# 2019–20 UMass Minutemen basketball team

The 2019–20 UMass Minutemen basketball team represented the University of Massachusetts Amherst during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Minutemen were led by third-year head coach Matt McCall and played their home games at the William D. Mullins Memorial Center in Amherst, Massachusetts as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. They finished the season 14–17, 8–10 in A-10 play to finish in eighth place. Their season ended with the A-10 tournament and all other postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

## Previous season

The Minutemen finished the 2018–19 season 11–21, 4–14 in A-10 play to finish in 13th place. They lost to George Washington in the first round of the A-10 tournament.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Tre Wood | 0 | G | 6' 1“ | 165 | Freshman | Upper Marlboro, MD | Transferred to LIU Brooklyn |
| Luwane Pipkins | 2 | G | 5' 11“ | 185 | Senior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to Providence |
| Kieran Hayward | 3 | G | 6'4" | 195 | Junior | Sydney, Australia | Transferred to Vanguard University (CA) |
| Unique McLean | 4 | G | 6'2“ | 175 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduate transferred to St. Francis Brooklyn |
| Jonathan Laurent | 11 | F | 6'6“ | 216 | Junior | Orlando, FL | Transferred to Oklahoma State |
| Jaylen Franklin | 13 | G | 6'0“ | 175 | Junior | Springfield, MA | Transferred to The College of Wooster (OH) |
| Khalea Turner-Morris | 14 | C | 6' 9“ | 265 | Junior | New Orleans, LA | lingering injuries forced him to stop playing, prior to the season starting |
| Curtis Cobb | 33 | G | 6'4“ | 175 | Senior | Fall River, MA | Graduate transferred to Wagner |
| Aidan Byrne | 41 | F | 6'6" | 215 | Junior | Niskayuna, NY | walk-on from 2018 to 2019 no longer listed on the roster |
| Rashaan Holloway | 45 | C | 6'11" | 310 | Senior | Elmer, NJ | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Dibaji Walker | | F | 6'7" | 190 | Sophomore | Columbus, OH | Transferred from Cleveland State. Inactive. NCAA transfer rules mandate he sits out in 2019–20, but he has applied for a special exemption. His exemption has been approved. |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Tre Mitchell #33 C | Pittsburgh, PA | Woodstock Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Mar 29, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| John Buggs #0 G | Homer, LA | Putnam Science Academy Summerfield High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 20, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Sean East II #10 G | Louisville, KY | Combine Academy New Albany High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Apr 28, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| C.J. Jackson #3 F | Atlanta, GA | Athens Prep Greenforest High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 15, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Kolton Mitchell #13 G | Fort Myers, FL | Victory Rock Prep | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | May 30, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| Preston Santos #2 G/F | Providence, RI | Woodstock Academy | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 15, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ||||||
| T.J. Weeks #23 G | Warwick, RI | Woodstock Academy Bishop Hendricken High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Mar 24, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A 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 November 9, 2019. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 29, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Western New England | W 83–47 | | Mullins Center Amherst, MA |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, NESN/ESPN+ | | UMass Lowell | W 79–64 | 1–0 | Mullins Center (2,563) Amherst, MA |
| November 9, 2019* 1:00 pm | | at Fairfield | W 62–60 | 2–0 | Webster Bank Arena (1,087) Bridgeport, CT |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, NESNplus/ESPN+ | | Northeastern | W 80–71 | 3–0 | Mullins Center (2,145) Amherst, MA |
