2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team

The 2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Edwardsville during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Cougars, led by third year head coach Jon Harris, played their home games at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 9–21, 5–13 in OVC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. Due to Southeast Missouri State being ineligible for postseason play due to APR violations,[1] the Cougars received the No. 8 seed in the OVC tournament where they lost in the first round to Tennessee Tech.[2]

2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball
ConferenceOhio Valley Conference
Record9–21 (5–13 OVC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaVadalabene Center
Seasons
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

Previous season

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The Cougars finished the 2016–17 season 6–24, 1–15 in OVC play to finish in last place in the West Division. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

Preseason

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In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, SIUE was picked to finish in 12th place in the OVC.[1]

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.[1]

Season summary

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The Cougars finished the regular season with nine wins and twenty losses, an improvement over the two preceding seasons. Their conference record of 5–12 placed them in a tie for ninth place in the conference standings.

Post season

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The Cougars' ninth place tie was broken by their 2–1 record versus Eastern Kentucky and UT Martin. With Southeast Missouri ineligible for post season play, the Cougars earned the No. 8 seed in the OVC tournament, the schools' first slot in the tournament since 2015.[3]

Awards and honors

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Prior to the start of the OVC Tournament, the conference announced the Cougars senior forward Jalen Henry was named to the All-OVC Second Team.[4]

On March 27, the Ohio Valley Conference announced that the SIUE men's team are the recipients of the 2017-18 OVC Team Sportsmanship Award for men's basketball.[5]

Roster

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2017–18 SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
F 1 D.J. Jackson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Fayette Ware Moscow, TN
G 2 D'Quan Applewhite (xW) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Thornton Harvey, IL
G 3 Daniel Kinchen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Jr Alabama Southern CC/Stephenson Atlanta, GA
G 5 Kevion Stewart 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Cordova Memphis, TN
F 10 Bill Awet 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Fr Victory Rock Prep Sydney, Australia
G 13 Christian Ellis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Modesto Christian Oakland, CA
G 15 David McFarland 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr East Mississippi CC/Raymond Edwards, MS
G 22 Justin Benton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Houston Memphis, TN
F 24 Jalen Henry 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Southeast Springfield, IL
G 25 Jaylen McCoy 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Wallace State CC/Saint James School Montgomery, AL
F 32 Brandon Jackson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Cardinal Ritter East St. Louis, IL
F/C 34 Julian Torres† 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) RS So UIC/Bolingbrook Bolingbrook, IL
F 45 Keenan Simmons 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Sr Michigan City Michigan City, IN
† = left team at
holiday/semester break
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Bubba Wells
  • Brian Barone
  • Tarrance Crump
  • Yemi Makanjuola (GA)

