# 2015–16 George Washington Colonials men's basketball team

The 2015–16 George Washington Colonials men's basketball team represented George Washington University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonials, led by fifth year head coach Mike Lonergan, played their home games at the Charles E. Smith Center and were members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 28–10, 11–7 in A-10 play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Saint Louis in the second round of the A-10 tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Saint Joseph's. They received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament. As a #4 seed, they defeated Hofstra, Monmouth, and Florida to advance to the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. At MSG, they defeated San Diego State and Valparaiso to become the 2016 NIT champions.
On September 17, 2016, following an investigation into allegations of verbal abuse of his players, head coach Mike Lonergan was fired. He finished at George Washington with a five-year record of 97–70.

## Previous season

The Colonials finished the 2014–15 season 22–13, 10–8 in A-10 play to finish in a three way tie for sixth place. They advanced to the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament where they lost to Rhode Island. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Pittsburgh in the first round before losing in the second round to Temple.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Nick Griffin | 5 | G | 6'3" | 173 | Sophomore | Rockville, MD | Transferred to Saint Peter's |
| Kethan Savage | 11 | G | 6'3" | 200 | Junior | Fairfax, VA | Transferred to Butler |
| Darian Bryant | 15 | G | 6'4" | 200 | Freshman | Washington, D.C. | Transferred to Delaware State |
| Ryan McCoy | 20 | F | 6'9" | 207 | RS Junior | Skillman, NJ | Walk-on; graduated |
| John Kopriva | 34 | F | 6'8" | 214 | Senior | Milwaukee, WI | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Alex Mitola | 1 | G | 5'11" | 170 | Senior | Florham Park, NJ | Transferred from Dartmouth. Will be eligible to play immediately since Mitola graduated from Dartmouth. |
| Jaren Sina | 23 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Junior | Lake Hopatcong, NJ | Transferred from Seton Hall. Under NCAA transfer rules, Sina will have to sit out from the 2015–16 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

## Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordan Roland SG | Syracuse, NY | Westhill High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Jul 14, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 68 ||||||
| Collin Goss PF | Manassas, VA | St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | May 3, 2014 |
| 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: "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 12, 2015. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 21 | 20 | RV | RV | — | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches' | — | — | — | RV | RV | RV | 22 | 20 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |

## Accolades
### Honors and awards

* Tyler Cavanaugh
       All-Atlantic 10 (2nd team)
       Academic Academic All-Conference
* Patricio Garino
       All-Atlantic 10 (2nd team)
       All-Atlantic 10 Defensive team
       Academic Academic All-Conference
       Team Argentina 2016 Summer Olympics
* Alex Mitola
       Academic Academic All-Conference

### Records

* Team
       Winningest team in program history (28-10)
       First postseason championship in program history (2016 NIT Champions)

