2015–16 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team represented Monmouth University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hawks, led by fifth year head coach King Rice, played their home games at the Multipurpose Activity Center and were members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the season 28–8, 17–3 in MAAC play to win the MAAC regular season championship. They defeated Rider and Fairfield to advance to the championship game of the MAAC tournament where they lost to Iona. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As one of the last four teams left out of the NCAA tournament, they received a #1 seed in the NIT where they defeated Bucknell in the first round to advance to the second round where they lost to George Washington.

2015–16 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball
MAAC regular season champions
NIT, Second Round
ConferenceMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record28–8 (17–3 MAAC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaMultipurpose Activity Center
Seasons
2015–16 MAAC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Monmouth 17 3   .850 28 8   .778
Iona 16 4   .800 22 11   .667
Siena 13 7   .650 21 13   .618
Fairfield 12 8   .600 19 14   .576
Saint Peter's 12 8   .600 14 16   .467
Manhattan 9 11   .450 13 18   .419
Canisius 8 12   .400 14 19   .424
Rider 8 12   .400 13 20   .394
Quinnipiac 6 14   .300 9 21   .300
Niagara 5 15   .250 7 25   .219
Marist 4 16   .200 7 23   .233
2016 MAAC tournament winner

This season is best known for Monmouth defeating five power conference opponents (UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown, and Rutgers) and for the Hawks receiving votes in the AP poll for the first time ever.

Previous season

edit

The Hawks finished the 2014–15 season 18–15, 13–7 in MAAC play to finish in tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament to Iona.

Roster

edit
2015–16 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 0 Josh James (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Greenburgh, NY
F 1 Pierre Sarr 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Dakar, Senegal
G 3 Tyler Robinson 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Lake Katrine, NY
F 4 Greg Noack 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Bethlehem, PA
G 5 Deon Jones (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Wilmington, DE
G 10 Micah Seaborn 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Fr Fort Worth, TX
G 11 Je'lon Hornbeak (C) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) RS Jr Arlington, TX
G 12 Justin Robinson (C) 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Lake Katrine, NY
G 15 Daniel Pillari 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Oceanport, NJ
G 21 Zane Corbin (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Jersey City, NJ
G 23 Austin Tilghman 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Wilmington, DE
G 24 Louie Pillari 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Tinton Falls, NJ
G 30 Collin Stewart 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Glenville, NY
F 32 Diago Quinn 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Fr New York, NY
C 33 Zac Tillman 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 285 lb (129 kg) Jr Yeadon, PA
C 43 Chris Brady 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Greenlawn, NY
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

