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2017–18 Central Arkansas Bears basketball
2017–18 Central Arkansas Bears basketball
CBI, Quarterfinals
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	18–17 (10–8 Southland)
Head coach	Russ Pennell (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Anthony Boone (4th season); Matt Scherbenske; Tyler Miller (1st season);
Home arena	Farris Center; (Capacity: 6,000)
	Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Southland Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Southeastern Louisiana	15	–	3	.833	22	–	12	.647
Nicholls State	15	–	3	.833	21	–	11	.656
Stephen F. Austin †	14	–	4	.778	28	–	7	.800
Sam Houston State	12	–	6	.667	21	–	15	.583
Lamar	11	–	7	.611	19	–	14	.576
New Orleans	11	–	7	.611	16	–	17	.485
Central Arkansas	10	–	8	.556	18	–	17	.514
Abilene Christian	8	–	10	.444	16	–	16	.500
Texas A&M–CC	8	–	10	.444	11	–	18	.379
McNeese State	8	–	10	.444	11	–	17	.393
Incarnate Word	2	–	16	.111	7	–	21	.250
Houston Baptist	2	–	16	.111	6	–	25	.194
Northwestern State	1	–	17	.056	4	–	25	.138


† 2018 Southland tournament winner

The 2017–18 Central Arkansas Bears basketball team represented the University of Central Arkansas during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by fourth-year head coach Russ Pennell and played their home games at the Farris Center in Conway, Arkansas as members of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 18–17, 10–8 in Southland play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Lamar in the first round of the Southland tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Stephen F. Austin. They were invited to the College Basketball Invitational where they defeated Seattle before losing in the quarterfinals to Jacksonville State.^[1]^[2]

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2016–17 season 8–24, 7–11 in Southland play to finish in a five-way tie for eighth place. They lost in the first round of the Southland tournament to Sam Houston State.

Roster

2017–18 Central Arkansas Bears men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
PF	0	S. K. Shittu	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	209 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Rogers, Arkansas
PG	1	Jordan Howard	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Chandler, Arizona
F	2	Ethan Lee	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Camden, Arkansas
G	3	Tyler Simmons	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jr	Greenbrier, Arkansas
G	10	Mathieu Kamba	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
G	12	Darraja Parnell	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	So	Andover, Kansas
F	13	Otas Iyekekpolor	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Edmonton, Canada
C	15	Hayden Koval	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Fr	Prosper, Texas
G	20	Matthew Mondesir	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Fr	Los Angeles, California
F/C	22	Tanner Schmit	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	Jr	Buffalo, New York
F	23	Aaron Weidenaar	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	So	Bozeman, Montana
F	24	Jared Chatham	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	RS Fr	Los Angeles, California
SG	25	Thatch Unruh	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Jr	Branson, Missouri
G	33	Jordan Grant	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	So	Harrison, Arkansas
C	35	Brandon Vanover	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	RS Fr	Little Rock, Arkansas
PG	55	DeAndre Jones	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	Boise, Idaho

Head coach

Russ Pennell (Central Arkansas)

Assistant coach(es)

Anthony Boone (Mississippi)
Matt Scherbenske (Kentucky)
Tyler Miller (Montana Western)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 26, 2018

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-Conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 12:00 pm, FSSW		at No. 24 Baylor	L 66–107	0–1	Ferrell Center (7,791) Waco, TX
Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm		University of the Ozarks	W 99–51	1–1	Farris Center (685) Conway, AR
Nov 15, 2017* 10:00 pm, P12N		at No. 23 UCLA	L 101–106 ^OT	1–2	Pauley Pavilion (6,782) Los Angeles, CA
Nov 19, 2017* 1:00 pm		Alcorn State	W 102–76	2–2	Farris Center (542) Conway, AR
Nov 21, 2017* 6:50 pm		at South Carolina State	W 73–64	3–2	SHM Memorial Center (254) Orangeburg, SC
Nov 25, 2017* 11:00 pm		at Tulsa	L 72–92	3–3	Reynolds Center (3,259) Tulsa, OK
Nov 27, 2017* 7:00 pm		Morehead State	W 82–78	4–3	Farris Center (715) Conway, AR
Nov 29, 2017* 6:30 pm		at Little Rock	L 65–71	4–4	Jack Stephens Center (3,189) Little Rock, AR
Dec 4, 2017* 9:00 pm		at San Francisco	L 76–78	4–5	War Memorial Gym (1,087) San Francisco, CA
Dec 6, 2017* 9:00 pm, P12N		at California	W 96–69	5–5	Haas Pavilion (7,813) Berkeley, CA
Dec 9, 2017* 7:00 pm		Little Rock	W 69–54	6–5	Farris Center (2,412) Conway, AR
Dec 17, 2017* 1:00 pm		at Morehead State	L 94–98 ^OT	6–6	Ellis Johnson Arena (2,208) Morehead, KY
Dec 20, 2017* 10:00 pm, P12N		at Oregon	L 82–96	6–7	Matthew Knight Arena (6,908) Eugene, OR
Southland regular season
Dec 28, 2017 1:00 pm		Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	W 81–69	7–7 (1–0)	Farris Center (548) Conway, AR
Dec 31, 2017 3:00 pm		Southeastern Louisiana	L 69–73	7–7 (1–1)	Farris Center (731) Conway, AR
Jan 3, 2018 6:30 pm		at Sam Houston State	L 76–82	7–9 (1–2)	Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum (599) Huntsville, TX
Jan 6, 2018 4:30 pm, ESPN3		at Lamar	W 100–91 ^2OT	8–9 (2–2)	Montagne Center (1,478) Beaumont, TX
Jan 10, 2018 7:00 pm		Incarnate Word	W 92–76	9–9 (3–2)	Farris Center (1,156) Conway, AR
Jan 13, 2018 4:00 pm		at Nicholls State	L 79–86	9–10 (3–3)	Stopher Gymnasium (315) Thibodaux, LA
Jan 17, 2018 7:00 pm		at New Orleans	W 81–57	10–10 (4–3)	Lakefront Arena (471) New Orleans, LA
Jan 20, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Abilene Christian	L 63–80	10–11 (4–4)	Farris Center (1,317) Conway, AR
Jan 24, 2018 7:00 pm		Stephen F. Austin	W 100–92	11–11 (5–4)	Farris Center (2,225) Conway, AR
Jan 27, 2018 3:00 pm		at Northwestern State	W 95–78	12–11 (6–4)	Prather Coliseum (1,920) Natchitoches, LA
Feb 3, 2018 5:00 pm		at Southeastern Louisiana	W 89–84	12–12 (6–5)	University Center (769) Hammond, LA
Feb 7, 2018 7:00 pm		at Houston Baptist	W 100–80	13–12 (7–5)	Sharp Gymnasium (532) Houston, TX
Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm		McNeese State	L 72–76	13–13 (7–6)	Farris Center (873) Conway, AR
Feb 17, 2018 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Nicholls State	L 83–87	13–14 (7–7)	Farris Center (2,912) Conway, AR
Feb 21, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Stephen F. Austin	L 62–97	13–15 (7–8)	William R. Johnson Coliseum (3,012) Nacogdoches, TX
Feb 24, 2018 4:00 pm		at Abilene Christian	W 74–72	14–15 (8–8)	Moody Coliseum (1,450) Abilene, TX
Feb 28, 2018 7:00 pm		Sam Houston State	W 88–70	15–15 (9–8)	Farris Center (1,312) Conway, AR
Mar 3, 2018 3:00 pm		Northwestern State	W 61–58	16–15 (10–8)	Farris Center (1,835) Conway, AR
Southland tournament
Mar 7, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(7)	vs. (6) Lamar First round	W 67–57	17–15	Leonard E. Merrill Center (970) Katy, TX
Mar 8, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(7)	vs. (3) Stephen F. Austin Quarterfinals	L 64–86	17–16	Leonard E. Merrill Center (1,839) Katy, TX
CBI
Mar 14, 2018* 9:00 pm		at Seattle First round	W 92–90 ^OT	18–16	Connolly Center (639) Seattle, WA
Mar 19, 2018* 5:30 pm		Jacksonville State Quarterfinals	L 59–80	18–17	Farris Center (2,570) Conway, AR
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.