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

Roster
Last update: 4 January 2018

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 5, 2017*
2:00 pm, OVCDN
Brescia W 95–75 
 19  Henry   8  Simmons, Torres & Team   10  Benton  Vadalabene Center (1,059)
Edwardsville, IL
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
7:00 pm, BTN Plus
at No. 20 Purdue L 74–105  0–1
 20  Torres   7  Ellis   6  Benton  Mackey Arena (13,934)
West Lafayette, IN
Nov 15, 2017*
7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Valparaiso L 69–94  0–2
 21  Henry & Kinchen   9  Henry   5  Benton  Vadalabene Center (1,353)
Edwardsville, IL
Nov 18, 2017*
12:00 pm, ESPN3
at Stetson W 80–76  1–2
 23  Kinchen   13  Henry   5  Kinchen  Edmunds Center (475)
DeLand, FL
Nov 22, 2017*
7:00 pm, OVCDN
Western Illinois L 67–69  1–3
 26  Kinchen   8  Henry   4  Henry  Vadalabene Center (1,126)
Edwardsville, IL
Nov 25, 2017*
3:30 pm, FS2
at Creighton L 66–103  1–4
 19  Ellis & Henry   9  Henry   2  McFarland & Stewart  CenturyLink Center Omaha (15,607)
Omaha, NE
Nov 29, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Southern Illinois L 59–86  1–5
 16  Ellis   11  Henry   3  Ellis  SIU Arena (3,333)
Carbondale, IL
Dec 3, 2017*
1:00 pm, Mastodons All-Access
at Fort Wayne L 71–86  1–6
 16  Henry & McCoy   5  Awet   6  Ellis  Memorial Coliseum (1,315)
Fort Wayne, IN
Dec 6, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at IUPUI W 82–81  2–6
 21  Henry   9  Henry   4  Ellis  Indiana Farmers Coliseum (809)
Indianapolis, IN
Dec 10, 2017*
2:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
South Alabama W 76–75  3–6
 26  Henry   12  Henry   5  Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,155)
Edwardsville, IL
Dec 19, 2017*
7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Chicago State W 88–76  4–6
 19  Ellis & Henry   6  Henry   8  Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,005)
Edwardsville, IL
Dec 22, 2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3
at Central Michigan L 52–70  4–7
 14  Ellis   8  Ellis   5  Ellis  McGuirk Arena (1,664)
Mount Pleasant, MI
Ohio Valley Conference regular season
Dec 28, 2017
7:00 pm, OVCDN
at Austin Peay L 58–78  4–8
(0–1)
 14  Benton   6  Benton, Ellis & D, Jackson   5  Kinchen  Dunn Center (1,648)
Clarksville, TN
Dec 30, 2017
7:00 pm, OVCDN
at Murray State L 63–87  4–9
(0–2)
 13  Kinchen   6  B.Jackson   3  Kinchen  CFSB Center (2,986)
Murray, KY
Jan 4, 2018
7:00 pm, OVCDN
at Eastern Kentucky W 85–82  5–9
(1–2)
 35  Henry   7  McFarland   5  Benton  McBrayer Arena (1,120)
Richmond, KY
Jan 6, 2018
3:15 pm, OVCDN
at Morehead State W 70–65  6–9
(2–2)
 16  Henry   11  Henry   8  Kinchen  Ellis Johnson Arena (1,442)
Morehead, KY
Jan 11, 2018
7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Belmont L 61–76  6–10
(2–3)
 14  Kinchen   8  Ellis   3  Bentom & Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,165)
Edwardsville, IL
Jan 13, 2018
7:00 pm, OVCDN
Tennessee State W 82–79  7–10
(3–3)
 19  B. Jackson   7  B. Jackson   9  Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,346)
Edwardsville, IL
Jan 18, 2018
7:00 pm, OVCDN
Southeast Missouri State L 74–86  7–11
(3–4)
 22  McFarland   9  McFarland   5  Bentom & Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,147)
Edwardsville, IL
Jan 20, 2018
1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
UT Martin L 69–70  7–12
(3–5)
 21  Henry   6  McFarland & Simmons   5  Bentom & Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,234)
Edwardsville, IL
Jan 25, 2018
7:30 pm, OVCDN
at Tennessee State L 57–85  7–13
(3–6)
 11  Ellis, Henry & McFarland   9  Ellis   3  Ellis & McFarland  Gentry Complex (1,291)
Nashville, TN
Jan 27, 2018
5:00 pm, OVCDN
at Belmont L 72–83  7–14
(3–7)
 17  Henry   5  B.Jackson   2  Benton, Ellis & McFarland  Curb Event Center (2,454)
Nashville, TN
Feb 1, 2018
7:00 pm, OVCDN
Tennessee Tech L 67–68  7–15
(3–8)
 27  Ellis   12  McFarland   5  Kinchen  Vadalabene Center (1,153)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 3, 2018
1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Jacksonville State W 75–67  9–15
(4–8)
 15  McFarland   8  Team   5  Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,507)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 8, 2018
7:00 pm, OVCDN
Eastern Illinois L 74–78  8–16
(4–9)
 21  Kinchen   10  Simmons   4  Benton & Ellis  Vadalabene Center (1,205)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 10, 2018
1:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Murray State L 66–75  8–17
(4–10)
 18  Henry   10  Simmons & Team   4  McFarland  Vadalabene Center (1,517)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 15, 2018
7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
at UT Martin W 70–69  9–17
(5–10)
 25  Simmons   8  Simmons   4  Ellis  Skyhawk Arena (1,001)
Martin, TN
Feb 17, 2018
4:15 pm, OVCDN
at Southeast Missouri State L 74–79  9–18
(5–11)
 19  Ellis   9  Simmons   4  Kinchen  Show Me Center (1,697)
Cape Girardeau, MO
Feb 22, 2018
7:00 pm, FSMW/OVCDN
Austin Peay L 82–86  9–19
(5–12)
 26  Henry   7  Henry   3  Benton, Henry & Kinchen  Vadalabene Center (1,583)
Edwardsville, IL
Feb 24, 2018
3:15 pm, OVCDN
at Eastern Illinois L 56–68  9–20
(5–13)
 20  Henry   11  Simmons   3  McFarland  Lantz Arena (1,550)
Charleston, IL
Ohio Valley Conference tournament
Feb 28, 2018
6:30 pm, OVCDN
(8) vs. (5) Tennessee Tech
First Round
L 51–60  9–21
 14  Henry   15  Henry   4  Benton  Ford Center (654)
Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time Source[6].

References

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  1. ^ a b c "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.
  2. ^ "SIU-Edwardsville vs. Tennessee Tech - Game Recap - February 28, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Field Set for 2018 OVC Men's Basketball Championship Presented by VisitMyrtleBeach.com". Ohio Valley Conference. February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  4. ^ "Murray State's Stark, Tennessee State's Mekowulu, Austin Peay's Taylor and Figger Earn 2017-18 OVC Men's Basketball Top Honors". Ohio Valley Conference. February 27, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  5. ^ "SIUE Men, Tennessee Tech Women Earn OVC Team Sportsmanship Awards For Men's and Women's Basketball" (Press release). Ohio Valley Conference. March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  6. ^ "2017–18 SIUE Men's Basketball Schedule". Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Retrieved October 16, 2017.