# 2019–20 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team

The 2019–20 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team represented Tennessee State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers, led by second-year head coach Brian Collins, played their home games at the Gentry Complex in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 18–15, 9–9 in OVC play, to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Morehead State in the first round of the OVC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Eastern Kentucky. They accepted an invitation to participate in the 2020 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament (CIT) and were set to host a first-round game. However, the CIT was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2018–19 season 9–21 overall, 6–12 during OVC play, and finishing in a four-way tie for seventh place. Since only the top eight teams in the conference qualify for the OVC tournament, tiebreakers left Tennessee State as the No. 9 seed, preventing them from participating.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 p.m. | | Alabama A&M | W 106–66 | 1–0 | Gentry Complex (5,638) Nashville, TN |
| November 9, 2019* 3:30 p.m., SoConDN | | at Chattanooga | L 57–59 | 1–1 | McKenzie Arena (2,694) Chattanooga, TN |
| November 12, 2019* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Lipscomb | W 79–78 | 2–1 | Gentry Complex (4,582) Nashville, TN |
| November 18, 2019* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Fisk Battle of Jefferson Street | W 99–65 | 3–1 | Gentry Complex (5,994) Nashville, TN |
| November 21, 2019* 7:00 p.m., FSSW+ | | at No. 12 Texas Tech Las Vegas Invitational campus-site game | L 57–72 | 3–2 | United Supermarkets Arena (12,584) Lubbock, TX |
| November 25, 2019* 9:00 p.m. | | at San Diego State Las Vegas Invitational campus-site game | L 49–62 | 3–3 | Viejas Arena (10,430) San Diego, CA |
| November 28, 2019* 1:00 p.m. | | vs. Cal Poly Las Vegas Invitational visitors bracket semifinal | W 82–72 | 4–3 | Orleans Arena Las Vegas, NV |
| November 29, 2019* 3:30 p.m. | | vs. North Florida Las Vegas Invitational visitors bracket final | W 81–73 | 5–3 | Orleans Arena Las Vegas, NV |
| December 6, 2019* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Chicago State | W 80–74 | 6–3 | Gentry Complex (594) Nashville, TN |
| December 10, 2019* 6:30 p.m. | | at Little Rock | L 62–86 | 6–4 | Jack Stephens Center (1,080) Little Rock, AR |
| December 15, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Fordham | W 66–61 | 7–4 | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,524) The Bronx, NY |
| December 18, 2019* 6:00 p.m. | | at Indiana State | L 72–78 | 7–5 | Hulman Center (3,123) Terre Haute, IN |
| December 21, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Blue Mountain Battle of the Blues | W 86–71 | 8–5 | Gentry Complex (310) Nashville, TN |
| Ohio Valley regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Illinois | W 84–79 | 9–5 (1–0) | Gentry Complex Nashville, TN |
| January 4, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | SIU Edwardsville | W 79–74 | 10–5 (2–0) | Gentry Complex (905) Nashville, TN |
| January 9, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | L 74–87 | 10–6 (2–1) | Skyhawk Arena (1,945) Martin, TN |
| January 11, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 75–73 | 11–6 (3–1) | Show Me Center (1,012) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| January 16, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Morehead State | W 64–48 | 12–6 (4–1) | Gentry Complex (4,273) Nashville, TN |
| January 18, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Kentucky | L 88–92 | 12–7 (4–2) | Gentry Complex (3,982) Nashville, TN |
| January 23, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Austin Peay | L 74–99 | 12–8 (4–3) | Dunn Center (2,033) Clarksville, TN |
| January 25, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Murray State | L 64–76 | 12–9 (4–4) | CFSB Center (4,925) Murray, KY |
| January 30, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Jacksonville State | W 72–62 | 13–9 (5–4) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (1,630) Jacksonville, AL |
| February 1, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | W 72–67 | 14–9 (6–4) | Eblen Center (1,702) Cookeville, TN |
| February 6, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN3 | | Austin Peay | W 70–68 | 15–9 (7–4) | Gentry Complex (3,872) Nashville, TN |
| February 8, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Murray State | L 65–73 | 15–10 (7–5) | Gentry Complex (3,102) Nashville, TN |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Belmont | L 51–74 | 15–11 (7–6) | Curb Event Center (3,240) Nashville, TN |
| February 15, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 70–55 | 16–11 (8–6) | Gentry Complex (2,221) Nashville, TN |
| February 20, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Kentucky | L 62–83 | 16–12 (8–7) | McBrayer Arena (2,975) Richmond, KY |
| February 22, 2020 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Morehead State | L 63–66 | 16–13 (8–8) | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,348) Morehead, KY |
| February 27, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State | W 65–55 | 17–13 (9–8) | Gentry Complex (4,004) Nashville, TN |
| February 29, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Belmont | L 65–72 | 17–14 (9–9) | Gentry Complex Nashville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2020 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (8) Morehead State First round | W 74–67 $^{OT}$ | 18–14 | Ford Center (593) Evansville, IN |
| March 5, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Eastern Kentucky Quarterfinals | L 48–58 | 18–15 | Ford Center (1,005) Evansville, IN |
| CIT ||||||
| March 17, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | First round Coach John McLendon Classic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Gentry Complex Nashville, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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