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| 11/07/2015* 7:00 pm | | Gannon | W 92–47 | | 15 – Watanabe | 6 – Tied | 4 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (2,108) Washington, D.C. |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm, CSN | | Lafayette | W 85–76 | 1–0 | 24 – Larsen | 17 – Cavanaugh | 4 – Jorgensen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,118) Washington, D.C. |
| 11/16/2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 6 Virginia College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon | W 73–68 | 2–0 | 18 – Tied | 7 – 3 tied | 5 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (5,025) Washington, D.C. |
| 11/19/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at South Florida | W 73–67 | 3–0 | 18 – Garino | 13 – McDonald | 4 – Watanabe | USF Sun Dome (2,790) Tampa, FL |
| 11/22/2015* 7:30 pm | | Army Barclays Center Classic | W 92–81 | 4–0 | 21 – Larsen | 9 – Cavanaugh | 4 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (2,775) Washington, D.C. |
| 11/24/2015* 11:00 am | | Gardner–Webb Barclays Center Classic | W 94–65 | 5–0 | 20 – Cavanaugh | 10 – McDonald | 3 – 4 tied | Charles E. Smith Center (3,796) Washington, D.C. |
| 11/27/2015* 9:00 pm, ASN | | vs. Tennessee Barclays Center Classic semifinals | W 73–70 | 6–0 | 18 – Cavanaugh | 10 – Larsen | 5 – Garino | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| 11/28/2015* 2:30 pm, ASN | | vs. No. 24 Cincinnati Barclays Center Classic Final | L 56–61 | 6–1 | 15 – Garino | 7 – Larsen | 4 – Larsen | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| 12/02/2015* 7:00 pm, ASN | | Seton Hall | W 72–64 | 7–1 | 16 – Tied | 7 – Cavanaugh | 4 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (2,280) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/08/2015* 7:00 pm, CSN | | Penn State | W 76–66 | 8–1 | 18 – Cavanaugh | 10 – Cavanaugh | 5 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,262) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/12/2015* 4:30 pm, CBSSN | | Rutgers | W 83–49 | 9–1 | 22 – Cavanaugh | 7 – Larsen | 5 – Jorgensen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,172) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/19/2015* 1:00 pm | No. 21 | Saint Peter's | W 87–74 | 10–1 | 18 – Cavanaugh | 11 – Larsen | 5 – 5 tied | Charles E. Smith Center (2,880) Washington, D.C. |
| 12/22/2015* 9:00 pm, FS1 | No. 20 | at DePaul | L 61–82 | 10–2 | 17 – Larsen | 11 – Larsen | 4 – Jorgensen | Allstate Arena (5,289) Rosemont, IL |
| 12/29/2015* 7:00 pm, ASN | | at UCF | W 67–50 | 11–2 | 17 – Garino | 8 – Tied | 5 – McDonald | CFE Arena (3,889) Orlando, FL |
| Atlantic 10 regular season |||||||||
| 01/03/2016 7:00 pm, NBCSN | | Fordham | W 69–63 | 12–2 (1–0) | 21 – Cavanaugh | 11 – Larsen | 4 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (2,813) Washington, D.C. |
| 01/06/2016 7:00 pm, FSMW | | at Saint Louis | L 62–65 | 12–3 (1–1) | 14 – Larsen | 7 – Tied | 4 – McDonald | Chaifetz Arena (5,104) St. Louis, MO |
| 01/09/2016 8:00 pm, ASN | | Duquesne | W 91–64 | 13–3 (2–1) | 30 – Cavanaugh | 11 – Larsen | 5 – Jorgensen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,103) Washington, D.C. |
| 01/12/2016 7:00 pm, ASN/CSN | | at Massachusetts | W 81–70 | 14–3 (3–1) | 26 – Cavanaugh | 8 – Larsen | 7 – Mitola | Mullins Center (2,571) Amherst, MA |
| 01/15/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Dayton | L 70–77 | 14–4 (3–2) | 18 – Cavanaugh | 10 – Larsen | 7 – Mitola | UD Arena (12,831) Dayton, OH |
| 01/22/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Rhode Island | W 62–58 | 15–4 (4–2) | 13 – Cavanaugh | 10 – Cavanaugh | 3 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (2,913) Washington, D.C. |
