# 2019–20 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Cleveland State Vikings men's basketball team represented Cleveland State University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Vikings, led by first-year head coach Dennis Gates, played their home games at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio as members of the Horizon League. They finished the season 11–21, 7–11 in Horizon League play to finish in a tie for seventh place. They lost in the first round of the Horizon League tournament to Oakland.

## Previous season

The Vikings finished the 2018–19 season 10–21 overall, 5–13 in Horizon League play to finish in ninth place. In turn, they failed to qualify for the Horizon League tournament.
On July 12, 2019, it was announced that head coach Dennis Felton was relieved of his duties. On July 26, Dennis Gates was announced as the new head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Notre Dame (OH) | L 64–69 | – | Wolstein Center Cleveland, OH |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 8:00 pm, BTN Pluss | | at Minnesota | L 50–85 | 0–1 | Williams Arena (8,693) Minneapolis, MN |
| November 9, 2019* 3:30 pm | | Edinboro | W 79–54 | 1–1 | Wolstein Center (3,533) Cleveland, OH |
| November 12, 2019* 8:00 pm | | at Missouri State | L 53–73 | 1–2 | JQH Arena (3,800) Springfield, MO |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at South Carolina | L 63–90 | 1–3 | Colonial Life Arena (10,083) Columbia, SC |
| November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | FIU D.C. Classic | L 61–107 | 1–4 | Wolstein Center (1,524) Cleveland, OH |
| November 22, 2019* 1:00 pm, FloSports | | vs. UNC Wilmington D.C. Classic | W 47–46 | 2–4 | Entertainment and Sports Arena (512) Washington, D.C. |
| November 23, 2019* 3:30 pm, FloSports | | vs. Eastern Kentucky D.C. Classic | W 65–51 | 3–4 | Entertainment and Sports Arena (739) Washington, D.C. |
| November 30, 2019* 6:00 pm | | Robert Morris | W 70–59 | 4–4 | Wolstein Center (1,031) Cleveland, OH |
| December 4, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Toledo | L 65–80 | 4–5 | Wolstein Center (1,683) Cleveland, OH |
| December 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Kent State | L 59–81 | 4–6 | MAC Center (2,176) Kent, OH |
| December 15, 2019* 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bowling Green | L 58–72 | 4–7 | Stroh Center (1,725) Bowling Green, OH |
| December 18, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | DePaul | L 65–73 | 4–8 | Wolstein Center (991) Cleveland, OH |
| December 21, 2019* 4:00, ESPN3 | | at East Tennessee State | L 55–80 | 4–9 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (6,149) Johnson City, TN |
| Horizon League regular season ||||||
| December 28, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UIC | L 66–71 | 4–10 (0–1) | Credit Union 1 Arena (1,489) Chicago, IL |
| December 30, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at IUPUI | W 82–80 | 5–10 (1–1) | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (889) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 4, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 82–74 | 6–10 (2–1) | Wolstein Center (1,537) Cleveland, OH |
| January 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Detroit Mercy | W 64–59 | 7–10 (3–1) | Wolstein Center (973) Cleveland, OH |
| January 11, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Oakland | L 55–68 | 7–11 (3–2) | Wolstein Center (1,561) Cleveland, OH |
| January 16, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wright State | L 65–72 | 7–12 (3–3) | Nutter Center (3,153) Fairborn, OH |
| January 18, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Northern Kentucky | L 49–75 | 7–13 (3–4) | BB&T Arena (4,390) Highland Heights, KY |
| January 23, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Green Bay | L 74–78 | 7–14 (3–5) | Wolstein Center (1,033) Cleveland, OH |
| January 25, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Milwaukee | W 70–53 | 8–14 (4–5) | Wolstein Center (1,062) Cleveland, OH |
| January 30, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | IUPUI | W 72–62 | 9–14 (5–5) | Wolstein Center (1,241) Cleveland, OH |
| February 1, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UIC | L 62–64 | 9–15 (5–6) | Wolstein Center (1,170) Cleveland, OH |
| February 8, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Youngstown State | L 55–67 | 9–16 (5–7) | Beeghly Center (3,298) Youngstown, OH |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Oakland | L 74–79 | 9–17 (5–8) | Athletics Center O'rena (2,919) Auburn Hills, MI |
| February 15, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Detroit Mercy | W 67–66 $^{OT}$ | 10–17 (6–8) | Calihan Hall (1,274) Detroit, MI |
| February 20, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Northern Kentucky | L 59–73 | 10–18 (6–9) | Wolstein Center (1,508) Cleveland, OH |
| February 22, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wright State | L 74–81 $^{OT}$ | 10–19 (6–10) | Wolstein Center (2,159) Cleveland, OH |
| February 27, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Milwaukee | W 70–68 | 11–19 (7–10) | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,462) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 29, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Green Bay | L 67–74 | 11–20 (7–11) | Kress Events Center (3,369) Green Bay, WI |
| Horizon League tournament ||||||
| March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | (7) | at (6) Oakland First round | L 59–80 | 11–21 | Athletics Center O'rena (2,982) Auburn Hills, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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