2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights were led by fourth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as sixth-year members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11 and 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Following the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the Knights's season.^[1]

2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	20–11 (11–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Steve Pikiell (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Karl Hobbs Brandin Knight Steve Hayn
Home arena	Louis Brown Athletic Center
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Wisconsin	14	–	6		.700			21	–	10		.677
No. 9 Michigan State	14	–	6		.700			22	–	9		.710
No. 12 Maryland	14	–	6		.700			24	–	7		.774
No. 21 Illinois	13	–	7		.650			21	–	10		.677
No. 25 Iowa	11	–	9		.550			20	–	11		.645
Penn State	11	–	9		.550			21	–	10		.677
No. 19 Ohio State	11	–	9		.550			21	–	10		.677
Rutgers	11	–	9		.550			20	–	11		.645
Michigan	10	–	10		.500			19	–	12		.613
Purdue	9	–	11		.450			16	–	15		.516
Indiana	9	–	11		.450			20	–	12		.625
Minnesota	8	–	12		.400			15	–	16		.484
Northwestern	3	–	17		.150			8	–	23		.258
Nebraska	2	–	18		.100			7	–	25		.219
Note: The 2020 Big Ten tournament was canceled prior to the second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rankings from AP poll

In January 2020, Rutgers was nationally ranked for the first time since 1979.^[2]

Previous season

The Knights finished the 2018–19 season 14–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. In the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Nebraska.

Offseason

Coaching changes

In April 2019, assistant Jay Young was hired as the new head coach at Fairfield.^[3] Pikiell elevated senior advisor Steve Hayn to assistant coach as his replacement in May 2019.^[4]

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Shaquille Doorson	2	C	7'0"	275	RS Senior	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Graduated
Eugene Omoruyi	5	F	6'6"	234	Junior	Rexdale, ON	Transferred to Oregon
Issa Thiam	35	F	6'9"	190	Junior	Dakar, Senegal	Dismissed from the team due to domestic violence[5]

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Akwasi Yeboah	1	G/F	6'6"	235	RS Senior	Chigwell, England	Transferred from Stony Brook. Will be eligible to play since Yeboah graduated from Stony Brook.

2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Paul Mulcahy #21 PG	Gladstone, NJ	Gill St. Bernard's School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	May 16, 2018
	Star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A
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 September 8, 2018.

