TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- The 2018-19 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology men's basketball schedule includes 12 home games as the Fightin' Engineers look to defend their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season championship.
Rose-Hulman will host nine HCAC opponents and three non-conference games on the 25-game slate. The season tips off with four road games, highlighted by the season opening Rhodes College Tip-off Tournament in Memphis. The early road swing also includes games at Fontbonne and in-state rival Wabash.
The home opener takes place Wednesday Nov. 28, when the Fightin' Engineers host traditional foe DePauw University at 7:30 p.m. Non-conference home action also includes matchups with Boyce on Dec. 13 and Millikin on Dec. 22.
The HCAC home schedule begins Dec. 8 against Transylvania University. The schedule features five home Saturday doubleheaders with the women's team, including Earlham (Jan. 5), Defiance (Jan. 19), Bluffton (Feb. 2) and Manchester (Feb. 16).
Rose-Hulman finished 17-10 last season and won a share of the HCAC regular season championship. The Fightin' Engineers hosted the conference tournament and reached the championship game, before falling to Hanover College 80-70. The season included a 13-1 stretch from Dec. 9-Feb. 3 that allowed the Fightin' Engineers to win the 11th regular season conference title in program history last year.
The 2018-19 roster features the return of four starters, led by HCAC Freshman of the Year and D3hoops.com Great Lakes Freshman of the Year Craig McGee. The computer engineering major led Rose-Hulman in scoring (14.1 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg), assists (5.8 apg) and steals (1.2 spg). Other returning starters include Charlie Aimone (12.4 ppg), John Czarnecki (10.4 ppg) and Nick McGrail (6.3 ppg). The Fightin' Engineers return their top six scorers and nine of their top 10 scorers from last year's team.
2018-19 ROSE-HULMAN MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE:
Nov. 17 vs. LaGrange (at Rhodes) 1 p.m. CT
Nov. 18 vs. Rhodes or Louisiana College TBA
Nov. 20 at Fontbonne 7 p.m. CT
Nov. 26 at Wabash 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 28 DEPAUW 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 1 at Defiance * 3 p.m.
Dec. 5 at Mt. St. Joseph * 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 8 TRANSYLVANIA * 3 p.m.
Dec. 13 BOYCE 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 15 at Manchester * 5 p.m.
Dec. 22 MILLIKIN 3 p.m.
Jan. 2 HANOVER * 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 5 EARLHAM * 4 p.m.
Jan. 9 at Franklin * 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 12 at Bluffton * 1 p.m.
Jan. 16 ANDERSON * 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 19 DEFIANCE * 1 p.m.
Jan. 23 MT. ST. JOSEPH * 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26 at Transylvania * 3 p.m.
Jan. 30 at Hanover * 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 2 BLUFFTON * 3 p.m.
Feb. 6 FRANKLIN * 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 9 at Earlham * 4 p.m.
Feb. 13 at Anderson * 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 16 MANCHESTER * 4 p.m.
Feb. 22-24 HCAC Tournament (at No. 1 seed)