# 2018–19 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 East Tennessee Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by fourth-year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee as of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 13–5 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Chattanooga in the quarterfinals of the SoCon tournament before losing in the semifinals to Wofford. They were invited to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round to Green Bay.

## Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2017–18 season 25–9, 14–4 in SoCon play to finish in second place. They defeated Chattanooga and Furman to advance to the championship game of the SoCon tournament where they lost to UNC Greensboro. Despite having 25 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 2, 2018* 7:00 pm | | Southern Wesleyan | W 85–38 | | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,391) Johnson City, TN |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Georgia State Cayman Islands Classic campus game | L 68–74 | 0–1 | GSU Sports Arena (1,688) Atlanta, GA |
| Nov 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Hiwassee | W 109–44 | 1–1 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,539) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 11, 2018* 1:30 pm, FS1 | | at Creighton Cayman Islands Classic campus game | L 69–75 | 1–2 | CHI Health Center Omaha (16,506) Omaha, NE |
| Nov 17, 2018* 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Winthrop | W 76–74 | 2–2 | Winthrop Coliseum Rock Hill, SC |
| Nov 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chicago State Cayman Islands Classic Mainland semifinals | W 86–61 | 3–2 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,325) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Sam Houston State Cayman Islands Classic Mainland championship | W 77–63 | 4–2 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,203) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 24, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | North Dakota State | W 79–61 | 5–2 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,610) Johnson City, TN |
| Nov 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Georgia Southern | W 69–64 | 6–2 | Hanner Fieldhouse (2,256) Statesboro, GA |
| Dec 1, 2018 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wofford | L 62–79 | 6–3 (0–1) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (2,014) Spartanburg, SC |
| Dec 3, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Reinhardt | W 107–60 | 7–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,493) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 80–62 | 8–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,210) Johnson City, TN |
| Dec 15, 2018* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at Illinois | L 55–73 | 8–4 | State Farm Center (12,379) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 21, 2018* 7:00 pm | | vs. Wyoming Sun Bowl Invitational semifinals | W 76–53 | 9–4 | Don Haskins Center (4,284) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 22, 2018* 9:00 pm | | vs. Norfolk State Sun Bowl Invitational championship game | W 89–61 | 10–4 | Don Haskins Center (4,011) El Paso, TX |
| Dec 29, 2018 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Furman | W 79–56 | 11–4 (1–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,439) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 3, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 81–72 $^{OT}$ | 12–4 (2–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,316) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 5, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | W 96–70 | 13–4 (3–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,011) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | W 98–73 | 14–4 (4–1) | McAlister Field House (1,253) Charleston, SC |
| Jan 12, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Mercer | W 72–68 $^{OT}$ | 15–4 (5–1) | Hawkins Arena (3,227) Macon, GA |
| Jan 17, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | VMI | W 85–82 | 16–4 (6–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,286) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 19, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | L 68–75 | 16–5 (6–2) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,702) Johnson City, TN |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Western Carolina | W 91–69 | 17–5 (7–2) | Ramsey Center (2,095) Cullowhee, NC |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 74–66 | 18–5 (8–2) | Pete Hanna Center (987) Homewood, AL |
| Feb 2, 2019 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Chattanooga | W 77–64 | 19–5 (9–2) | McKenzie Arena (4,553) Chattanooga, TN |
| Feb 7, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wofford | L 76–78 $^{OT}$ | 19–6 (9–3) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,911) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Furman | L 61–91 | 19–7 (9–4) | Timmons Arena (2,500) Greenville, SC |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 91–83 | 20–7 (10–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,723) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 16, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer | W 88–69 | 21–7 (11–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,146) Johnson City, TN |
| Feb 21, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at VMI | W 94–70 | 22–7 (12–4) | Cameron Hall (715) Lexington, VA |
| Feb 24, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UNC Greensboro | L 59–60 | 22–8 (12–5) | Greensboro Coliseum (6,021) Greensboro, NC |
| Mar 2, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Carolina | W 81–74 | 23–8 (13–5) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,520) Johnson City, TN |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2019 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (5) Chattanooga Quarterfinals | W 68–64 | 24–8 | U.S. Cellular Center (5,443) Asheville, NC |
| March 10, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | vs. (1) Wofford Semifinals | L 72–81 | 24–9 | U.S. Cellular Center (6,273) Asheville, NC |
| CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, CBS Sports Live | | Green Bay First round – Hugh Durham Classic | L 94–102 | 24–10 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,817) Johnson City, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||
Source