The 2018–19 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the

2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2018. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded with the Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 8, 2019. Pract ...

on November 6. Conference play started in January and concluded March 22, 2019. This season was the 38th season of MAAC basketball. The MAAC season saw four teams spend considerable time being in first place; Rider, Monmouth, Canisius and Iona. Rider started MAAC play off strong, winning seven of their first eight MAAC games, and looking like they would prove the preseason #1 pick correct. But then a five-game losing streak left them at 7–6, and two games out of first place. Monmouth started the regular season 0–12 at one point, but rebounded when MAAC play started, posting a 9–4 conference mark by February 9. Then a four-game losing streak struck down the Hawks, knocking them out of first place. Canisius had a solid season, keeping up with Monmouth the whole way. Consecutive losses to Iona and Niagara late in the season struck down their first place hopes. Iona, which had won the MAAC Tournament three consecutive times coming into the season, started off 5–2, but like the others, a four-game losing streak left them at 5–6 in MAAC play. Sitting in sixth place, Iona found their new starting five combination, and reeled off seven straight wins to end the MAAC season, and take the regular season crown in 2019. It was the 11th MAAC regular season championship for the Gaels. The 2019 MAAC tournament was held from March 7 through March 11 at the

Times Union Center MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity of ...

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. This marked the 20th time Albany has hosted the event. No. 1 seed

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

defeated No. 6 seed

Monmouth Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...

in the championship game 81–60 to win the conference's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA tournament. With the win, Iona became the first MAAC team to win four consecutive MAAC Tournament championships.

Quinnipiac The Quinnipiac were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They lived in present-day New Haven County, Connecticut, along the Quinnipiac River. Their primary village, also called Quinnipiac, was where New Haven, Connect ...

was the first MAAC team of the season to see postseason action, as they accepted an invitation to participate in the 2019 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, losing to

NJIT New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a Public university, public research university in Newark, New Jersey, United States, with a graduate-degree-granting satellite campus in Jersey City. Founded in 1881 with the support of local indust ...

81–92 in the first round. Iona received a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament Midwest Region, and faced No. 1 seed

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

in the first round on March 22, 2019. Iona led 38–33 at halftime, but despite Iona making 10 of 21 3-point tries in the first half, North Carolina started the second half on a 32–11 run to take control of the game, winning 88–73.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On March 5, 2018, Marist head coach Mike Maker was fired. He finished at Marist with a four-year record of 28–97. Marist hired Saint Peter's coach John Dunne as Maker's successor on April 3. On April 10, 2018,

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

assistant coach

Shaheen Holloway Shaheen Holloway (born October 7, 1976) is an American men's basketball coach and former player who is the coach for the Seton Hall Pirates. He played college basketball at Seton Hall from 1996 to 2000. A point guard, Holloway played professional ...

was hired as the new head coach at Saint Peter's. On April 13, 2018,

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

head coach

Jimmy Patsos James John Patsos (born October 1, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former college basketball coach. He served as an assistant coach, then head coach at Loyola (MD) and Siena, and is now a commentator and broadcaster. He currently se ...

resigned amid an investigation regarding abusive conduct and financial improprieties within the program. On May 2, the Saints hired Mount St. Mary's head coach

Jamion Christian Jamion Christian (born April 18, 1982) is an American basketball coach. He is currently the head coach of the Bryant Bulldogs men's basketball, Bryant Bulldogs men's basketball team. He previously was the head coach at Siena Saints men's basketba ...

for the job.

Coaches

''Notes:'' * All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only. * Year at school includes 2018–19 season. * Overall and MAAC records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the season. * Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

''() first place votes''

Preseason All-MAAC teams

''† denotes unanimous selection''

Preseason Player of the Year

MAAC regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the final head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.

Records against other conferences

2018–19 records against non-conference foes. Records shown for regular season only.

Postseason

MAAC Tournament

* 2019 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament,

* denotes number of overtimes

NCAA Tournament

Game summary

CollegeInsider.com Tournament

Game summary

Honors and awards

MAAC Awards

''† denotes unanimous selection''

2018–19 Season final statistic leaders

Scoring leaders

Rebound leaders

Assist leaders

Block leaders

Steal leaders

3PT % leaders

References

External links

MAAC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season