# 2019–20 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Georgia Southern Eagles men's basketball team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by seventh-year head coach Mark Byington, played their home games at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Georgia as members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 20–13, 12–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They were the No. 5 seed in the Sun Belt tournament, where they defeated Louisiana and Georgia State. However, the tournament was later cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 20, head coach Mark Byington resigned to become the head coach at James Madison. He finished at Georgia Southern with a seven-year record of 131–97.

## Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2018–19 season 21–12, 12–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in a 3-way tie for second place. They defeated Louisiana–Monroe in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament, before losing in the semifinals to UT Arlington. Despite having 21 wins, they did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 9:00 pm, SECN | | at No. 24 Auburn | L 74–83 | 0–1 | Auburn Arena (8,702) Auburn, AL |
| November 8, 2019* 8:00 pm, TrueBlue Live | | Reinhardt | W 109–55 | 1–1 | Hanner Fieldhouse (2,156) Statesboro, GA |
| November 11, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at North Florida | L 77–80 | 1–2 | UNF Arena (1,659) Jacksonville, FL |
| November 15, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Radford | W 76–73 | 2–2 | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,599) Statesboro, GA |
| November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mercer | W 98–88 | 3–2 | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,421) Statesboro, GA |
| November 29, 2019* 4:30 pm | | vs. Campbell FGCU Classic | W 84–74 | 4–2 | Alico Arena (277) Fort Myers, FL |
| November 30, 2019* 4:30 pm | | vs. North Dakota FGCU Classic | L 68–80 | 4–3 | Alico Arena (376) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 1, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Florida Gulf Coast FGCU Classic | W 72–57 | 5–3 | Alico Arena (2,031) Fort Myers, FL |
| December 6, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Carver | W 100–70 | 6–3 | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,213) Statesboro, GA |
| December 15, 2019* 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Bradley | L 51–81 | 6–4 | Carver Arena (4,904) Peoria, IL |
| December 19, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Texas State | W 67–64 | 7–4 (1–0) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,002) Statesboro, GA |
| December 21, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UT Arlington | W 77–74 | 8–4 (2–0) | Hanner Fieldhouse (676) Statesboro, GA |
| December 23, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN | | at Georgia | L 64–73 | 8–5 | Stegeman Coliseum (10,412) Athens, GA |
| January 2, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Coastal Carolina | W 70–67 | 9–5 (3–0) | HTC Center (811) Conway, SC |
| January 4, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Appalachian State | L 72–74 | 9–6 (3–1) | Holmes Center (1,630) Boone, NC |
| January 6, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Little Rock | L 73–79 | 9–7 (3–2) | Jack Stephens Center (1,188) Little Rock, AR |
| January 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 67–56 | 10–7 (4–2) | Hanner Fieldhouse (940) Statesboro, GA |
| January 11, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Louisiana | W 71–51 | 11–7 (5–2) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,493) Statesboro, GA |
| January 16, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Troy | W 82–66 | 12–7 (6–2) | Trojan Arena (2,673) Troy, AL |
| January 18, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | L 68–74 | 12–8 (6–3) | Mitchell Center (2,093) Mobile, AL |
| January 25, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Georgia State | L 77–82 | 12–9 (6–4) | Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) Statesboro, GA |
| January 30, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Troy | W 86–57 | 13–9 (7–4) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,035) Statesboro, GA |
| February 1, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | South Alabama | L 69–79 | 13–10 (7–5) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,635) Statesboro, GA |
| February 6, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 67–65 | 14–10 (8–5) | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,506) Monroe, LA |
| February 8, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Louisiana | W 86–79 | 15–10 (9–5) | Cajundome (3,876) Lafayette, LA |
| February 13, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Coastal Carolina | W 79–69 | 16–10 (10–5) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,177) Statesboro, GA |
| February 15, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Appalachian State | L 57–62 | 16–11 (10–6) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,753) Statesboro, GA |
| February 20, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Texas State | L 55–70 | 16–12 (10–7) | Strahan Arena (2,387) San Marcos, TX |
| February 22, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UT Arlington | W 81–61 | 17–12 (11–7) | College Park Center (1,875) Arlington, TX |
| February 28, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Georgia State | W 79–70 | 18–12 (12–7) | GSU Sports Arena (3,854) Atlanta, GA |
| March 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Arkansas State | L 75–76 | 18–13 (12–8) | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,217) Statesboro, GA |
| Sun Belt tournament ||||||
| March 9, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | (8) Louisiana Second round | W 82–81 | 19–13 | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,244) Statesboro, GA |
| March 11, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | at (4) Georgia State Quarterfinals/Modern Day Hate | W 81–62 | 20–13 | GSU Sports Arena (2,843) Atlanta, GA |
| Mar 14, 2020 11:30 am, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (1) Little Rock Semifinals | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Smoothie King Center New Orleans, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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