Roster

2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Geo Baker 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Proctor Academy Derry, NH F 1 Akwasi Yeboah 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Sr Barking Abbey School Stony Brook Chigwell, England F 2 Daniel Lobach (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Moravian Prep Erwin, NC G 3 Nick Brooks (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS Jr Vermont Academy West Virginia Wesleyan Somerset, NJ G 4 Paul Mulcahy 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Gill St. Bernard's Bayonne, NJ G 10 Joey Downes 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS Jr East Sandwich/Bridgton Academy East Sandwich, MA F 11 Mamadou Doucoure 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Our Savior New American School Bamako, Mali F 13 Shaq Carter 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr Zion Lutheran High School Eastern Florida State Hollywood, FL C 15 Myles Johnson 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 255 lb (116 kg) RS So Long Beach Poly Long Beach, CA G 22 Caleb McConnell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So SPIRE Institute Jacksonville, FL G 23 Montez Mathis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So The John Carroll School Baltimore, MD G/F 24 Ron Harper Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 245 lb (111 kg) So Don Bosco Prep Franklin Lakes, NJ G 32 Peter Kiss 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Notre Dame Prep Qunnipiac New York City, NY G 42 Jacob Young 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Yates Texas Houston, TX F/C 55 Luke Nathan (W) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Randolph Randolph, NJ	Head coach Steve Pikiell (Connecticut) Assistant coach(es) Karl Hobbs (Connecticut) Brandin Knight (Pittsburgh) Steve Hayn (Stony Brook) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 7, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN		Bryant Garden State Showcase	W 73–71	1–0	11 – Tied	8 – Baker	6 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,692) Piscataway, NJ
November 10, 2019* 1:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Niagara Garden State Showcase	W 86–39	2–0	22 – Baker	8 – Harper Jr.	6 – Mulcahy	Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,203) Piscataway, NJ
November 13, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Drexel Garden State Showcase	W 62–57	3–0	13 – Tied	8 – Harper Jr.	4 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,017) Piscataway, NJ
November 16, 2019* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		vs. St. Bonaventure James Naismith Classic	L 74–80	3–1	13 – McConnell	6 – Tied	8 – Young	Scotiabank Arena (6,802) Toronto, ON, Canada
November 20, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Stephen F. Austin Garden State Showcase	W 69–57	4–1	16 – McConnell	8 – Johnson	4 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,536) Piscataway, NJ
November 26, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN		NJIT	W 85–58	5–1	25 – Harper Jr.	11 – Johnson	7 – Mulcahy	Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,509) Piscataway, NJ
November 29, 2019* 2:00 p.m., BTN Plus		UMass	W 82–57	6–1	17 – Baker	10 – Johnson	4 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,592) Piscataway, NJ
December 3, 2019* 9:00 p.m., ESPNU		at Pittsburgh ACC–Big Ten Challenge	L 60–71	6–2	14 – Tied	14 – Johnson	5 – Baker	Petersen Events Center (7,894) Pittsburgh, PA
December 8, 2019 7:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 11 Michigan State	L 65–77	6–3 (0–1)	17 – Yeboah	5 – Mathis	5 – Baker	Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI
December 11, 2019 7:00 p.m., BTN		Wisconsin	W 72–65	7–3 (1–1)	22 – Baker	8 – Yeboah	4 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,361) Piscataway, NJ
December 14, 2019* 4:00 p.m., BTN		No. 22 Seton Hall Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic	W 68–48	8–3	18 – Harper Jr.	13 – Johnson	5 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,329) Piscataway, NJ
December 22, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU		Lafayette	W 63–44	9–3	18 – Johnson	14 – Johnson	5 – Mulcahy	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,692) Piscataway, NJ
December 30, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus		Caldwell	W 94–49	10–3	23 – Young	10 – Johnson	6 – Young	Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,592) Piscataway, NJ
January 3, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN		at Nebraska	W 79–62	11–3 (2–1)	20 – McConnell	14 – Johnson	5 – McConnell	Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,024) Lincoln, NE
January 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		No. 20 Penn State	W 72–61	12–3 (3–1)	22 – Harper Jr.	8 – McConnell	5 – Mulcahy	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
January 11, 2020 12:00 p.m., BTN		at Illinois	L 51–54	12–4 (3–2)	16 – Young	7 – McConnell	3 – Mathis	State Farm Center (11,070) Champaign, IL
January 15, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		Indiana	W 59–50	13–4 (4–2)	14 – Yeboah	6 – Yeboah	5 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
January 19, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN		Minnesota	W 64–56	14–4 (5–2)	11 – Tied	12 – McConnell	2 – Tied	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
January 22, 2020 9:00 p.m., BTN	No. 24	at No. 19 Iowa	L 80–85	14–5 (5–3)	29 – Harper Jr.	9 – Harper Jr.	5 – McConnell	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,006) Iowa City, IA
January 25, 2020 2:00 p.m., BTN	No. 24	Nebraska	W 75–72	15–5 (6–3)	20 – Yeboah	11 – Johnson	4 – Harper Jr.	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
January 28, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN	No. 25	Purdue	W 70–63	16–5 (7–3)	16 – McConnell	7 – Tied	2 – Tied	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
February 1, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN	No. 25	vs. Michigan B1G Super Saturday	L 63–69	16–6 (7–4)	17 – Mathis	8 – Tied	3 – Baker	Madison Square Garden (13,127) New York, NY
February 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1		at No. 9 Maryland	L 51–56	16–7 (7–5)	13 – Yeboah	8 – Johnson	3 – Baker	Xfinity Center (15,855) College Park, MD
February 9, 2020 6:30 p.m., BTN		Northwestern	W 77–73 OT	17–7 (8–5)	25 – Baker	10 – Johnson	5 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
February 12, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		at Ohio State	L 66–72	17–8 (8–6)	17 – Young	6 – Yeboah	4 – Yeboah	Value City Arena (15,552) Columbus, OH
February 15, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN		No. 22 Illinois	W 72–57	18–8 (9–6)	27 – Harper Jr.	11 – Johnson	7 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
February 19, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		Michigan	L 52–60	18–9 (9–7)	16 – Baker	5 – Tied	2 – Harper Jr.	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
February 23, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN		at Wisconsin	L 71–79	18–10 (9–8)	21 – Harper Jr.	9 – Harper Jr.	6 – Baker	Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI
February 26, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 16 Penn State	L 64–65	18–11 (9–9)	13 – Young	11 – Johnson	5 – Young	Bryce Jordan Center (8,345) University Park, PA
March 3, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN		No. 9 Maryland	W 78–67	19–11 (10–9)	17 – Young	8 – Tied	4 – Baker	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ
March 7, 2020 2:00 p.m., BTN		at Purdue	W 71–68 OT	20–11 (11–9)	19 – Baker	6 – Tied	3 – Baker	Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN
Big Ten tournament
March 12, 2020* 12:00 pm, BTN	(8)	vs. (9) Michigan Second round	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Bankers Life Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[6]

Rankings

See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	24	25	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	25	25	RV	RV	RV	—	—	RV	RV

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

References

1. "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
2. Braziller, Zach (January 20, 2020). "Rutgers basketball ranked in top 25 for first time in 41 years". New York Post. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
3. "Fairfield hires Rutgers assistant Jay Young as head coach". coachesdatabase.com. Coaches Database. April 3, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
4. "Rutgers basketball: Steve Hayn promoted to fill assistant coach vacancy". App.com. May 24, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
5. "Ex-Rutgers basketball player facing domestic violence charges will apply for pretrial program, his attorney says". nj.com. April 5, 2019. Retrieved April 5, 2019.
6. "2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule".