# 2018–19 Iona Gaels men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Iona Gaels men's basketball team represented Iona College during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gaels were led by ninth-year head coach Tim Cluess, and played their home games at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the regular season 17–16 overall, 12–6 in MAAC play, to win the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the 2019 MAAC tournament, they defeated No. 9 seed Saint Peter's, No. 5 seed Siena and No. 6 seed Monmouth 81–60, to become champions of the MAAC tournament for a record fourth consecutive time. They earned the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament, receiving a 16 seed in the Midwest region, and facing No. 1 seed North Carolina in the first round. Iona led 38–33 at the half, while making 10-of-21 three-pointers. But North Carolina opened the second half on a 25–7 run, leading by as many as 20, en route to an 88–73 victory. Iona's 15 made three-point field goals are the most ever by a North Carolina opponent in its NCAA tournament history of 171 games.

## Previous season

The Gaels finished the 2017–18 season 20–14, 11–7 in MAAC play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Manhattan, Saint Peter's and Fairfield to become champions of the MAAC tournament for the third consecutive time. They earned the MAAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the first round to Duke.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 9, 2018* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Albany | W 72–68 | 1–0 | Hynes Athletic Center (2,012) New Rochelle, NY |
| Nov 13, 2018* 9:00 pm | | at New Mexico | L 83–90 | 1–1 | Dreamstyle Arena (10,188) Albuquerque, NM |
| Nov 19, 2018* 5:00 pm | | vs. Long Beach State MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight semifinals | L 85–86 | 1–2 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| Nov 21, 2018* 2:00pm | | vs. Hartford MGM Resorts Main Event Middleweight consolation | W 80–75 | 2–2 | Cox Pavilion Paradise, NV |
| Nov 24, 2018* 4:00 pm, FSN | | at Providence | L 79–91 | 2–3 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (8,187) Providence, RI |
| Nov 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Ohio | L 65–89 | 2–4 | Convocation Center (5,227) Athens, OH |
| Dec 1, 2018* 7:00 pm, MASN | | at VCU | L 59–88 | 2–5 | Siegel Center (7,637) Richmond, VA |
| Dec 9, 2018* 11:00 am, FS1 | | vs. Columbia MSG Holiday Festival | L 71–74 | 2–6 | Madison Square Garden New York City, NY |
| Dec 15, 2018* 11:30 am | | vs. Princeton Boardwalk Classic | L 81–85 | 2–7 | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ |
| Dec 22, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Yale | L 84–99 | 2–8 | Payne Whitney Gymnasium (1,136) New Haven, CT |
| Dec 30, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Holy Cross | L 71–78 | 2–9 | Hynes Athletic Center (1,896) New Rochelle, NY |
| MAAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Monmouth | W 103–84 | 3–9 (1–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,057) New Rochelle, NY |
| Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fairfield | W 94–87 | 4–9 (2–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,168) New Rochelle, NY |
| Jan 11, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Niagara | L 90–95 | 4–10 (2–1) | Gallagher Center (896) Lewiston, NY |
| Jan 13, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Canisius | W 88–70 | 5–10 (3–1) | Koessler Athletic Center (1,086) Buffalo, NY |
| Jan 18, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Marist | W 90–77 | 6–10 (4–1) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,372) New Rochelle, NY |
| Jan 20, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Monmouth | L 81–83 | 6–11 (4–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (1,739) West Long Branch, NJ |
| Jan 25, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Rider | W 77–71 | 7–11 (5–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,652) New Rochelle, NY |
| Jan 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield | L 68–80 | 7–12 (5–3) | Webster Bank Arena (2,479) Bridgeport, CT |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Marist | L 74–78 | 7–13 (5–4) | McCann Field House (1,093) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Siena | L 54–56 | 7–14 (5–5) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,537) New Rochelle, NY |
| Feb 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Quinnipiac | L 65–66 | 7–15 (5–6) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,532) New Rochelle, NY |
| Feb 10, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Niagara | W 79–76 | 8–15 (6–6) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,807) New Rochelle, NY |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Siena | W 57–52 | 9–15 (7–6) | Times Union Center (5,560) Albany, NY |
| Feb 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Saint Peter's | W 62–46 | 10–15 (8–6) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,429) New Rochelle, NY |
| Feb 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Quinnipiac | W 81–77 | 11–15 (9–6) | People's United Center (1,585) Hamden, CT |
| Feb 22, 2019 7:00 pm, Jaspervision | | at Manhattan | W 66–52 | 12–15 (10–6) | Draddy Gymnasium (1,879) Riverdale, NY |
| Feb 24, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Canisius | W 87–80 | 13–15 (11–6) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,288) New Rochelle, NY |
| Mar 1, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Rider | W 86–79 | 14–15 (12–6) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| MAAC tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (9) Saint Peter's Quarterfinals | W 73–71 | 15–15 | Times Union Center (2,111) Albany, NY |
| Mar 10, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | at (5) Siena Semifinals | W 73–57 | 16–15 | Times Union Center (4,918) Albany, NY |
| Mar 11, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (6) Monmouth Championship | W 81–60 | 17–15 | Times Union Center (2,123) Albany, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 22, 2019* 9:20 pm, TNT | (16 MW) | vs. (1 MW) No. 3 North Carolina First round | L 73–88 | 17–16 | Nationwide Arena (19,426) Columbus, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||