# 2016–17 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Monmouth Hawks men's basketball team represented Monmouth University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hawks, led by sixth year head coach King Rice, played their home games at OceanFirst Bank Center as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). They finished the season 27–7, 18–2 in MAAC play to win the regular season championship, their second consecutive conference title. As the No. 1 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated Niagara before losing to Siena in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champions who did not win their conference tournament, Monmouth received an automatic bid the National Invitation Tournament. As a No. 4 seed, they lost to Ole Miss in the first round.

## Previous season

The Hawks finished the 2016–17 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 No. 1 seed in the NIT where they defeated Bucknell in the first round before losing to George Washington in the second round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/11/2016* 7:00 pm | | Drexel | W 78–65 | 1–0 | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,738) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 11/15/2016* 6:30 pm | | at South Carolina Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational | L 69–70 $^{OT}$ | 1–1 | Colonial Life Arena (9,779) Columbia, SC |
| 11/18/2016* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at No. 18 Syracuse Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational | L 50–71 | 1–2 | Carrier Dome (22,636) Syracuse, NY |
| 11/22/2016* 7:00 pm | | Cornell | W 76–61 | 2–2 | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,215) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 11/26/2016* 1:05 pm | | vs. South Carolina State Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational | W 86–62 | 3–2 | Hart Center (530) Worcester, MA |
| 11/27/2016* 12:05 pm | | at Holy Cross Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational | W 80–77 | 4–2 | Hart Center (1,565) Worcester, MA |
| 12/01/2016 7:00 pm | | at Quinnipiac | W 91–72 | 5–2 (1–0) | TD Bank Sports Center (1,654) Hamden, CT |
| 12/04/2016 2:00 pm | | Canisius | W 94–88 | 6–2 (2–0) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,175) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 12/06/2016* 7:00 pm | | at Wagner | W 81–71 | 7–2 | Spiro Sports Center (1,302) Staten Island, NY |
| 12/10/2016* 7:00 pm | | Army | W 81–71 | 8–2 | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,465) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 12/13/2016* 9:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Memphis | W 82–79 | 9–2 | FedEx Forum (7,831) Memphis, TN |
| 12/20/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Princeton | W 96–90 | 10–2 | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,530) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 12/29/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at No. 9 North Carolina | L 74–102 | 10–3 | Dean Smith Center (20,064) Chapel Hill, NC |
| 12/31/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Rider | L 90–93 $^{OT}$ | 10–4 (2–1) | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,128) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/02/2017 7:00 pm | | at Saint Peter's | L 61–71 | 10–5 (2–2) | Yanitelli Center (525) Jersey City, NJ |
| 01/06/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Iona | W 92–74 | 11–5 (3–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,105) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/08/2017 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Marist | W 71–64 | 12–5 (4–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,428) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/14/2017 7:00 pm | | at Niagara | W 90–83 | 13–5 (5–2) | Gallagher Center (893) Lewiston, NY |
| 01/16/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Canisius | W 76–72 | 14–5 (6–2) | Koessler Athletic Center (1,684) Buffalo, NY |
| 01/20/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Manhattan | W 82–71 | 15–5 (7–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,495) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/22/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fairfield | W 91–49 | 16–5 (8–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,793) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/27/2017 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Quinnipiac | W 95–76 | 17–5 (9–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,982) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 01/30/2017 7:00 pm | | at Marist | W 83–71 | 18–5 (10–2) | McCann Field House (1,308) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| 02/03/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Saint Peter's | W 71–70 $^{OT}$ | 19–5 (11–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (3,878) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 02/06/2017 7:00 pm | | at Rider | W 74–69 | 20–5 (12–2) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,650) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| 02/10/2017 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Manhattan | W 62–58 | 21–5 (13–2) | Draddy Gymnasium (987) Riverdale, NY |
| 02/13/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Siena | W 102–82 | 22–5 (14–2) | Times Union Center (5,716) Albany, NY |
| 02/16/2017 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Niagara | W 93–75 | 23–5 (15–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,934) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 02/21/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield | W 82–62 | 24–5 (16–2) | Webster Bank Arena (1,816) Bridgeport, CT |
| 02/24/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Siena | W 77–73 | 25–5 (17–2) | OceanFirst Bank Center (4,172) West Long Branch, NJ |
| 02/26/2017 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Iona | W 79–73 | 26–5 (18–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (2,611) New Rochelle, NY |
| MAAC tournament ||||||
| 03/03/2017 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (9) Niagara Quarterfinals | W 84–59 | 27–5 | Times Union Center (2,298) Albany, NY |
| 03/05/2017 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) Siena Semifinals | L 85–89 | 27–6 | Times Union Center Albany, NY |
| NIT ||||||
| 03/14/2017* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | (4) | (5) Ole Miss First Round – Syracuse Bracket | L 83–91 | 27–7 | OceanFirst Bank Center (1,672) West Long Branch, NJ |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Source. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: 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 | RV | RV | RV | | Not released |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | RV | |