ABOUT COLGATE
After missing out on the Big Dance last year, Colgate won the 2019 Patriot League Tournament, defending its regular-season title and punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. Colgate is rated 132nd in the NET rankings.
The Raiders' (24-10) magical run began with a double-digit victory over then-first place Lehigh on national television Feb. 4. That was the start of a program-record 11 straight wins en route to the Raiders' first title in 23 years.
Colgate vaulted into first place in the final week of the regular season to earn the No. 1 seed and homecourt advantage in the Patriot League Tournament. Colgate went 3-0 in the league tournament, culminating with a 94-80 victory over the two-time defending league champion Bison.
Head coach Matt Langel repeated as the Patriot League Coach of the Year for the second season in a row after leading the Raiders to school records in wins (24), league wins (13) and home wins (15) and a pair of Patriot League titles. Winners of 11 in a row entering the NCAA Tournament, Colgate currently owns the sixth-longest win streak in the nation.
Rapolas Ivanauskas was the Patriot League Player of the Year, averaging 16.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for the Raiders.
Second-team All-League honoree Jordan Burns leads Colgate in assists (5.8 apg) while ranking second on the team in scoring (15.8 ppg) and steals (1.2 spg).
Will Rayman became the 34th Raider in program history to score 1,000 points in Colgate's win over Nazareth on his way to averaging 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game during the regular season and earning second-team All-League recognition. The junior forward was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
As the Patriot League's Rookie of the Year, Tucker Richardson stepped up his play during the conference slate, averaging 8.8 points, 4.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game.
As a team, Colgate's biggest strength is its ability to shoot the three. For the season, the Raiders have knocked down 305 treys while shooting a 39-percent clip. They have five different players who have hit at least 40 threes this year and four who have hit 50.
According to the NET rankings, Colgate's best wins were against Bucknell, which is 152 in the rankings. The Raiders had three matchups with Power Five teams but lost each by double digits (Syracuse, 77-56, Penn State, 76-65, and Pittsburgh, 68-54).