2017–18 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team represented Eastern Kentucky University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonels, led by third-year head coach Dan McHale, played their home games at McBrayer Arena within Alumni Coliseum as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 11–20, 5–13 in OVC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. They failed to make the OVC Tournament for the third consecutive season.

2017–18 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
2017–18 record	11–20 (5–13 OVC)
Head coach	Dan McHale (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Reece Gaines Ryan Whalen Terrence Commodore
Home arena	McBrayer Arena

2017–18 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	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

On February 26, 2018, the school fired Dan McHale as head coach after three seasons.[1][2] He finished at EKU with a three-year record of 38–55. On March 23, NC State assistant A.W. Hamilton was hired as the new head coach of the Colonels.[3]

Previous season

The Colonels finished the season 12–19, 5–11 in OVC play to finish in last place in the East Division. They failed to qualify for the Ohio Valley Tournament.

Preseason

In a vote of Ohio Valley Conference head men’s basketball coaches and sports information directors, Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish fourth. Asante Gist was named to the preseason All-OVC team.[4]

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.[4]

Roster

2017–18 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Dujuanta Weaver 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS So Louisville, Kentucky G 1 JacQuess Hobbs 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Louisville, Kentucky F 2 DeAndre Dishman 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Lexington, Kentucky G/F 3 Peyton Broughton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr London, Kentucky G 4 Dillon Avare 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) RS Sr Lexington, Kentucky G 5 A.J. Youngman 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Peoria, Illinois F 10 Nick Mayo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Oakland, Maine G 2 Asante Gist 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So East Orange, New Jersey F 12 Zach Charles 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Mesquite, Texas F 13 Jackson Davis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Jr Lexington, Kentucky G 15 Kirkland Humphrey 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Richmond, Kentucky G 20 Dedric Boyd 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Brownsville, Tennessee F 21 Lachlan Anderson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Sydney, Australia G 23 Cameron Carmical 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr Harlan, Kentucky G 25 Mason Cooper 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Fairfield, Maine	Head coach Dan McHale (Kentucky) Assistant coach(es) Reece Gaines (Louisville) Ryan Whalen (Saint Joseph's) Terrence Commodore (Eastern Kentucky) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 23, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 3, 2017* 7:00 pm	Georgetown College	W 91–69		McBrayer Arena (2,300) Richmond, KY
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 8:00 pm	at Rice MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game	W 73–72	1–0	Tudor Fieldhouse (2,001) Houston, TX
Nov 13, 2017* 6:30 pm, SECN+	at Ole Miss MGM Resorts Main Event campus-site game	L 75–85	1–1	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (7,042) Oxford, MS
Nov 16, 2017* 7:00 pm	Kentucky State	W 97–66	2–1	McBrayer Arena (3,100) Richmond, KY
