The 2017–18 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represented the University of California, Riverside during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders, led by interim head coach Justin Bell, played their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena in Riverside, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 9–22, 4–12 in Big West play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they lost in the quarterfinals to UC Davis.
On January 1, 2018, three days before conference play was to start, head coach Dennis Cutts, who was in his fifth season at UC Riverside, was fired after posting a 5–9 record to start the season. Associate head coach Justin Bell was named interim head coach. On March 14, the school hired TCU assistant coach David Patrick as head coach.
Previous season The Highlanders finished the 2016–17 season 7–21, 5–11 in Big West play to finish in eighth place. As the No. 8 seed in the Big West tournament, they were defeated by UC Irvine in the quarterfinals.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Gentrey Thomas 0 G 6'4" 195 Senior East Preston, NS Graduated Malik Thames 11 G 6'2" 165 Senior Sacramento, CA Graduated Secean Johnson 20 F 6'5" 215 Senior Philadelphia, PA Graduated
Incoming transfers Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous school Ryker Pierce 31 G/F 6'5" 205 RS Sophomore Rexburg, ID Junior college transferred from Cowley CC
2017 incoming recruits
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Quebec Tour
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition
!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Big West regular season
!colspan=9 style=| Big West tournament
Source:
References