2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team

2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball
ConferenceBig Sky Conference
Record12–20 (6–12 Big Sky)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaBetty Engelstad Sioux Center
Seasons
2017–18 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Montana † 16 – 2   .889 26 – 8   .765
Idaho 14 – 4   .778 22 – 9   .710
Weber State 13 – 5   .722 20 – 11   .645
Eastern Washington 13 – 5   .722 20 – 15   .571
Northern Colorado 11 – 7   .611 26 – 12   .684
Idaho State 9 – 9   .500 14 – 16   .467
Portland State 9 – 9   .500 20 – 14   .588
Montana State 6 – 12   .333 13 – 19   .406
North Dakota 6 – 12   .333 12 – 20   .375
Southern Utah 5 – 13   .278 13 – 19   .406
Sacramento State 4 – 14   .222 7 – 25   .219
Northern Arizona 2 – 16   .111 5 – 27   .156
† Conference tournament winner

The 2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team represented the University of North Dakota during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Hawks, led by 12th-year head coach Brian Jones, played their home games at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 6–12 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for eighth place. They defeated Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Montana.

This season was the last for North Dakota as a full Big Sky member. On July 1, 2018, the school will join the Summit League in all sports except for football, in which it will remain a Big Sky member before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020.[1]

Previous season

The Fighting Hawks finished the 2016–17 season 22–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. In the Big Sky tournament, they defeated Portland State, Idaho, and Weber State to win the tournament championship.[2] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and the school's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament.[3] As a No. 15 seed in the West region, they lost to No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Arizona in the first round.[4][5]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Corey Baldwin 1 G 6'3" 190 Senior Bridgeport, CT Graduated
Carson Shanks 5 C 7'0" 230 RS Junior Prior Lake, MN Graduate transferred to Loyola–Chicago
Shane Benton 10 C 7'0" 230 RS Senior Cedar Rapids, IA Graduated
Wheeler Baker 13 G 6'2" 175 Sophomore Brooklyn Park, MN Left the team for personal reasons
Thomas Blake 20 G 6'2" 200 RS Senior Hagerstown, MD Walk-on; graduated
Quinton Hooker 21 G 6'0" 205 Senior Brooklyn Park, MD Graduated
Devon Pekas 25 G 6'4" 210 Senior Hawley, MN Graduated
Drick Bernstine 43 F 6'8" 220 RS Junior Aurora, CO Graduate transferred to Washington State

Incoming transfers

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Jaqwan McCauley 10 G/F 6'6" 210 Junior Greensboro, NC Junior college transferred from Tyler Junior College.
Dale Jones 13 F 6'7" 227 Senior Waterloo, IA Transferred from Iowa. Will be eligible to play immediately since Jones graduated from Iowa.