| November 16, 2019* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Connecticut Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game | W 89–43 | 4–0 | Mullins Center (2,873) Amherst, MA |
| November 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, NESN | | Rider Hall of Fame Tip Off campus game | W 82–72 | 5–0 | Mullins Center (2,378) Amherst, MA |
| November 23, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPNews | | vs. No. 7 Virginia Hall of Fame Tip Off semifinals | L 46–58 | 5–1 | Mohegan Sun Arena (7,862) Uncasville, CT |
| November 24, 2019* 3:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. St. John's Hall of Fame Tip Off consolation | L 63–78 | 5–2 | Mohegan Sun Arena (5,822) Uncasville, CT |
| November 29, 2019* 2:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at Rutgers | L 57–82 | 5–3 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,592) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 4, 2019* 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | South Carolina | L 80–84 | 5–4 | Mullins Center (3,043) Amherst, MA |
| December 7, 2019* 1:00 pm, NESN | | at Harvard | L 55–89 | 5–5 | Lavietes Pavilion (1,636) Cambridge, MA |
| December 11, 2019* 7:00 pm, NESN | | Yale | L 80–83 $^{OT}$ | 5–6 | Mullins Center (2,212) Amherst, MA |
| December 20, 2019* 7:00 pm, NESN | | Maine | W 74–53 | 6–6 | Mullins Center (2,194) Amherst, MA |
| December 30, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Akron | L 79–85 | 6–7 | James A. Rhodes Arena (2,375) Akron, OH |
| A-10 regular season ||||||
| January 5, 2020 4:00 pm, NBCSN | | at Saint Louis | L 80–83 $^{OT}$ | 6–8 (0–1) | Chaifetz Arena (8,743) St. Louis, MO |
| January 8, 2020 7:00 pm, NESN | | La Salle | W 77–69 | 7–8 (1–1) | Mullins Center (1,894) Amherst, MA |
| January 11, 2020 12:30 pm, NBCSN | | at No. 15 Dayton | L 60–88 | 7–9 (1–2) | UD Arena (13,407) Dayton, OH |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. St. Bonaventure Roc City Hoops Classic | L 61–74 | 7–10 (1–3) | Blue Cross Arena (4,276) Rochester, NY |
| January 18, 2020 4:30 pm, NBCSN | | George Washington | L 51–75 | 7–11 (1–4) | Mullins Center (3,323) Amherst, MA |
| January 22, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at George Mason | L 63–73 | 7–12 (1–5) | EagleBank Arena (2,652) Fairfax, VA |
| January 25, 2020 2:00 pm, NESNplus | | Duquesne | W 73–64 | 8–12 (2–5) | Mullins Center (2,785) Amherst, MA |
| January 29, 2020 7:00 pm, NESN | | Saint Joseph's | W 91–76 | 9–12 (3–5) | Mullins Center (2,024) Amherst, MA |
| February 1, 2020 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Davidson | L 50–85 | 9–13 (3–6) | John M. Belk Arena (3,832) Davidson, NC |
| February 4, 2020 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Rhode Island | L 67–73 | 9–14 (3–7) | Ryan Center (6,328) Kingston, RI |
| February 9, 2020 2:30 pm, NBCSN | | George Mason | W 69–67 | 10–14 (4–7) | Mullins Center (2,313) Amherst, MA |
| February 15, 2020 12:30 pm, NBCSN | | No. 6 Dayton | L 63–71 | 10–15 (4–8) | Mullins Center (5,030) Amherst, MA |
| February 18, 2020 7:00 pm, NESN | | Saint Louis | W 67–63 | 11–15 (5–8) | Mullins Center (2,185) Amherst, MA |
| February 22, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Fordham | W 57–49 | 12–15 (6–8) | Rose Hill Gymnasium (1,560) Bronx, NY |
| February 26, 2020 7:00 pm, NESNplus | | VCU | W 60–52 | 13–15 (7–8) | Mullins Center (2,462) Amherst, MA |
| February 29, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Richmond | L 71–95 | 13–16 (7–9) | Robins Center (7,201) Richmond, VA |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at La Salle | W 75–64 | 14–16 (8–9) | Tom Gola Arena (1,352) Philadelphia, PA |
| March 7, 2020 7:00 pm, NESNplus | | Rhode Island | L 63-64 | 14-17 (8-10) | Mullins Center (4,053) Amherst, MA |
| A-10 tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2020 12:00 pm, NBCSN | (8) | vs. (9) VCU Second round | A10 Tournament Canceled | A10 Tournament Canceled | Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Source