# 2019–20 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represented the University of Iowa during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by 10th-year head coach Fran McCaffery and played their home games at Carver–Hawkeye Arena as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in four-way tie for fifth place. Their season ended when postseason tournaments including the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Forward Luka Garza was named Big Ten Player of the Year and was a consensus All-American.

## Previous season

The Hawkeyes finished the 2018–19 season 23–12, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place. They defeated Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Michigan in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 10 seed in the South region. There they defeated No. 7-seeded Cincinnati in the first round before losing to No. 2-seeded Tennessee in the second round.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Maishe Dailey | 1 | G | 6'7" | 200 | Junior | Beachwood, OH | Transferred to Akron |
| Isaiah Moss | 4 | G | 6'5" | 208 | RS Junior | Chicago, IL | Graduate transferred to Kansas |
| Tyler Cook | 25 | F | 6'9" | 253 | Junior | St. Louis, MO | Play professionally |
| Nicholas Baer | 51 | F | 6'7" | 218 | RS Senior | Bettendorf, IA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Bakari Evelyn | 4 | G | 6'2" | 180 | Graduate Student | Detroit, MI | Transferred from Valparaiso. Will be eligible to play immediately since Evelyn graduated from Valpariso. |

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Patrick McCaffery PF | Iowa City, IA | West High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Oct 5, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Joe Toussaint PG | Bronx, NY | Cardinals Hayes High School | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Nov 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| 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: "ESPN- Iowa Hawkeyes Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 31, 2018. ||||||

