# 2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Seton Hall Pirates men's basketball team represented Seton Hall University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They are led by tenth-year head coach Kevin Willard. The Pirates played their home games at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, New Jersey as members of the Big East Conference. They finished the season 21–9, 13–5 in Big East play, which put them in a three-way tie for first place. As the No. 3 seed in the Big East tournament, they were slated to play Marquette in the quarterfinals, but the Tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rest of the NCAA postseason.

## Previous season

The Pirates finished the 2018–19 season 20–14, 9–9 in Big East play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. In the Big East tournament, they defeated Georgetown in the quarterfinals and Marquette in the semifinals before losing to Villanova by two points in the final. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region and were defeated by No. 7 seed Wofford in the first round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Michael Nzei | 1 | F | 6'8" | 205 | RS Senior | Makurdi, Nigeria | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Takal Molson | 1 | G | 6'5" | 205 | Junior | Buffalo, New York | Transferred from Canisius. Under NCAA transfer rules, Molson will have to sit out for the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### Class of 2019 recruits

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tyrese Samuel PF | Mono, Ontario, Canada | Orangeville Prep | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 27, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| 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 October 30, 2019. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 25, 2019* 7:00 pm | No. 12 | Bloomfield Charity exhibition | W 81–52 | – | 21 – Powell | 10 – Samuel | 8 – McKnight | Walsh Gymnasium (1,655) South Orange, NJ |
| October 29, 2019* 7:00 pm | No. 12 | Misericordia Charity exhibition | W 112–38 | – | 22 – Powell | 7 – Obiagu | 5 – Reynolds | Walsh Gymnasium (1,655) South Orange, NJ |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 12 | Wagner | W 105–71 | 1–0 | 27 – Powell | 6 – Samuel | 7 – McKnight | Walsh Gymnasium (1,655) South Orange, NJ |
| November 9, 2019* 2:30 pm, FSN | No. 12 | Stony Brook | W 74–57 | 2–0 | 17 – Mamukelashvili | 10 – Gill | 4 – Reynolds | Walsh Gymnasium (1,655) South Orange, NJ |
| November 14, 2019* 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 12 | No. 3 Michigan State Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 73–76 | 2–1 | 37 – Powell | 8 – Gill | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (14,051) Newark, NJ |
| November 17, 2019* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | at Saint Louis | W 83–66 | 3–1 | 26 – Powell | 8 – Rhoden | 4 – Nelson | Chaifetz Arena (9,611) St. Louis, MO |
| November 23, 2019* 12:00 pm, FS2 | No. 13 | Florida A&M | W 87–51 | 4–1 | 23 – Powell | 9 – Gill | 5 – McKnight | Prudential Center (9,656) Newark, NJ |
| November 27, 2019* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | vs. No. 11 Oregon Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinals | L 69–71 | 4–2 | 32 – Powell | 4 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Imperial Arena (1,565) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 28, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | vs. Southern Miss Battle 4 Atlantis consolation 2nd round | W 81–56 | 5–2 | 18 – Powell | 7 – Mamukelashvili | 4 – Mamukelashvili | Imperial Arena (1,204) Nassau, Bahamas |
| November 30, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 13 | vs. Iowa State Battle 4 Atlantis 5th place game | W 84–76 | 6–2 | 24 – Powell | 12 – Cale | 5 – McKnight | Imperial Arena (2,650) Nassau, Bahamas |
| December 8, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 16 | at Iowa State Big East/Big 12 Battle | L 66–76 | 6–3 | 19 – Powell | 8 – Powell | 4 – Nelson | Hilton Coliseum (14,269) Ames, IA |
| December 14, 2019* 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 22 | at Rutgers Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | L 48–68 | 6–4 | 11 – McKnight | 8 – Rhoden | 2 – 3 Tied | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,329) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 7 Maryland | W 52–48 | 7–4 | 17 – McKnight | 12 – Rhoden | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (13,313) Newark, NJ |
