# 2018–19 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team

The 2018–19 Tennessee State Tigers basketball team represented Tennessee State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Tigers, led by first-year head coach Brian Collins, played their home games at the Gentry Complex in Nashville, Tennessee as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the 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.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2017–18 season 15–15, 10–8 in OVC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They lost in the first round of the OVC tournament to Eastern Illinois.
On March 21, 2018, head coach Dana Ford left Tennessee State for the head coaching job at Missouri State. He finished at Tennessee State with a four-year record of 57–65. On March 26, the school announced that former Illinois State assistant coach Brian Collins had been hired as head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||
| Oct 31, 2018* 7:00 pm | Tennessee Wesleyan | W 107–72 | | Gentry Complex (764) Nashville, TN |
| Non-conference regular season |||||
| Nov 10, 2018* 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Lipscomb | L 79–86 | 0–1 | Allen Arena (2,596) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 13, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | Little Rock | L 67–83 | 0–2 | Gentry Complex (679) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 15, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | Carver Ohio Valley Hardwood Showcase | W 92–57 | 1–2 | Gentry Complex (721) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 17, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | Fisk Ohio Valley Hardwood Showcase | W 113–61 | 2–2 | Gentry Complex (1,682) Nashville, TN |
| Nov 20, 2018* 9:00 pm | at Cal State Northridge | L 77–80 | 2–3 | Matadome (858) Northridge, CA |
| Nov 23, 2018* 6:00 pm, SECN | at No. 10 Kentucky Ohio Valley Hardwood Showcase | L 62–77 | 2–4 | Rupp Arena (20,224) Lexington, KY |
| Dec 1, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Western Kentucky | L 74–88 | 2–5 | E. A. Diddle Arena (6,071) Bowling Green, KY |
| Dec 9, 2018* 2:00 pm | at Coppin State | W 64–55 | 3–5 | Physical Education Complex (347) Baltimore, MD |
| Dec 15, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | North Carolina A&T | L 76–78 | 3–6 | Gentry Complex (303) Nashville, TN |
| Dec 18, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Akron | L 62–80 | 3–7 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,151) Akron, OH |
| Dec 22, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Memphis | L 41–99 | 3–8 | FedExForum (15,378) Memphis, TN |
| Dec 29, 2018* 12:30 pm, SECN+ | at Vanderbilt | L 76–95 | 3–9 | Memorial Gymnasium (9,505) Nashville, TN |
| Ohio Valley Conference regular season |||||
| Jan 3, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Tennessee Tech | L 64–66 | 3–10 (0–1) | Gentry Complex (632) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 5, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | Jacksonville State | L 62–69 | 3–11 (0–2) | Gentry Complex (710) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 10, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Eastern Kentucky | W 82–81 | 4–11 (1–2) | Gentry Complex (411) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Morehead State | L 61–74 | 4–12 (1–3) | Gentry Complex (653) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 17, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPNU | at Tennessee Tech | W 79–62 | 5–12 (2–3) | Eblen Center (1,276) Cookeville, TN |
| Jan 19, 2019 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Belmont | L 74–92 | 5–13 (2–4) | Curb Event Center (2,768) Nashville, TN |
| Jan 24, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Austin Peay | L 74–89 | 5–14 (2–5) | Dunn Center (1,943) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan 26, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Murray State | L 62–100 | 5–15 (2–6) | CFSB Center (7,059) Murray, KY |
| Jan 31, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | UT Martin | W 68–67 | 6–15 (3–6) | Gentry Complex (1,025) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 2, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Southeast Missouri State | W 79–50 | 7–15 (4–6) | Gentry Complex (983) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 7, 2019 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | at Morehead State | W 81–80 $^{2OT}$ | 8-15 (5-6) | Ellis Johnson Arena (2,066) Morehead, KY |
| Feb 9, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Eastern Kentucky | L 65–75 | 8–16 (5–7) | McBrayer Arena (1,640) Richmond, KY |
| Feb 14, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Belmont | L 66–77 | 8–17 (5–8) | Gentry Complex (931) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Jacksonville State | L 65–84 | 8–18 (5–9) | Pete Mathews Coliseum (2,223) Jacksonville, AL |
| Feb 21, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | SIU Edwardsville | L 84–85 | 8–19 (5–10) | Gentry Complex (2,301) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 23, 2019 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | Eastern Illinois | W 75–60 | 9–19 (6–10) | Gentry Complex (1,511) Nashville, TN |
| Feb 28, 2019 7:45 pm, ESPN+ | at Southeast Missouri State | L 74–89 | 9–20 (6–11) | Show Me Center (1,421) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| Mar 2, 2019 3:30 pm, ESPN+ | at UT Martin | L 86–91 | 9–21 (6–12) | Skyhawk Arena (1,291) Martin, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||