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2020 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Ahron Ulis PG | Chicago Heights, IL | Marian Catholic School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Aug 6, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: |||||||
| 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: "ESPN- Iowa Hawkeyes Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 4, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Lindsey Wilson | W 96–58 | | 19 – Wieskamp | 7 – Toussiant | 11 – C. McCaffery | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,830) Iowa City, IA |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 8, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN | | SIU Edwardsville | W 87–60 | 1–0 | 20 – Garza | 12 – Garza | 4 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,300) Iowa City, IA |
| November 11, 2019* 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul Gavitt Tipoff Games | L 78–93 | 1–1 | 16 – Fredrick | 8 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,961) Iowa City, IA |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Oral Roberts | W 87–74 | 2–1 | 30 – Garza | 10 – Tied | 7 – McCaffery | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,021) Iowa City, IA |
| November 21, 2019* 6:00 p.m., BTN | | North Florida Las Vegas Invitational campus site game | W 83–68 | 3–1 | 29 – Garza | 12 – Garza | 7 – McCaffery | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (9,389) Iowa City, IA |
| November 24, 2019* 4:00 p.m., BTN | | Cal Poly Las Vegas Invitational campus site game | W 85–59 | 4–1 | 21 – Fredrick | 9 – Garza | 5 – Fredrick | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,730) Iowa City, IA |
| November 28, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. No. 12 Texas Tech Las Vegas Invitational semifinals | W 72–61 | 5–1 | 20 – Bohannon | 12 – Garza | 6 – Bohannon | Orleans Arena Paradise, NV |
| November 29, 2019* 7:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. San Diego State Las Vegas Invitational championship game | L 73–83 | 5–2 | 16 – Fredrick | 8 – Garza | 5 – Fredrick | Orleans Arena (4,855) Paradise, NV |
| December 3, 2019* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Syracuse ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 68–54 | 6–2 | 23 – Garza | 9 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Carrier Dome (20,844) Syracuse, NY |
| December 6, 2019 5:30 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 4 Michigan | L 91–103 | 6–3 (0–1) | 44 – Garza | 8 – Garza | 5 – Fredrick | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| December 9, 2019 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Minnesota | W 72–52 | 7–3 (1–1) | 23 – Wieskamp | 10 – Garza | 10 – Bohannon | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,442) Iowa City, IA |
| December 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Iowa State Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series | W 84–68 | 8–3 | 21 – Garza | 11 – Garza | 3 – Tied | Hilton Coliseum (14,384) Ames, IA |
| December 21, 2019* 8:00 pm, BTN | | vs. Cincinnati Chicago Legends | W 77–70 | 9–3 | 21 – Fredrick | 13 – Garza | 4 – Tied | United Center (6,814) Chicago, IL |
| December 29, 2019* 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 25 | Kennesaw State | W 93–51 | 10–3 | 23 – Garza | 8 – Garza | 7 – Toussiant | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| January 4, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN | No. 23 | vs. No. 21 Penn State | L 86–89 | 10–4 (1–2) | 34 – Garza | 12 – Garza | 4 – Tied | Palestra (7,881) Philadelphia, PA |
| January 7, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | L 70–76 | 10–5 (1–3) | 21 – Wieskamp | 18 – Garza | 4 – 2 tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena (14,722) Lincoln, NE |
| January 10, 2020 6:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 12 Maryland | W 67–49 | 11–5 (2–3) | 26 – Wieskamp | 13 – Garza | 5 – Toussaint | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (11,721) Iowa City, IA |
| January 14, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Northwestern | W 75–62 | 12–5 (3–3) | 27 – Garza | 7 – McCaffery | 7 – Evelyn | Welsh–Ryan Arena (6,023) Evanston, IL |
| January 17, 2020 8:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 19 Michigan | W 90–83 | 13–5 (4–3) | 33 – Garza | 13 – McCaffery | 5 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,136) Iowa City, IA |
| January 22, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 19 | No. 24 Rutgers | W 85–80 | 14–5 (5–3) | 28 – Garza | 13 – Garza | 4 – Wieskamp | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,006) Iowa City, IA |
| January 27, 2020 7:30 p.m., BTN | No. 18 | Wisconsin | W 68–62 | 15–5 (6–3) | 21 – Garza | 18 – Garza | 4 – Toussaint | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (12,566) Iowa City, IA |
| January 30, 2020 7:30 p.m., BTN | No. 18 | at No. 15 Maryland | L 72–82 | 15–6 (6–4) | 21 – Garza | 8 – Pemsl | 5 – McCaffery | Xfinity Center (16,369) College Park, MD |
| February 2, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 18 | No. 19 Illinois Rivalry | W 72–65 | 16–6 (7–4) | 25 – Garza | 10 – Garza | 7 – McCaffery | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| February 5, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 17 | at Purdue | L 68–104 | 16–7 (7–5) | 26 – Garza | 4 – Tied | 5 – Evelyn | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| February 8, 2020 5:00 p.m., BTN | No. 17 | Nebraska | W 96–72 | 17–7 (8–5) | 30 – Wieskamp | 8 – Garza | 4 – McCaffery | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | No. 21 | at Indiana | L 77–89 | 17–8 (8–6) | 38 – Garza | 8 – Garza | 5 – Toussaint | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) Bloomington, IN |
| February 16, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 21 | at Minnesota | W 58–55 | 18–8 (9–6) | 24 – Garza | 8 – Tied | 7 – McCaffery | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 20, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 20 | No. 25 Ohio State | W 85–76 | 19–8 (10–6) | 24 – Garza | 8 – Pemsl | 4 – Tied | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,001) Iowa City, IA |
| February 25, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 18 | at No. 24 Michigan State | L 70–78 | 19–9 (10–7) | 20 – Garza | 9 – Garza | 7 – McCaffery | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| February 29, 2020 11:00 a.m., BTN | No. 18 | No. 16 Penn State | W 77–68 | 20–9 (11–7) | 25 – Garza | 17 – Garza | 8 – Toussaint | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| March 3, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 18 | Purdue | L 68–77 | 20–10 (11–8) | 26 – Garza | 12 – Garza | 5 – Fredrick | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (13,216) Iowa City, IA |
| March 8, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 18 | at No. 23 Illinois Rivalry | L 76–78 | 20–11 (11–9) | 28 – Garza | 8 – Garza | 8 – McCaffery | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
* Source: Schedule

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 23 | RV | RV | 19 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 25 | 25 |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 25 | RV | 24 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 17 | 18 | 25 | 25 |
*Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.