2017–18 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team

The 2017–18 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team represented Louisiana Tech University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bulldogs, led by third-year head coach Eric Konkol, played their home games at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, Louisiana as members of Conference USA. They finished the season 17–16, 7–11 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the No. 10 seed in the C-USA tournament, they defeated North Texas before losing to Old Dominion in the quarterfinals.

2017–18 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball
Cancún Challenge Riviera Division champions New Orleans Shootout champions
Conference	Conference USA
Record	17–16 (7–11 C-USA)
Head coach	Eric Konkol (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Duffy Conroy Yaphett King Tony Skinn
Home arena	Thomas Assembly Center
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Conference USA men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Middle Tennessee	16	–	2		.889			25	–	8		.758
Old Dominion	15	–	3		.833			25	–	7		.781
Western Kentucky	14	–	4		.778			27	–	11		.711
Marshall †	12	–	6		.667			25	–	11		.694
UTSA	11	–	7		.611			20	–	15		.571
UAB	10	–	8		.556			20	–	13		.606
North Texas	8	–	10		.444			20	–	18		.526
FIU	8	–	10		.444			14	–	18		.438
Southern Miss	7	–	11		.389			16	–	18		.471
Louisiana Tech	7	–	11		.389			17	–	16		.515
Florida Atlantic	6	–	12		.333			12	–	19		.387
UTEP	6	–	12		.333			11	–	20		.355
Rice	4	–	14		.222			7	–	24		.226
Charlotte	2	–	16		.111			6	–	23		.207
† 2018 C-USA Tournament winner

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2016–17 season 23–10, 14–4 in C-USA play to finish in second place. They beat UAB in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament before losing to Marshall in the semifinals. Despite finishing with 23 wins, the school declined to participate in a postseason tournament marking the first time since 2013 that they did not participate in a postseason tournament.^[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Erik McCree	2	F	6'8"	225	RS Senior	Orlando, FL	Graduated
Da'Shawn Robinson	23	G	6'4"	210	Senior	Houston, TX	Graduate transferred to Lamar
Omar Sherman	24	F	6'9"	255	Junior	Duncanville, TX	Transferred to William Penn
Qiydar Davis	25	G	6'6"	220	RS Senior	Atlanta, GA	Graduate transferred to Indiana State
Luke Walker	30	G	6'2"	185	Sophomore	New Orleans, LA	Walk-on; graduate transferred to William Jessup

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Harrison Curry	24	F	6'7"	230	Junior	Ann Arbor, MI	Junior college transferred from Pensacola State College
Kyle McKinley	25	F/C	6'10"	220	RS Sophomore	Stillwater, MN	Junior college transferred from Northeast CC

Recruiting class of 2017

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Anthony Duruji #80 PF	Potomac, MD	St. Andrews Episcopal School	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	May 17, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    ESPN:
Exavian Christon SG	Hot Springs, AR	Hot Springs High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sep 21, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    ESPN:
Amorie Archibald SG	Deltona, FL	Trinity Christian Academy	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sep 30, 2016
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    ESPN:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, 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. Retrieved November 15, 2017.