Nov 20, 2017* 2:00 pm	vs. Prairie View A&M MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight semifinals	L 70–80	2–2	T-Mobile Arena  Paradise, NV
Nov 22, 2017* 2:00 pm	vs. Eastern Washington MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight 3rd place game	L 62–83	2–3	T-Mobile Arena  Paradise, NV
Nov 25, 2017* 5:00 pm	Asbury	W 99–71	3–3	McBrayer Arena (1,150) Richmond, KY
Nov 29, 2017* 8:00 pm, Stadium	at WKU	L 51–83	3–4	E.A. Diddle Arena (5,532) Bowling Green, KY
Dec 2, 2017* 6:00 pm	Jacksonville	W 70–65 ^OT	4–4	McBrayer Arena (1,310) Richmond, KY
Dec 5, 2017* 10:00 pm, P12N	at Oregon State	L 62–74	4–5	Gill Coliseum (3,571) Corvallis, OR
Dec 10, 2017* 6:00 pm, CW Cincinnati	at Northern Kentucky	L 63–91	4–6	BB&T Arena (3,622) Highland Heights, KY
Dec 15, 2017* 7:30 pm	at Charleston Southern	W 70–65	5–6	CSU Field House (556) North Charleston, SC
Dec 18, 2017* 6:00 pm	Norfolk State	W 83–66	6–6	McBrayer Arena (1,210) Richmond, KY
Dec 22, 2017* 7:00 pm	at Marshall	L 71–91	6–7	Cam Henderson Center (5,218) Huntington, WV
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
Dec 28, 2017 8:30 pm	at Jacksonville State	L 58–76	6–8 (0–1)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,137) Jacksonville, AL
Dec 30, 2017 7:00 pm, CBSSN	at Tennessee Tech	L 69–77	6–9 (0–2)	Eblen Center (2,596) Cookeville, TN
Jan 4, 2018 8:00 pm	SIU Edwardsville	L 82–85	6–10 (0–3)	McBrayer Arena (1,120) Richmond, KY
Jan 6, 2018 4:00 pm	Eastern Illinois	L 53–54	6–11 (0–4)	McBrayer Arena (1,200) Richmond, KY
Jan 11, 2018 8:30 pm	at UT Martin	W 78–70	7–11 (1–4)	Skyhawk Arena (1,576) Martin, TN
Jan 13, 2018 5:15 pm	at Southeast Missouri State	W 91–86	8–11 (2–4)	Show Me Center (1,206) Cape Girardeau, MO
Jan 18, 2018 8:00 pm	Tennessee Tech	L 67–70	8–12 (2–5)	McBrayer Arena (1,590) Richmond, KY
Jan 20, 2018 7:00 pm	Jacksonville State	L 60–68	8–13 (2–6)	McBrayer Arena (60–68) Richmond, KY
Jan 25, 2018 8:30 pm	at Austin Peay	L 84–90	8–14 (2–7)	Dunn Center (2,326) Clarksville, TN
Jan 27, 2018 8:00 pm	at Murray State	L 73–88	8–15 (2–8)	CFSB Center (4,070) Murray, KY
Feb 1, 2018 8:00 pm	Belmont	L 63–98	8–16 (2–9)	McBrayer Arena (1,620) Richmond, KY
Feb 3, 2018 7:00 pm	Tennessee State	L 60–73	8–17 (2–10)	McBrayer Arena (1,680) Richmond, KY
Feb 8, 2018 8:00 pm	UT Martin	L 69–70	8–18 (2–11)	McBrayer Arena (1,120) Richmond, KY
Feb 10, 2018 7:00 pm	Morehead State	W 75–73	9–18 (3–11)	McBrayer Arena (2,620) Richmond, KY
Feb 15, 2018 8:00 pm	at Belmont	L 73–84	9–19 (3–12)	Curb Event Center (2,812) Nashville, TN
Feb 17, 2018 8:30 pm	at Tennessee State	W 72–59	10–19 (4–12)	Gentry Complex (2,255) Nashville, TN
Feb 22, 2018 8:00 pm	Southeast Missouri State	W 91–88	11–19 (5–12)	McBrayer Arena (1,840) Richmond, KY
Feb 24, 2018 2:00 pm	at Morehead State	L 66–70	11–20 (5–13)	Ellis Johnson Arena (3,947) Morehead, KY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source[5][6]

References

1. "Eastern Kentucky fires basketball coach Dan McHale after 3 seasons". ESPN.com. February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
2. "Eastern Kentucky fires head coach Dan McHale". kentucky. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
3. Moody, Aaron (March 23, 2018). "NC State's AW Hamilton takes over men's basketball program at Eastern Kentucky". The News & Observer. Raleigh, NC. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
4. "Belmont Picked As 2017-18 OVC Men's Basketball Favorites; Murray State's Stark Tabbed Preseason Player of the Year". Ohio Valley Conference. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
5. "Eastern Kentucky University Athletics". www.ekusports.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
6. "Eastern Kentucky Colonels Basketball 2017-18 Schedule - Colonels Home and Away - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-25.