edit

[1]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
Nov 7*
7:00 pm
Georgian Court W 107–77 
Multipurpose Activity Center (806)
West Long Branch, NJ
Regular season
Nov 13*
11:00 pm, P12N
at UCLA W 84–81 OT 1–0
Pauley Pavilion (6,674)
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 16*
10:00 pm, P12N
at USC L 90–101  1–1
Galen Center (2,230)
Los Angeles, CA
Nov 21*
2:00 pm
at Drexel W 82–74  2–1
Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,522)
Philadelphia, PA
Nov 26*
6:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. No. 17 Notre Dame
AdvoCare Invitational quarterfinals
W 70–68  3–1
HP Field House (4,871)
Orlando, FL
Nov 27*
9:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. Dayton
AdvoCare Invitational semifinals
L 70–73  3–2
HP Field House (4,508)
Orlando, FL
Nov 29*
12:30 pm, ESPN2
vs. USC
AdvoCare Invitational 3rd place game
W 83–73  4–2
HP Field House (1,631)
Orlando, FL
Dec 4
7:00 pm, ESPN3
at Canisius L 86–96  4–3
(0–1)
Koessler Athletic Center (1,554)
Buffalo, NY
Dec 6
2:00 pm
at Niagara W 56–41  5–3
(1–1)
Gallagher Center (1,147)
Lewiston, NY
Dec 13*
2:00 pm, ESPN3
Wagner W 73–54  6–3
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,901)
West Long Branch, NJ
Dec 15*
7:30 pm, FS1
at Georgetown W 83–68  7–3
Verizon Center (5,258)
Washington, D.C.
Dec 20*
1:00 pm, BTN
at Rutgers W 73–67  8–3
The RAC (6,637)
Piscataway, NJ
Dec 23*
6:00 pm
at Cornell W 78–69  9–3
Newman Arena (2,034)
Ithaca, NY
Dec 28*
4:00 pm
at Army L 84–91  9–4
Christl Arena (3,033)
West Point, NY
Jan 4
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Canisius W 81–66  10–4
(2–1)
Multipurpose Activity Center (2,731)
West Long Branch, NJ
Jan 9
2:00 pm, ESPN3
Quinnipiac W 88–74  11–4
(3–1)
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,911)
West Long Branch, NJ
Jan 11
7:00 pm, ESPN3, SNY
at Fairfield W 86–74  12–4
(4–1)
Webster Bank Arena (1,237)
Bridgeport, CT
Jan 15
9:00 pm, ESPNU
at Iona W 110–102  13–4
(5–1)
Hynes Athletic Center (2,611)
New Rochelle, NY
Jan 18
4:00 pm, ESPN3
Siena W 85–69  14–4
(6–1)
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,911)
West Long Branch, NJ
Jan 21
8:00 pm, ESPN3
at Manhattan L 71–78  14–5
(6–2)
Draddy Gymnasium (1,898)
Riverdale, NY
Jan 24
2:00 pm, ESPN3
Marist W 83–72  15–5
(7–2)
Multipurpose Activity Center (2,785)
West Long Branch, NJ
Jan 28
7:00 pm
at Quinnipiac W 66–51  16–5
(8–2)
TD Bank Sports Center (2,612)
Hamden, CT
Jan 30
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Saint Peter's W 73–57  17–5
(9–2)
Multipurpose Activity Center (4,105)
West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 1
7:00 pm
at Siena W 93–87  18–5
(10–2)
Times Union Center (7,016)
Albany, NY
Feb 5
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Fairfield W 91–67  19–5
(11–2)
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,785)
West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 9
7:00 pm
at Marist W 87–61  20–5
(12–2)
McCann Field House (1,648)
Poughkeepsie, NY
Feb 12
9:00 pm, ESPNU
at Rider W 79–78  21–5
(13–5)
Alumni Gymnasium (1,650)
Lawrenceville, NJ
Feb 15
7:00 pm, ESPN3
Manhattan W 79–70  22–5
(14–2)
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,040)
West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 19
7:00 pm, ESPNU
Iona L 67–83  22–6
(14–3)
Multipurpose Activity Center (4,522)
West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 21
2:00 pm
at Saint Peter's W 82–75  23–6
(15–3)
Yanitelli Center (1,013)
Jersey City, NJ
Feb 26
7:00 pm, ESPN2
Rider W 79–58  24–6
(16–3)
Multipurpose Activity Center (4,194)
West Long Branch, NJ
Feb 28
5:00 pm, ESPN3
Niagara W 77–68  25–6
(17–3)
Multipurpose Activity Center (4,172)
West Long Branch, NJ
MAAC tournament
Mar 4
7:00 pm, ESPN3
(1) vs. (8) Rider
Quarterfinals
W 59–48  26–6
Times Union Center (1,269)
Albany, NY
Mar 6
4:30 pm, ESPN3
(1) vs. (5) Fairfield
Semifinals
W 76–63  27–6
Times Union Center (5,722)
Albany, NY
Mar 7
7:00 pm, ESPN
(1) vs. (2) Iona
Championship game
L 76–79  27–7
Times Union Center (3,115)
Albany, NY
National Invitation tournament
Mar 15*
7:30 pm, ESPN3
(1) (8) Bucknell
First Round – Monmouth Bracket
W 90–80  28–7
Multipurpose Activity Center (4,102)
West Long Branch, NJ
Mar 21*
7:00 pm, ESPN2
(1) (4) George Washington
Second Round – Monmouth Bracket
L 71–87  28–8
Multipurpose Activity Center (3,442)
West Long Branch, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

edit
Ranking movements
Legend: RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516171819Final
APRVRVRVRVRVNot released
Coaches'RVRVRVRVRVRVRV

References

edit
  1. ^ "Men's Basketball".