2017 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Garrett Franken
SF 		Atlantic, IA Atlantic High School 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jul 10, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Tray Buchanan
PG 		East Moline, IL United Township High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) N/A Sep 25, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: NR
Aanen Moody
SG 		Dickinson, ND Dickinson High School 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 175 lb (79 kg)  
Recruiting 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 September 23, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Geno Crandall 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr DeLaSalle Minneapolis, MN
G 1 Marlon Stewart 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So North Scott
Creighton 		Eldridge, IA
F 2 Josh Collins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr DeLaSalle Minneapolis, MN
G 3 Billy Brown 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Spirit Lake Spirit Lake, IA
G 5 Aanen Moody 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Dickinson Dickinson, ND
G 10 Jaqwan McCauley 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr New Hope Academy
Tyler JC 		High Point, NC
G 11 Jafar Kinsley 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Jamesville-DeWitt
Des Moines Area CC 		Syracuse, NY
F 13 Dale Jones 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr Waterloo West
Iowa 		Waterloo, IA
G 15 Cortez Seales 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr North Scott Eldridge, IA
G 21 Ethan Igbanugo (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Lakeville North Lakeville, MN
F 22 Carter Brooks (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Lakeville North Lakeville, MN
F 23 Kienan Walter 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So King's Way Christian Vancouver, WA
F 24 Garrett Franken 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Atlantic HS Atlantic, IA
G 30 Tray Buchanan 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr United Township East Moline, IL
F 32 Conner Avants 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Deer Creek Edmond, OK
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
8:30 pm 		vs. Troy
Rainbow Classic 		W 83–80  1–0
 Stan Sheriff Center (5,764)
Honolulu, HI
Nov 12, 2017*
9:00 pm 		at Hawaii
Rainbow Classic 		L 78–81  1–1
 Stan Sheriff Center (5,180)
Honolulu, HI
Nov 13, 2017*
8:30 pm 		vs. Arkansas–Pine Bluff
Rainbow Classic 		W 80–71  2–1
 Stan Sheriff Center (5,078)
Honolulu, HI
Nov 19, 2017*
1:00 pm, BTN 		at Nebraska L 70–92  2–2
 Pinnacle Bank Arena (10,249)
Lincoln, NE
Nov 21, 2017*
7:00 pm 		Northland College W 79–48  3–2
 Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,570)
Grand Forks, ND
Nov 25, 2017*
2:00 pm 		Utah Valley L 75–83 OT 3–3
 Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,669)
Grand Forks, ND
Nov 28, 2017*
7:00 pm 		Presentation College W 82–75  4–3
 Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,614)
Grand Forks, ND
Dec 5, 2017*
7:00 pm, FS2 		at Creighton L 68–111  4–4
 CenturyLink Center (15,069)
Omaha, NE
Dec 9, 2017*
7:00 pm 		North Dakota State L 79–88  4–5
 Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (3,057)
Grand Forks, ND
Dec 12, 2017*
7:00 pm, MidcoSN 		at South Dakota State L 63–99  4–6
 Frost Arena (1,874)
Brookings, SD
Dec 16, 2017*
7:00 pm, RTNW 		at No. 12 Gonzaga L 83–89 OT 4–7
 McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000)
Spokane, WA
Dec 29, 2017
7:00 pm, MidcoSN 		Idaho L 57–74  4–8
(0–1) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,597)
Grand Forks, ND
Dec 31, 2017
4:00 pm, MidcoSN 		Eastern Washington L 64–77  4–9
(0–2) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,548)
Grand Forks, ND
Jan 4, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Montana L 79–109  4–10
(0–3) 		Dahlberg Arena (3,220)
Missoula, MT
Jan 6, 2018
3:00 pm 		at Montana State L 68–79  4–11
(0–4) 		Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,883)
Bozeman, MT
Jan 11, 2018
7:00 pm 		Idaho State W 81–58  5–11
(1–4) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,707)
Grand Forks, ND
Jan 13, 2018
2:00 pm, MidcoSN 		Weber State W 89–79  6–11
(2–4) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,188)
Grand Forks, ND
Jan 16, 2018*
7:00 pm, MidcoSN 		North Dakota State W 86–77  7–11
 Scheels Arena (4,105)
Fargo, ND
Jan 20, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Northern Colorado L 91–94 OT 7–12
(2–5) 		Bank of Colorado Arena (2,059)
Greeley, CO
Jan 25, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Eastern Washington L 71–95  7–13
(2–6) 		Reese Court (1,679)
Cheney, WA
Jan 27, 2018
9:00 pm 		at Idaho L 71–96  7–14
(2–7) 		Cowan Spectrum (1,818)
Moscow, ID
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm 		Montana State W 75–74  8–14
(3–7) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,885)
Grand Forks, ND
Feb 3, 2018
4:00 pm, ELVN 		Montana L 67–72  8–15
(3–8) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (2,089)
Grand Forks, ND
Feb 8, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Weber State L 76–84  8–16
(3–9) 		Dee Events Center (6,275)
Ogden, UT
Feb 10, 2018
8:00 pm 		at Idaho State L 67–82  8–17
(3–10) 		Holt Arena (1,708)
Pocatello, ID
Feb 15, 2018
7:00 pm, MidcoSN 		Southern Utah W 61–57  9–17
(4–10) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,456)
Grand Forks, ND
Feb 17, 2018
4:00 pm 		Northern Arizona W 86–81 OT 10–17
(5–10) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,970)
Grand Forks, ND
Feb 24, 2018
3:00 pm 		Northern Colorado L 66–79  10–18
(5–11) 		Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,895)
Grand Forks, ND
Mar 1, 2018
9:00 pm 		at Sacramento State W 90–73  11–18
(6–11) 		Hornets Nest (501)
Sacramento, CA
Mar 3, 2018
3:00 pm 		at Portland State L 90–97 OT 11–19
(6–12) 		Pamplin Sports Center (715)
Portland, OR
Big Sky tournament
Mar 6, 2018
12:00 pm, Pluto TV 		(8) vs. (9) Montana State
First round 		W 76–74  12–19
 Reno Events Center (986)
Reno, NV
Mar 8, 2018
12:00 pm, ELVN 		(8) vs. (1) Montana
Quarterfinals 		L 76–84  12–20
 Reno Events Center (1,110)
Reno, NV
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time Source[6][7].

References

  1. ^ "UND officially makes the move to the Summit League, Missouri..." Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  2. ^ "North Dakota wins Big Sky tournament for first NCAA Tournament berth". OregonLive.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  3. ^ "North Dakota defeats Weber State to clinch automatic berth for NCAA tournament". SBNation.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  4. ^ "North Dakota vs. Arizona - Game Recap - March 16, 2017 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  5. ^ Pascoe, Bruce. "Arizona Wildcats beat North Dakota 100-82 in NCAA Tournament first round game". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
  6. ^ "M Basketball - Schedule - UNDsports.com: Official Web Site of University of North Dakota Athletics". undsports.com.
  7. ^ "NCAA - Men's College Basketball Teams, Scores, Stats, News, Standings, Rumors - ESPN".[dead link]