| 01/28/2016 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Richmond | L 90–98 $^{2OT}$ | 15–5 (4–3) | 17 – Garino; Larsen | 14 – Cavanaugh | 5 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,367) Washington, D.C. |
| 01/31/2016 12:00 pm, NBCSN | | at George Mason | W 76–70 | 16–5 (5–3) | 19 – Garino | 11 – Larsen | 3 – Jorgensen | EagleBank Arena (5,168) Fairfax, VA |
| 02/03/2016 7:00 pm, ASN/MASN | | Davidson | W 79–69 | 17–5 (6–3) | 17 – Garino | 10 – McDonald | 3 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (2,918) Washington, D.C. |
| 02/06/2016 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | at VCU | W 72–69 | 18–5 (7–3) | 27 – Garino | 8 – Cavanaugh | 3 – Tied | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| 02/10/2016 7:00 pm, CSN/SNY | | Saint Joseph's | L 66–84 | 18–6 (7–4) | 17 – Cavanaugh | 9 – Larsen | 7 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (3,091) Washington, D.C. |
| 02/13/2016 4:00 pm | | at St. Bonaventure | L 57–64 | 18–7 (7–5) | 21 – Garino | 11 – Larsen | 4 – McDonald | Reilly Center (5,480) Olean, NY |
| 02/17/2016 7:00 pm | | at Duquesne | W 81–74 | 19–7 (8–5) | 16 – Larsen | 12 – Larsen | 3 – Tied | Palumbo Center (1,520) Pittsburgh, PA |
| 02/21/2016 12:00 pm, NBCSN | | La Salle | W 90–50 | 20–7 (9–5) | 22 – Cavanaugh | 8 – Garino | 7 – Jorgensen | Charles E. Smith Center (3,002) Washington, D.C. |
| 02/24/2016 7:00 pm, ASN/MASN2 | | at Richmond | W 73–61 | 21–7 (10–5) | 16 – Garino | 12 – Cavanaugh | 2 – Tied | Robins Center (7,201) Richmond, VA |
| 02/27/2016 12:30 pm, NBCSN | | VCU | L 65–69 | 21–8 (10–6) | 19 – Cavanaugh | 7 – Larsen | 4 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (4,385) Washington, D.C. |
| 03/01/2016 8:00 pm, ASN/CSN | | George Mason | W 74–52 | 22–8 (11–6) | 17 – Tied | 10 – Cavanaugh | 5 – McDonald | Charles E. Smith Center (3,031) Washington, D.C. |
| 03/05/2016 3:30 pm, NBCSN | | at Davidson | L 80–87 | 22–9 (11–7) | 22 – Tied | 12 – Larsen | 6 – Watanabe | John M. Belk Arena (5,157) Davidson, NC |
| Atlantic 10 tournament |||||||||
| 03/10/2016 2:30 pm, NBCSN | (5) | vs. (13) Saint Louis Second Round | W 73–65 | 23–9 | 19 – Watanabe | 8 – Cavanaugh | 10 – McDonald | Barclays Center (6,519) Brooklyn, NY |
| 03/11/2016 2:30 pm, NBCSN | (5) | vs. (4) Saint Joseph's Quarterfinals | L 80–86 | 23–10 | 15 – McDonald | 11 – Cavanaugh | 9 – Larsen | Barclays Center (8,223) Brooklyn, NY |
| NIT |||||||||
| 03/16/2016* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | (4) | (5) Hofstra First Round – Monmouth Bracket | W 82–80 | 24–10 | 20 – Cavanaugh | 11 – Cavanaugh | 7 – Larsen | Charles E. Smith Center (1,083) Washington, D.C. |
| 03/21/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | at (1) Monmouth Second Round – Monmouth Bracket | W 87–71 | 25–10 | 22 – Cavanaugh | 12 – Cavanaugh | 5 – Larsen | Multipurpose Activity Center (3,442) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 03/23/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4) | (2) Florida Quarterfinals – Monmouth Bracket | W 82–77 | 26–10 | 23 – Cavanaugh | 13 – Larsen | 3 – 3 tied | Charles E. Smith Center (3,399) Washington, D.C. |
| 03/29/2016* 9:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | vs. (2) San Diego State Semifinals | W 65–46 | 27–10 | 20 – Cavanaugh | 11 – Cavanaugh | 6 – McDonald | Madison Square Garden (8,298) New York, NY |
| 03/31/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | vs. (1) Valparaiso Championship | W 76–60 | 28–10 | 18 – Larsen | 8 – McDonald | 4 – McDonald | Madison Square Garden (7,016) New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||