The 2017–18 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball team represented the University of California, Santa Barbara during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gauchos, led by first-year head coach Joe Pasternack, will played their home games at the UC Santa Barbara Events Center, better known as The Thunderdome, in Santa Barbara, California, as members of the Big West Conference. They finished the season 23–9, 11–5 in Big West play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Big West tournament, they defeated Cal Poly before losing to UC Irvine in the semifinals. Despite winning 23 games, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.