| December 22, 2019* 4:30 pm, FS1 | | Prairie View A&M | W 75–55 | 8–4 | 25 – McKnight | 9 – Rhoden | 7 – Nelson | Prudential Center (8,879) Newark, NJ |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 30, 2019 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at DePaul | W 74–66 | 9–4 (1–0) | 27 – Powell | 6 – Cale | 7 – McKnight | Wintrust Arena (6,364) Chicago, IL |
| January 3, 2020 9:00 pm, FS1 | | Georgetown | W 78–62 | 10–4 (2–0) | 17 – Gill | 9 – Rhoden | 10 – McKnight | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| January 8, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | | at Xavier | W 83–71 | 11–4 (3–0) | 24 – Powell | 8 – Powell | 8 – McKnight | Cintas Center (9,832) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 11, 2020 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Marquette | W 69–55 | 12–4 (4–0) | 23 – Powell | 7 – Powell | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (12,707) Newark, NJ |
| January 15, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 18 | at No. 5 Butler | W 78–70 | 13–4 (5–0) | 29 – Powell | 8 – Rhoden | 13 – McKnight | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,823) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 18, 2020 12:00 pm, FOX | No. 18 | at St. John's | W 82–79 | 14–4 (6–0) | 29 – Powell | 13 – Gill | 5 – McKnight | Madison Square Garden (10,428) New York, NY |
| January 22, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | Providence | W 73–64 | 15–4 (7–0) | 17 – Gill | 8 – Rhoden | 8 – McKnight | Prudential Center (9,267) Newark, NJ |
| January 29, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | DePaul | W 64–57 | 16–4 (8–0) | 24 – Powell | 11 – Rhoden | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (9,302) Newark, NJ |
| February 1, 2020 11:00 am, FOX | No. 10 | Xavier | L 62–74 | 16–5 (8–1) | 15 – McKnight | 5 – Tied | 4 – Powell | Prudential Center (12,230) Newark, NJ |
| February 5, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 12 | at Georgetown | W 78–71 | 17–5 (9–1) | 34 – Powell | 12 – Mamukelashvili | 10 – McKnight | Capital One Arena (4,344) Washington, DC |
| February 8, 2020 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 12 | at No. 10 Villanova | W 70–64 | 18–5 (10–1) | 19 – Powell | 11 – Rhoden | 4 – Reynolds | Wells Fargo Center (20,706) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 12, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 10 | No. 23 Creighton | L 82–87 | 18–6 (10–2) | 20 – McKnight | 12 – Rhoden | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (9,736) Newark, NJ |
| February 15, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 10 | at Providence | L 71–74 | 18–7 (10–3) | 27 – Powell | 8 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Dunkin' Donuts Center (13,255) Providence, RI |
| February 19, 2020 6:30 pm, FS1 | No. 16 | No. 21 Butler | W 74–72 | 19–7 (11–3) | 18 – McKnight | 7 – Gill | 5 – Powell | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| February 23, 2020 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 16 | St. John's | W 81–65 | 20–7 (12–3) | 18 – Powell | 9 – Mamukelashvili | 6 – McKnight | Prudential Center (14,648) Newark, NJ |
| February 29, 2020 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 13 | at Marquette | W 88–79 | 21–7 (13–3) | 28 – Powell | 9 – Mamukelashvili | 8 – McKnight | Fiserv Forum (17,538) Milwaukee, WI |
| March 4, 2020 8:30 pm, FS1 | No. 8 | No. 14 Villanova | L 77–79 | 21–8 (13–4) | 20 – Mamukelashvili | 10 – Mamukelashvili | 8 – Powell | Prudential Center (16,863) Newark, NJ |
| March 7, 2020 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 8 | at No. 11 Creighton | L 60–77 | 21–9 (13–5) | 15 – Tied | 12 – Mamukelashvili | 5 – Powell | CHI Health Center Omaha (18,519) Omaha, NE |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2020 9:30 pm, FS1 | (3) No. 16 | vs. (6) Marquette Quarterfinal | This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic | This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic | This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic | This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic | This game was not played due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

* On January 20, the Pirates achieved their 1st Top 10 ranking in 20 years, when they were ranked #8 on December 18, 2000.
* On March 2, the Pirates were ranked at #8 in the AP Poll, their highest ranking since reaching #7 in 2001.
Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 16 | 15 |
| Coaches | 13 | 13* | 13* | 13 | 13 | 15 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | 25 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 15 | 15 |