# 2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights were led by fourth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as sixth-year members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 20–11 and 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Following the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the Knights's season.
In January 2020, Rutgers was nationally ranked for the first time since 1979.

## Previous season

The Knights finished the 2018–19 season 14–17, 7–13 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place. In the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Nebraska.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

In April 2019, assistant Jay Young was hired as the new head coach at Fairfield. Pikiell elevated senior advisor Steve Hayn to assistant coach as his replacement in May 2019.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Shaquille Doorson | 2 | C | 7'0" | 275 | RS Senior | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Graduated |
| Eugene Omoruyi | 5 | F | 6'6" | 234 | Junior | Rexdale, ON | Transferred to Oregon |
| Issa Thiam | 35 | F | 6'9" | 190 | Junior | Dakar, Senegal | Dismissed from the team due to domestic violence |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Akwasi Yeboah | 1 | G/F | 6'6" | 235 | RS Senior | Chigwell, England | Transferred from Stony Brook. Will be eligible to play since Yeboah graduated from Stony Brook. |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Paul Mulcahy #21 PG | Gladstone, NJ | Gill St. Bernard's School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | May 16, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: 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 September 8, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 7, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Bryant Garden State Showcase | W 73–71 | 1–0 | 11 – Tied | 8 – Baker | 6 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,692) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 10, 2019* 1:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Niagara Garden State Showcase | W 86–39 | 2–0 | 22 – Baker | 8 – Harper Jr. | 6 – Mulcahy | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,203) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 13, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Drexel Garden State Showcase | W 62–57 | 3–0 | 13 – Tied | 8 – Harper Jr. | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,017) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 16, 2019* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | vs. St. Bonaventure James Naismith Classic | L 74–80 | 3–1 | 13 – McConnell | 6 – Tied | 8 – Young | Scotiabank Arena (6,802) Toronto, ON, Canada |
| November 20, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Stephen F. Austin Garden State Showcase | W 69–57 | 4–1 | 16 – McConnell | 8 – Johnson | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,536) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 26, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN | | NJIT | W 85–58 | 5–1 | 25 – Harper Jr. | 11 – Johnson | 7 – Mulcahy | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,509) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 29, 2019* 2:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | UMass | W 82–57 | 6–1 | 17 – Baker | 10 – Johnson | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,592) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 3, 2019* 9:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Pittsburgh ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 60–71 | 6–2 | 14 – Tied | 14 – Johnson | 5 – Baker | Petersen Events Center (7,894) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 8, 2019 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 11 Michigan State | L 65–77 | 6–3 (0–1) | 17 – Yeboah | 5 – Mathis | 5 – Baker | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| December 11, 2019 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Wisconsin | W 72–65 | 7–3 (1–1) | 22 – Baker | 8 – Yeboah | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (6,361) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 14, 2019* 4:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 22 Seton Hall Rivalry/Garden State Hardwood Classic | W 68–48 | 8–3 | 18 – Harper Jr. | 13 – Johnson | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,329) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 22, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Lafayette | W 63–44 | 9–3 | 18 – Johnson | 14 – Johnson | 5 – Mulcahy | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,692) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 30, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Caldwell | W 94–49 | 10–3 | 23 – Young | 10 – Johnson | 6 – Young | Louis Brown Athletic Center (5,592) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 3, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | W 79–62 | 11–3 (2–1) | 20 – McConnell | 14 – Johnson | 5 – McConnell | Pinnacle Bank Arena (15,024) Lincoln, NE |
| January 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 20 Penn State | W 72–61 | 12–3 (3–1) | 22 – Harper Jr. | 8 – McConnell | 5 – Mulcahy | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 11, 2020 12:00 p.m., BTN | | at Illinois | L 51–54 | 12–4 (3–2) | 16 – Young | 7 – McConnell | 3 – Mathis | State Farm Center (11,070) Champaign, IL |
| January 15, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Indiana | W 59–50 | 13–4 (4–2) | 14 – Yeboah | 6 – Yeboah | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 19, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN | | Minnesota | W 64–56 | 14–4 (5–2) | 11 – Tied | 12 – McConnell | 2 – Tied | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 22, 2020 9:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | at No. 19 Iowa | L 80–85 | 14–5 (5–3) | 29 – Harper Jr. | 9 – Harper Jr. | 5 – McConnell | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (10,006) Iowa City, IA |
| January 25, 2020 2:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Nebraska | W 75–72 | 15–5 (6–3) | 20 – Yeboah | 11 – Johnson | 4 – Harper Jr. | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 28, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | No. 25 | Purdue | W 70–63 | 16–5 (7–3) | 16 – McConnell | 7 – Tied | 2 – Tied | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 1, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN | No. 25 | vs. Michigan B1G Super Saturday | L 63–69 | 16–6 (7–4) | 17 – Mathis | 8 – Tied | 3 – Baker | Madison Square Garden (13,127) New York, NY |
| February 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 9 Maryland | L 51–56 | 16–7 (7–5) | 13 – Yeboah | 8 – Johnson | 3 – Baker | Xfinity Center (15,855) College Park, MD |
| February 9, 2020 6:30 p.m., BTN | | Northwestern | W 77–73 $^{OT}$ | 17–7 (8–5) | 25 – Baker | 10 – Johnson | 5 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Ohio State | L 66–72 | 17–8 (8–6) | 17 – Young | 6 – Yeboah | 4 – Yeboah | Value City Arena (15,552) Columbus, OH |
| February 15, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN | | No. 22 Illinois | W 72–57 | 18–8 (9–6) | 27 – Harper Jr. | 11 – Johnson | 7 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 19, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Michigan | L 52–60 | 18–9 (9–7) | 16 – Baker | 5 – Tied | 2 – Harper Jr. | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 23, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN | | at Wisconsin | L 71–79 | 18–10 (9–8) | 21 – Harper Jr. | 9 – Harper Jr. | 6 – Baker | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| February 26, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at No. 16 Penn State | L 64–65 | 18–11 (9–9) | 13 – Young | 11 – Johnson | 5 – Young | Bryce Jordan Center (8,345) University Park, PA |
| March 3, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 9 Maryland | W 78–67 | 19–11 (10–9) | 17 – Young | 8 – Tied | 4 – Baker | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 7, 2020 2:00 p.m., BTN | | at Purdue | W 71–68 $^{OT}$ | 20–11 (11–9) | 19 – Baker | 6 – Tied | 3 – Baker | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2020* 12:00 pm, BTN | (8) | vs. (9) Michigan Second round | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## 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 | 24 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 25 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | RV | RV |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings