Valley	L 82–90	5–8	UCCU Center (2,936) Orem, UT
Dec 30, 2017* 1:00 pm		at Seattle	L 71–95	5–9	Connolly Center (833) Seattle, WA
Big West regular season
Jan 3, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cal State Fullerton	L 65–68	5–10 (0–1)	Titan Gym (878) Fullerton, CA
Jan 6, 2018 9:00 pm, ESPNU		at UC Santa Barbara	L 57–65	5–11 (0–2)	The Thunderdome (1,882) Santa Barbara, CA
Jan 11, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Davis	L 65–75	5–12 (0–3)	Student Recreation Center Arena (870) Riverside, CA
Jan 13, 2018 6:00 pm		Long Beach State	L 68–75	5–13 (0–4)	Student Recreation Center Arena (567) Riverside, CA
Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Cal State Northridge	L 57–66	5–14 (0–5)	Student Recreation Center Arena (507) Riverside, CA
Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at UC Irvine	L 40–79	5–15 (0–6)	Bren Events Center (1,361) Irvine, CA
Jan 27, 2018 5:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Santa Barbara	L 69–76	5–16 (0–7)	Student Recreation Center Arena (569) Riverside, CA
Jan 31, 2018 7:00 pm		at Cal Poly	L 68–71	5–17 (0–8)	Robert A. Mott Athletics Center (1,217) San Luis Obispo, CA
Feb 7, 2018 9:00 pm		at Hawaii	W 64–60	6–17 (1–8)	Stan Sheriff Center (5,206) Honolulu, HI
Feb 10, 2018 5:00 pm		UC Irvine	L 52–62	6–18 (1–9)	Student Recreation Center Arena (504) Riverside, CA
Feb 14, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cal State Northridge	W 69–62	7–18 (2–9)	Matadome (615) Northridge, CA
Feb 17, 2018 7:30 pm, Prime Ticket		Hawaii	L 69–74 ^OT	7–19 (2–10)	Student Recreation Center Arena (465) Riverside, CA
Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm		Cal State Fullerton	W 69–65	8–19 (3–10)	Student Recreation Center Arena (582) Riverside, CA
Feb 24, 2018 5:00 pm		at UC Davis	L 63–64	8–20 (3–11)	The Pavilion (2,704) Davis, CA
Mar 1, 2018 7:00 pm		Cal Poly	W 72–63	9–20 (4–11)	Student Recreation Center Arena (350) Riverside, CA
Mar 3, 2018 7:30 pm		at Long Beach State	L 59–77	9–21 (4–12)	Walter Pyramid (2,930) Long Beach, CA
Big West tournament
Mar 8, 2018 12:00 pm, FS West	(8)	vs. (1) UC Davis Quarterfinals	L 66–70	9–22	Honda Center Anaheim, CA
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time..