2017–18 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team


The 2017–18 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team represented the University of Cincinnati in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games at the BB&T Arena on the campus of Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky due to renovations at their home arena, Fifth Third Arena. The Bearcats were led by 12th-year head coach Mick Cronin and are members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 31–5, 16–2 in AAC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated SMU, Memphis, and Houston to win the AAC Tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the No. 2 seed in the South region, they defeated Georgia State in the First Round before being upset by Nevada in the Second Round.

Previous season

The Bearcats finished the 2016–17 season 30–6, 16–2 to finish in second place in AAC play. They beat Tulsa and UConn in the AAC Tournament before losing to SMU in the championship game. The Bearcats received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the South region. In the NCAA Tournament, they defeated No. 11 Kansas State in the First Round 75–61 before losing to No. 3 UCLA 79–67 in the Second Round.

Offseason

Departing players

Recruiting class of 2017

Cincinnati will also add Preferred Walk-on Sam Martin a 5'10" PG from Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Preseason

At the conference's annual media day, the Bearcats were narrowly picked to win the AAC receiving seven of the 12 first-place votes. Gary Clark, Jacob Evans, and Kyle Washington were named to the preseason All-AAC second team.

Roster

Schedule and results

!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-Conference Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC Regular Season
!colspan=12 style=| AAC Tournament
!colspan=12 style=| NCAA Tournament
Source

Awards and milestones

[2018 NCAA [Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]]

All-AAC Awards

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings