# 2021–22 Iona Gaels men's basketball team

The 2021–22 Iona Gaels men's basketball team represented Iona College in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Gaels, led by second-year head coach Rick Pitino, played their home games at the Hynes Athletic Center in New Rochelle, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 25-8, 17-3 in MAAC Play to finish as regular season champions. They were upset in the quarterfinals of the MAAC tournament by Rider. As a No. 1 seed who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Florida.

## Previous season

In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Gaels finished the season 12–6, 6–3 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for ninth place. As the No. 9 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated Quinnipiac, Siena, and Niagara to advance to the tournament championship game. There they defeated Fairfield to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the East region, losing in the first round to Alabama.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Appalachian State | W 65–53 | 1–0 | Hynes Athletic Center (2,319) New Rochelle, NY |
| November 13, 2021* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Harvard | W 90–87 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Hynes Athletic Center (2,259) New Rochelle, NY |
| November 16, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Hofstra | W 82–74 | 3–0 | Hynes Athletic Center (2,172) New Rochelle, NY |
| November 19, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Liberty MAAC-ASUN Challenge | W 54–50 | 4–0 | HP Field House (367) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 20, 2021* 8:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. North Alabama MAAC-ASUN Challenge | W 81–65 | 5–0 | HP Field House (398) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 25, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 10 Alabama ESPN Events Invitational quarterfinal | W 72–68 | 6–0 | HP Field House (2,749) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 26, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Belmont ESPN Events Invitational semifinal | L 65–72 | 6–1 | HP Field House (3,020) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| November 28, 2021* 1:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 4 Kansas ESPN Events Invitational 3rd place | L 83–96 | 6–2 | HP Field House (3,252) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| December 1, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Marist | W 78–71 | 7–2 (1–0) | McCann Arena (1,232) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| December 3, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Rider | W 80–54 | 8–2 (2–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,257) New Rochelle, NY |
| December 12, 2021* 7:00 pm, FloSports | | vs. Yale Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational | W 91–77 | 9–2 | Barclays Center (7,124) Brooklyn, NY |
| December 18, 2021* 3:00 pm, FS2 | | vs. No. 16 Seton Hall Gotham Classic | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Seton Hall | Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Seton Hall | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| December 21, 2021* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Delaware | W 83–72 | 10–2 | UBS Arena (823) Belmont Park, NY |
| January 2, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Marist | W 69–66 | 11–2 (3–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,269) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 8, 2022* 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Saint Louis | L 67–68 | 11–3 | Chaifetz Arena (4,107) St. Louis, MO |
| January 11, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield Rescheduled from January 2 | W 80–76 | 12–3 (4–0) | Webster Bank Arena (1,647) Bridgeport, CT |
| January 14, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Manhattan | W 88–76 | 13–3 (5–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,594) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 16, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Niagara | W 78–55 | 14–3 (6–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,623) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 18, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Monmouth Rescheduled from January 9 | W 86–85 $^{OT}$ | 15–3 (7–0) | OceanFirst Bank Center (1,874) West Long Branch, NJ |
| January 23, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Quinnipiac | W 76–61 | 16–3 (8–0) | People's United Center (1,348) Hamden, CT |
| January 25, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Siena Rescheduled from December 31 | W 74–57 | 17–3 (9–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,087) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 30, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Saint Peter's | W 85–77 | 18–3 (10–0) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,318) New Rochelle, NY |
| February 4, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Canisius | W 70–62 | 19–3 (11–0) | Koessler Athletic Center (905) Buffalo, NY |
| February 6, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Niagara | L 71–80 | 19–4 (11–1) | Gallagher Center (1,112) Lewiston, NY |
| February 11, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Siena | L 64–70 | 19–5 (11–2) | MVP Arena (6,383) Albany, NY |
| February 13, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Monmouth | W 70–62 | 20–5 (12–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,056) New Rochelle, NY |
| February 15, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Saint Peter's Rescheduled from January 7 | W 70–61 | 21–5 (13–2) | Run Baby Run Arena (695) Jersey City, NJ |
| February 20, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fairfield | W 76–58 | 22–5 (14–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,594) New Rochelle, NY |
| February 25, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Canisius | W 72–65 | 23–5 (15–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,207) New Rochelle, NY |
| February 27, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Rider | W 67–61 | 24–5 (16–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| March 3, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Manhattan | L 72–74 | 24–6 (16–3) | Draddy Gymnasium (1,910) Riverdale, NY |
| March 5, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Quinnipiac | W 79–61 | 25–6 (17–3) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,594) New Rochelle, NY |
| 2022 MAAC tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | (1) | vs. (9) Rider Quarterfinals | L 71–72 | 25–7 | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ |
| NIT tournament ||||||
| March 16, 2022 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at (3) Florida First Round – Dayton Bracket | L 74–79 | 25–8 | O'Connell Center (3,023) Gainesville, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source

## 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 | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | —* | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | — | —* | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*No poll released