2017–18 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team represented the University of Denver during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Pioneers, led by second-year head coach Rodney Billups, played their home games at Magness Arena, with one home game at Hamilton Gymnasium, and are members of The Summit League. They finished the season 15–15, 8–6 in Summit League play to finish in third place. In the Summit League tournament, they defeated Oral Roberts in the quarterfinals before losing to South Dakota State in the semifinals.

2017–18 Denver Pioneers men's basketball
Conference	The Summit League
Record	15–15 (8–6 The Summit)
Head coach	Rodney Billups (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Ricardo Patton Steve Snell Dan Ficke
Home arena	Magness Arena Hamilton Gymnasium

2017–18 Summit League men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
South Dakota State †	13	–	1		.929			28	–	7		.800
South Dakota	11	–	3		.786			26	–	9		.743
Denver	8	–	6		.571			15	–	15		.500
Fort Wayne	7	–	7		.500			18	–	15		.545
North Dakota State	5	–	9		.357			15	–	17		.469
Oral Roberts	5	–	9		.357			11	–	21		.344
Omaha	4	–	10		.286			9	–	22		.290
Western Illinois	3	–	11		.214			12	–	16		.429
† 2018 Summit League Tournament winner

Previous season

The Pioneers finished the season 16–14, 8–8 in Summit League play to finish in a three-way tie for fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament to South Dakota State.

Preseason

In a poll of league coaches, media, and sports information directors, the Pioneers were picked to finish in fifth place. Senior center Daniel Amigo was named to the preseason All-Summit First Team and senior guard Joe Rosga was named to the Second Team.

Roster

2017–18 Denver Pioneers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 0 Ade Murkey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Minneapolis, Minnesota G 1 Elijah Blake 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Denver, Colorado G 2 Joe Rosga 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Saint Paul, Minnesota G 3 Elvin Rodriguez 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Harlem, New York G 5 Jake Pemberton 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Highlands Ranch, Colorado G 10 Jake Holtzmann 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Parker, Colorado F 11 Jake Krafka 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Austin, Texas G 12 Luke Neff 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 155 lb (70 kg) So Arvada, Colorado G 14 Drew Joiner 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr Centennial, Colorado G 15 Thomas Neff 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Arvada, Colorado C 24 Christian Mackey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 275 lb (125 kg) Sr Kirtland, New Mexico F 25 Emil Knighton 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Parker, Colorado F 30 Donoven Carlisle 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Indianapolis, Indiana F 32 Abiola Akintola 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Melbourne, Australia C 44 Daniel Amigo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr El Paso, Texas	Head coach Rodney Billups (Denver) Assistant coach(es) Ricardo Patton (Belmont) Steve Snell (Radford) Dan Ficke (Loyola (MD)) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: October 26, 2017

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 12, 2017* 4:00 pm, ALT		UC Irvine	L 69–83	0–1	Magness Arena (1,202) Denver, CO
Nov 14, 2017* 7:00 pm, P12N		at Colorado	L 62–89	0–2	Coors Events Center (6,451) Boulder, CO
Nov 16, 2017* 5:00 pm		Johnson & Wales (CO)	W 91–59	1–2	Hamilton Gymnasium  Denver, CO
Nov 24, 2017* 5:00 pm		at Florida Gulf Coast FGCU Shootout	L 71–79	1–3	Alico Arena (3,517) Fort Myers, FL
Nov 25, 2017* 2:00 pm		vs. St. Francis Brooklyn FGCU Shootout	W 60–50	2–3	Alico Arena (202) Fort Myers, FL
Nov 26, 2017* 10:00 am		vs. Navy FGCU Shootout	L 71–79	2–4	Alico Arena (167) Fort Myers, FL
Nov 29, 2017* 7:00 pm, ALT2		Wyoming	W 88–78	3–4	Magness Arena (1,662) Denver, CO
Dec 2, 2017* 1:00 pm, ALT2		Air Force	L 59–61	3–5	Magness Arena (1,401) Denver, CO
Dec 5, 2017* 7:00 pm, ALT2		San Jose State	W 58–56	4–5	Magness Arena (1,028) Denver, CO
Dec 9, 2017* 1:00 pm, ALT		USC Upstate	W 84–69	5–5	Magness Arena (951) Denver, CO
Dec 13, 2017* 7:00 pm, CET		at Northern Colorado	L 63–83	5–6	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,153) Greeley, CO
Dec 15, 2017* 8:00 pm, P12N		at Stanford	L 62–75	5–7	Maples Pavilion (3,303) Stanford, CA
Dec 18, 2017* 7:00 pm		at Montana State	L 65–79	5–8	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,200) Bozeman, MT
Dec 28, 2017* 7:00 pm		Colorado Mesa	W 106–60	6–8	Magness Arena (1,567) Denver, CO
The Summit League regular season
Dec 30, 2017 2:30 pm		at South Dakota	L 71–82	6–9 (0–1)	Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,334) Vermillion, SD
Jan 6, 2018 1:00 pm, ALT		Fort Wayne	L 63–82	6–10 (0–2)	Magness Arena (1,570) Denver, CO
Jan 11, 2018 6:00 pm		at North Dakota State	W 67–61	7–10 (1–2)	Scheels Center (2,543) Fargo, ND
Jan 13, 2018 1:00 pm		at South Dakota State	L 72–94	7–11 (1–3)	Frost Arena (2,793) Brookings, SD
Jan 18, 2018 6:30 pm		at Omaha	L 80–86 2OT	7–12 (1–4)	Baxter Arena (1,916) Omaha, NE
Jan 20, 2018 6:00 pm, ESPN3		at Oral Roberts	W 73–64	8–12 (2–4)	Mabee Center (5,023) Tulsa, OK
Jan 25, 2018 7:00 pm		Western Illinois	W 70–58	9–12 (3–4)	Magness Arena (935) Denver, CO
Jan 27, 2018 4:00 pm, ALT2		South Dakota	W 84–68	10–12 (4–4)	Magness Arena (432) Denver, CO
Feb 3, 2018 12:00 pm		at Fort Wayne	L 63–91	10–13 (4–5)	Memorial Coliseum (2,010) Fort Wayne, IN
Feb 8, 2018 7:00 pm, ALT2		South Dakota State	L 77–81	10–14 (4–6)	Magness Arena (1,555) Denver, CO
Feb 10, 2018 1:00 pm, ALT		North Dakota State	W 66–63	11–14 (5–6)	Magness Arena (1,568) Denver, CO
Feb 14, 2018 7:00 pm, ALT2		Omaha	W 94–78	12–14 (6–6)	Magness Arena (1,020) Denver, CO
Feb 18, 2018 4:00 pm, ALT2		Oral Roberts	W 66–65	13–14 (7–6)	Magness Arena (1,247) Denver, CO
Feb 24, 2018 6:00 pm		at Western Illinois	W 89–52	14–14 (8–6)	Western Hall (614) Macomb, IL
The Summit League tournament
Mar 4, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(3)	vs. (6) Oral Roberts Quarterfinals	W 90–88 2OT	15–14	Premier Center (5,692) Sioux Falls, SD
Mar 5, 2018 7:30 pm, ESPN3	(3)	vs. (2) South Dakota Semifinals	L 58–76	15–15	Premier Center (8,835) Sioux Falls, SD
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time.

Source