2016–17 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team

The 2016–17 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team represented the University of California, Riverside during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Highlanders were led by fourth year head coach Dennis Cutts and played their home games at the Student Recreation Center Arena as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 7–21, 5–11 in Big West play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big West tournament to UC Irvine.

2016–17 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball
Conference	Big West Conference
Record	7–21 (5–11 Big West)
Head coach	Dennis Cutts (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Justin Bell Keith Wilkinson Will Kimble
Home arena	Student Recreation Center Arena

2016–17 Big West men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UC Irvine	12	–	4		.750			21	–	15		.583
UC Davis †	11	–	5		.688			23	–	13		.639
Cal State Fullerton	10	–	6		.625			17	–	15		.531
Long Beach State	9	–	7		.563			15	–	19		.441
Hawai'i	8	–	8		.500			14	–	16		.467
Cal State Northridge	7	–	9		.438			11	–	19		.367
Cal Poly	6	–	10		.375			11	–	20		.355
UC Riverside	5	–	11		.313			7	–	21		.250
UC Santa Barbara	4	–	12		.250			6	–	22		.214
† 2017 Big West tournament winner

Previous season

The Highlanders the season 14–19, 5–11 in Big West play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the first round of the Big West tournament to Long Beach State.

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jaylen Bland	1	G	6'3"	205	Senior	Saginaw, MI	Graduated
Taylor Johns	5	F	6'7"	220	Senior	San Francisco, CA	Graduated
Steven Jones	10	G	6'0"	175	Senior	Northridge, CA	Graduated
Robert Boezeman	12	F	6'7"	220	Sophomore	Dordrecht, Netherlands	Retired from basketball due to an elbow injury
Brady Anderson	15	F	6'9"	200	Sophomore	Sacramento, CA	Walk-on; left the team for personal reasons
Primivito Gomez	31	F	6'5"	210	Junior	El Monte, CA	Walk-on; graduate transferred to Cal Poly Pomona

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Idy Diallo	4	F	6'11"	253	RS Sophomore	Los Angeles, CA	Transferred from Boston College. Under NCAA transfer rules, Diallo will have to sit out for the 2016–17 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.

2016 incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Dikymbe Martin #69 PG	Riverside, CA	John W. North High School	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	160 lb (73 kg)
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 65
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, 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: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2016.

Roster

2016–17 UC Riverside Highlanders men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Gentrey Thomas 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Orangeville HS East Preston, NS G 1 DJ Sylvester 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Morse HS Victorville, CA G 3 Chance Murray 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Price HS Arizona State Los Angeles, CA G 4 Marcus Berkley 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Middlebrooks Academy Garden Grove, CA G 11 Malik Thames 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Pleasant Grove Central Arizona Sacramento, CA C 12 Idy Diallo (I)  6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS So Cathedral HS Boston College Los Angeles, CA F 13 Eric Rhahwire 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Saddleback Valley Christian Toronto, ON F 14 Brandon Rosser 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Jr Temecula Valley HS Central Arizona College Temecula, CA G 15 Dcymbe Martin 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Fr JW North HS Riverside, CA F 20 Secean Johnson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Penn Wood HS Philadelphia, PA F 21 Alex Larrson 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Södertälje Knights Club Team Södertälje, Sweden G 24 Koh Flippin (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) So North Torrance HS Torrance, CA C 32 Menno Dijkstra 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Canarias Basketball Academy Standdaarbuiten, Netherlands F 40 James Jackson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Monte Vista HS NW Kansas Tech College/Cuyamaca College Spring Valley, CA	Head coach Dennis Cutts (Albany) Assistant coach(es) Justin Bell (UC Riverside) Keith Wilkinson (USC) Will Kimble (UTEP) 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
11/11/2016* 7:00 pm		at Portland	L 55–71	0–1	Chiles Center (2,601) Portland, OR
11/16/2016* 7:00 pm		at UNLV	L 62–74	0–2	Thomas & Mack Center (8,711) Paradise, NV
11/19/2016* 4:00 pm		Fresno Pacific	W 98–50	1–2	SRC Arena (2,115) Riverside, CA
11/25/2016* 6:00 pm, P12N		at Utah	L 67–85	1–3	Jon M. Huntsman Center (11,324) Salt Lake City, UT
11/30/2016* 8:00 pm, P12N		at No. 11 UCLA	L 56–98	1–4	Pauley Pavilion (6,328) Los Angeles, CA
12/13/2016* 7:00 pm		at Santa Clara	L 53–77	1–5	Leavey Center (1,066) Santa Clara, CA
12/17/2016* 5:00 pm		Montana	L 63–71	1–6	SRC Arena (299) Riverside, CA
12/20/2016* 5:00 pm		at Northern Colorado	L 61–77	1–7	Bank of Colorado Arena (1,232) Greeley, CO
12/22/2016* 6:00 pm		at Denver	L 55–73	1–8	Magness Arena (1,149) Denver, CO
12/28/2016* 7:00 pm		Utah Valley	L 64–73	1–9	SRC Arena (495) Riverside, CA
12/31/2016* 2:00 pm		Grand Canyon	W 76–56	2–9	SRC Arena (470) Riverside, CA
Big West Conference regular season
01/04/2017 7:00 pm		at Cal State Northridge	L 76–82	2–10 (0–1)	Matadome (497) Northridge, CA
01/07/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Long Beach State	L 64–70	2–11 (0–2)	Walter Pyramid (2,906) Long Beach, CA
01/12/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Davis	W 61–55	3–11 (1–2)	SRC Arena (897) Riverside, CA
01/18/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Cal State Fullerton	W 71–63	4–11 (2–2)	Titan Gym (703) Fullerton, CA
01/21/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Santa Barbara	W 65–55	5–11 (3–2)	SRC Arena (674) Riverside, CA
01/25/2017 9:00 pm		at Hawaii	W 70–64	6–11 (4–2)	Stan Sheriff Center (5,465) Honolulu, HI
01/28/2017 5:00 pm		Cal State Northridge	L 59–63	6–12 (4–3)	SRC Arena (677) Riverside, CA
02/02/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Hawaii	L 63–72	6–13 (4–4)	SRC Arena (1,252) Riverside, CA
02/04/2017 7:00 pm		at Cal Poly	W 67–56	7–13 (5–4)	Mott Athletic Center (2,150) San Luis Obispo, CA
02/09/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Long Beach State	L 71–78	7–14 (5–5)	SRC Arena (695) Riverside, CA
02/11/2017 5:00 pm		at UC Davis	L 63–77	7–15 (5–6)	The Pavilion (2,607) Davis, CA
02/16/2017 8:00 pm		Cal State Fullerton	L 55–56	7–16 (5–7)	SRC Arena (738) Riverside, CA
02/18/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU		at UC Irvine	L 60–79	7–17 (5–8)	Bren Events Center (1,860) Irvine, CA
02/23/2017 7:00 pm		at UC Santa Barbara	L 61–68	7–18 (5–9)	The Thunderdome (1,618) Santa Barbara, CA
02/25/2017 5:00 pm, Prime Ticket		Cal Poly	L 77–84 OT	7–19 (5–10)	SRC Arena (555) Riverside, CA
03/01/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3		UC Irvine	L 56–68	7–20 (5–11)	SRC Arena (781) Riverside, CA
Big West tournament
03/09/2017 6:00 pm, Prime Ticket	(8)	vs. (1) UC Irvine Quarterfinals	L 67–76	7–21	Honda Center (3,486) Anaheim, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Pacific Time (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses..