# 2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball team represented the College of the Holy Cross during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Crusaders, led by fourth-year head coach Bill Carmody, played their home games at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts as members of the Patriot League. They finished the season 16–17, 6–12 in Patriot League play to finish in last place. They defeated Lafayette in the first round of the Patriot League tournament before losing to Bucknell in the quarterfinals.
Following the season, head coach Bill Carmody announced his retirement. On July 3, 2019, the school named Marquette assistant Brett Nelson as Carmody's replacement.

## Previous season

The Crusaders finished the season 12–19, 8–10 in Patriot League play to finish in sixth place. In the Patriot League tournament, they defeated Navy in the quarterfinals before losing to Colgate in the semifinals.

## Offseason
### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Marlon Hargis SF | Mays Landing, NJ | St Augustine Preparatory School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 29, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Blake Verbeek PF | Grand Rapids, MI | Calvin Christian High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 20, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| 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: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Drew Lowder #48 PG | Ann Arbor, MI | Ann Arbor Pioneer High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 160 lb (73 kg) | Sep 8, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 |||||||
| Joe Pridgen SF | Byfield, MA | Governor's Academy | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Aug 3, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| Ryan Wade SG | Ann Arbor, MI | Skyline High School | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Sep 29, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| 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: "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 19, 2018. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:05 pm | | Sacred Heart | W 93–81 | 1–0 | Hart Center (1,032) Worcester, MA |
| Nov 10, 2018* 7:30 pm, BTN Plus | | at No. 19 Michigan Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game | L 37–56 | 1–1 | Crisler Center (12,355) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | at Providence Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game | L 61–70 | 1–2 | Dunkin' Donuts Center (6,042) Providence, RI |
| Nov 16, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | vs. Stony Brook Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield semifinals | W 84–70 | 2–2 | Mohegan Sun Arena (1,313) Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 18, 2018* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | | vs. Siena Hall of Fame Tip Off Springfield championship | W 57–45 | 3–2 | Mohegan Sun Arena (6,825) Uncasville, CT |
| Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Albany | W 69–65 | 4–2 | SEFCU Arena (1,614) Albany, NY |
| Nov 28, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Harvard | L 62–73 | 4–3 | Lavietes Pavilion (1,283) Cambridge, MA |
| Dec 1, 2018* 1:05 pm, NESNplus | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 67–49 | 5–3 | Hart Center (1,458) Worcester, MA |
| Dec 4, 2018* 7:00 pm, NESNplus/Eleven | | at Massachusetts | W 82–78 | 6–3 | Mullins Center (2,257) Amherst, MA |
| Dec 8, 2018* 1:05 pm | | vs. Rhode Island Worcester Showcase | L 63–79 | 6–4 | DCU Center (2,312) Worcester, MA |
| Dec 20, 2018* 2:05 pm | | Canisius | W 65–63 | 7–4 | Hart Center (681) Worcester, MA |
| Dec 22, 2018* 12:05 pm | | Siena | W 60–57 | 8–4 | Hart Center (1,346) Worcester, MA |
| Dec 30, 2018 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Iona | W 78–71 | 9–4 | Hynes Athletic Center (1,986) New Rochelle, NY |
| Patriot League regular season ||||||
| Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Loyola (MD) | W 80–73 | 10–4 (1–0) | Reitz Arena (409) Baltimore, MD |
| Jan 6, 2019 1:00 pm | | at Navy | L 48–50 | 10–5 (1–1) | Alumni Hall (1,236) Annapolis, MD |
| Jan 9, 2019 7:05 pm | | Lehigh | L 94–99 $^{OT}$ | 10–6 (1–2) | Hart Center (1,045) Worcester, MA |
| Jan 12, 2019 3:05 pm, Charter TV3 | | Lafayette | W 77–70 | 11–6 (2–2) | Hart Center (1,182) Worcester, MA |
| Jan 14, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Bucknell | L 78–93 | 11–7 (2–3) | Sojka Pavilion (2,514) Lewisburg, PA |
| Jan 19, 2019 12:05 pm | | Loyola (MD) | L 65–67 $^{OT}$ | 11–8 (2–4) | Hart Center (958) Worcester, MA |
| Jan 23, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Army | L 57–76 | 11–9 (2–5) | Christl Arena (480) West Point, NY |
| Jan 26, 2019 3:05 pm, NESNplus | | Navy | W 69–64 | 12–9 (3–5) | Hart Center (2,821) Worcester, MA |
| Jan 30, 2019 7:00 pm | | at Boston University Turnpike Trophy | L 54–68 | 12–10 (3–6) | Case Gym (966) Boston, MA |
| Feb 2, 2019 2:00 pm | | at American | L 49–66 | 12–11 (3–7) | Bender Arena (1,184) Washington, D.C. |
| Feb 6, 2019 5:05 pm, Charter TV3 | | Army | W 56–42 | 13–11 (4–7) | Hart Center Worcester, MA |
| Feb 10, 2019 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Lafayette | L 67–69 | 13–12 (4–8) | Kirby Sports Center Easton, PA |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:35 pm, NESN | | Colgate | L 70–74 | 13–13 (4–9) | Hart Center Worcester, MA |
| Feb 16, 2019 12:05 pm, NESNplus | | Bucknell | W 72–71 | 14–13 (5–9) | Hart Center Worcester, MA |
| Feb 18, 2019 7:05 pm, CBSSN | | Boston University Turnpike Trophy | W 70–60 | 14–14 (5–10) | Hart Center Worcester, MA |
| Feb 24, 2019 12:00 pm | | at Lehigh | W 73–71 | 15–14 (6–10) | Stabler Arena Bethlehem, PA |
| Feb 27, 2019 6:00 pm, Stadium | | at Colgate | L 59–79 | 15–15 (6–11) | Cotterell Court (481) Hamilton, NY |
| Mar 2, 2019 1:05 pm | | American | L 66–86 | 15–16 (6–12) | Hart Center (1,048) Worcester, MA |
| Patriot League tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 2019 7:00 pm | (10) | at (7) Lafayette First round | W 79–74 | 16–16 | Kirby Sports Center (1,004) Easton, PA |
| Mar 7, 2019 7:00 pm | (10) | at (2) Bucknell Quarterfinals | L 65–77 | 16–17 | Sojka Pavilion (2,107) Lewisburg, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||