Roster

2017–18 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Jacobi Boykins 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Lakewood High School St. Petersburg, Florida G 1 Derric Jean 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr McArthur High School Miami, Florida G 3 Jalen Harris 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) So Duncanville High School Duncanville, Texas G 4 DaQuan Bracey 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 174 lb (79 kg) So St. Frances Academy Baltimore, Maryland C 5 Joniah White 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Grenada High School Duck Hill, Mississippi F 10 Anthony Duruji 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 198 lb (90 kg) Fr St. Andrew's Episcopal School Germantown, Maryland G 11 JaColby Pemberton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Fr Lancaster High School Dallas, Texas G 15 Jeremiah Taylor (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Lewisville High School Lewisville, Texas G 21 Exavian Christon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 197 lb (89 kg) Fr Hot Springs High School Hot Springs, Arkansas F 22 Jy'lan Washington 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Stewarts Creek High School Smyrna, Tennessee F 24 Harrison Curry 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr Pensacola State College Ann Arbor, Michigan C 25 Kyle McKinley 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Northeast Community College Stillwater, Minnesota F 35 Oliver Powell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Rowlett High School Rowlett, Texas	Head coach Eric Konkol (UW–Eau Claire) Assistant coach(es) Duffy Conroy (St. Ambrose) Yaphett King (Cal State Fullerton) Tony Skinn (George Mason) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017* 6:30 pm		UT Tyler	W 112–71	1–0	Thomas Assembly Center (3,271) Ruston, LA
Nov 13, 2017* 6:30 pm		Southeast Missouri State Cancún Challenge	W 96–95 OT	2–0	Thomas Assembly Center (2,456) Ruston, LA
Nov 18, 2017* 7:00 pm		Montana State Cancún Challenge	W 71–58	3–0	Thomas Assembly Center (2,378) Ruston, LA
Nov 21, 2017* 5:00 pm, CBSSN		vs. George Mason Cancún Challenge Riviera Division semifinals	W 77–64	4–0	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center (842) Cancún, Mexico
Nov 22, 2017* 7:30 pm, CBSSN		vs. Evansville Cancún Challenge Riviera Division championship	W 63–61	5–0	Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center (982) Cancún, Mexico
Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, SECN+		at No. 24 Alabama	L 74–77	5–1	Coleman Coliseum (12,062) Tuscaloosa, AL
Dec 2, 2017* 6:00 pm		Miles	W 106–55	6–1	Thomas Assembly Center (2,665) Ruston, LA
Dec 6, 2017* 6:30 pm		Stephen F. Austin	L 83–85	6–2	Thomas Assembly Center (3,041) Ruston, LA
Dec 9, 2017* 6:00 pm		Jackson State	W 91–62	7–2	Thomas Assembly Center (2,668) Ruston, LA
Dec 12, 2017* 6:30 pm		Louisiana	L 71–75	7–3	Thomas Assembly Center (3,438) Ruston, LA
Dec 16, 2017* 1:00 pm, LHN		at Texas	L 60–75	7–4	Frank Erwin Center (8,828) Austin, TX
Dec 21, 2017* 2:30 pm		vs. Alabama State New Orleans Shootout semifinals	W 74–62	8–4	Convocation Center (300) New Orleans, LA
Dec 22, 2017* 2:30 pm		vs. Fort Wayne New Orleans Shootout championship	W 85–76	9–4	Convocation Center (250) New Orleans, LA
Conference USA regular season
Dec 28, 2017 7:00 pm, beIN		at Western Kentucky	L 68–69	9–5 (0–1)	E. A. Diddle Arena (4,897) Bowling Green, KY
Dec 30, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Marshall	L 65–78	9–6 (0–2)	Cam Henderson Center (5,683) Huntington, WV
Jan 4, 2018 6:30 pm, Stadium		UTSA	L 76–78	9–7 (0–3)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,159) Ruston, LA
Jan 6, 2018 6:00 pm		UTEP	W 97–88	10–7 (1–3)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,654) Ruston, LA
Jan 11, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at Middle Tennessee	L 57–72	10–8 (1–4)	Murphy Center (4,418) Murfreesboro, TN
Jan 13, 2018 4:00 pm, Stadium		at UAB	L 62–74	10–9 (1–5)	Bartow Arena (3,743) Birmingham, AL
Jan 18, 2018 6:30 pm, Stadium		North Texas	W 66–65	11–9 (2–5)	Thomas Assembly Center (4,236) Ruston, LA
Jan 20, 2018 6:00 pm		Rice	W 69–54	12–9 (3–5)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,836) Ruston, LA
Jan 27, 2018 6:00 pm		Southern Miss	W 89–66	13–9 (4–5)	Thomas Assembly Center (4,269) Ruston, LA
Feb 1, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium		at Florida Atlantic	W 67–62	14–9 (5–5)	FAU Arena (1,472) Boca Raton, FL
Feb 3, 2018 6:00 pm		at FIU	L 68–71	14–10 (5–6)	FIU Arena (2,463) Miami, FL
Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, beIN		Charlotte	W 83–65	15–10 (6–6)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,657) Ruston, LA
Feb 10, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium		Old Dominion	L 69–82	15–11 (6–7)	Thomas Assembly Center (4,031) Ruston, LA
Feb 15, 2018 8:00 pm, CBSSN		UAB	W 73–60	16–11 (7–7)	Thomas Assembly Center (3,562) Ruston, LA
Feb 17, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium		Middle Tennessee	L 70–87	16–12 (7–8)	Thomas Assembly Center (4,847) Ruston, LA
Feb 22, 2018 6:00 pm, Stadium		at UTEP	L 72–74	16–13 (7–9)	Don Haskins Center (5,386) El Paso, TX
Feb 24, 2018 7:30 pm		at UTSA	L 64–74	16–14 (7–10)	Convocation Center (1,624) San Antonio, TX
Mar 3, 2018 4:00 pm		at Southern Miss	L 64–72	16–15 (7–11)	Reed Green Coliseum (2,687) Hattiesburg, MS
Conference USA tournament
Mar 7, 2018 8:30 pm, Stadium	(10)	vs. (7) North Texas First round	W 68–62	17–15	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
Mar 8, 2018 8:30 pm, Stadium	(10)	vs. (2) Old Dominion Quarterfinals	L 58–62	17–16	The Ford Center at The Star  Frisco, TX
*Non-conference game. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.