The 2011–12 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team represented

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

in the

2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011 with the (2K Sports Classic) and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome ...

. They were coached by seventh year head coach

Steve Pikiell Stephen Christopher Pikiell ( ; born November 21, 1967) is an American college basketball coach and since March 16th, 2016, the head men's basketball coach at Rutgers. Prior to Rutgers, Pikiell was the head coach at Stony Brook for over a decade, ...

and played their home games at

Pritchard Gymnasium Pritchard Gymnasium is a 1,970-seat, 20,000 square-foot multi-purpose gymnasium located within the Stony Brook Sports Complex in Stony Brook, New York. The gym opened in 1969 and is the current home for the Stony Brook Seawolves volleyball team. ...

. They are members of the

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...

. The Seawolves were America East regular season champions but failed to win the America East Basketball Championship game for the second straight year. As regular season champions, they received an automatic bid into the

2012 NIT The 2012 National Invitation Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 32 NCAA Division I teams that were not selected to participate in the 2012 NCAA tournament. The annual tournament began on March 13 on campus sites and ended on Marc ...

and faced Seton Hall in the first round.

Previous season

The Seawolves were pre-season ranked second in the league, however, injures to most of their starters throughout the season largely affected the team. Tommy Brenton was out for the whole season due to injury and used a medical redshirt, Chris Martin also was injured most of the season, and other starters also suffered from injuries. The Seawolves struggled in the offensive end (ranked 337th in FG% in Division I), but were one of the top defensive teams in the NCAA allowing them to finish 5th in the America East with an 8–8 record. Despite the challenges in the offensive end, the Seawolves gained enough momentum to close the season with wins against Hartford and Binghamton. The Seawolves were ranked fifth in the 2011 America East Tournament and went in an unlikely run to beat fourth seeded Albany, 67–61, and top seeded Vermont, 69–47, in back to back days at West Hartford, two teams who swept the Seawolves in the regular season series. For the first time in Seawolves Division I history they were to play in the America East Championship at second ranked Boston University. For most of the game, the Seawolves held to a substantial lead, and held a fifteen-point lead early in the fourth quarter. However, Boston rallied back with a late run to tie Stony Brook and take the lead with two seconds of regulation ending in a 56–54 loss for the Seawolves to end their season.

Before the season

Losses

The Seawolves lost to graduation their sole senior Chris Martin. Early in the offseason, it was reported that Preye Preboye was officially released from the team and currently playing at the Division II level for

Lynn University Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida. Founded in 1962, the university awards associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is named for the Lynn family (Christine E. and Eugene M. Lynn). It has a total ...

Recruitment

Preseason tour (Europe)

The Seawolves basketball program headed to Europe for their first ever international preseason trip. A five-game exhibition series was played in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

, and in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

from August 11 to the 21st in which the Seawolves faced professional teams from the leagues of each respective country. The Seawolves came out victorious in four of the five occasions. All five games were broadcast in WUSB.FM, the first time the Seawolves were broadcast from international grounds.

Ranking and polls

In October, the Seawolves were picked by multiple media outlets to finish #1 in the America East for the upcoming 2011–12 season. Sporting News College Basketball Preview magazine picked the Seawolves as #1 and also named Bryan Dougher a preseason All-America East. Lindy's College Basketball Preview echoed SNCBP announcements and CBSsports.com also picked the Seawolves to finish as regular season champions. The Seawolvesw were picked second in the Coaches Pre-season poll released in October 13, America East Tip-off, receiving 56 points and three first place votes against Boston U(defending Tournament Champions) 62 points and six first place votes.

Honors

Bryan Dougher was announced to be in Preseason All-America East first team released in the America East Tip-Off Luncheon in October 13. Bryan Dougher and Tommy Brenton were selected to the First team All-Conference, in addition, Brenton was also selected to the All-Defensive team. Brenton was also announced to be the Defensive Player of the Year and head coach Steve Pikiell was awarded Coach of the Year, second time overall.

Roster

Coaching

Coaching for the Stony Brook Seawolves remains the same, and no changes to those of the previous season. Pikiell will remain as the head coach with a contract extension through the 2015–16 season.

Schedule

In October 2011, Stony Brook announced a new partnership with New York cable provider

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

to broadcast 8 Men's basketball games and 3 Women's basketball games through the Optimum Network in the Long Island area. These games will be produced by Stony Brook and broadcast on Cablevision's Optimum Locals 118. Additionally, the

MSG Network The MSG Network (MSG) is an American regional cable and satellite television network, and radio service owned by MSG Entertainment, Inc.—a spin-off of the main Madison Square Garden Company operation (itself a spin-off of local cable provider ...

will regionally air the Rutgers matchup and ESPNU airing the Boston University game. , - !colspan=9, European Tour (Exhibition) , - !colspan=9, Regular Season , - !colspan=9, 2012 America East Tournament , - !colspan=9,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Stony Brook Seawolves Men's Basketball Team Stony Brook Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball seasons Stony Brook Stony Brook Stony Brook