# 2019–20 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Northern Colorado Bears men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Colorado during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Bears were led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Linder and played their home games at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley, Colorado as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 22–9, 15–5 Big Sky play to finish in second place. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all postseason tournaments were canceled including the Big Sky tournament.
On March 17, 2020, head coach Jeff Lindor was named the head coach at Wyoming. A few days later, the school promoted assistant coach Steve Smiley as the school's new head coach.

## Previous season

The Bears finished the 2018–19 season 21–11, 15–5 in Big Sky play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament to Southern Utah.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 5, 2019* 6:00 pm, LHN | at Texas | L 45–69 | 0–1 | Frank Erwin Center (8,208) Austin, TX |
| Nov 8, 2019* 8:00 pm | Incarnate Word | W 83–61 | 1–1 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,455) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 12, 2019* 8:00 pm | Colorado College | W 104–38 | 2–1 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,195) Greeley, CO |
| Nov 16, 2019* 11:00 am, ESPN3 | at Northern Iowa Cancún Challenge | L 72–77 | 2–2 | McLeod Center (3,580) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Nov 18, 2019* 5:00 pm, ATTSNPT | at West Virginia Cancún Challenge | L 61–69 | 2–3 | WVU Coliseum (9,740) Morgantown, WV |
| Nov 26, 2019* 1:00 pm | vs. Boston University Cancún Challenge Mayan Division semifinals | W 78–55 | 3–3 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center (253) Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 27, 2019* 1:00 pm | vs. Gardner–Webb Cancún Challenge Mayan Division finals | L 62–67 | 3–4 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Convention Center (107) Cancún, Mexico |
| Dec 4, 2019* 7:00 pm | Northern New Mexico | W 92–47 | 4–4 | Bank of Colorado Arena (887) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 14, 2019* 7:00 pm | at Wyoming | W 74–53 | 5–4 | Arena-Auditorium (3,083) Laramie, WY |
| Dec 17, 2019* 7:00 pm | Denver | W 86–64 | 6–4 | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,460) Greeley, CO |
| Dec 20, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at South Dakota | W 87–68 | 7–4 | Sanford Coyote Sports Center (2,129) Vermillion, SD |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| Dec 28, 2019 3:00 pm | at Portland State | L 65–69 | 7–5 (0–1) | Viking Pavilion (902) Portland, OR |
| Jan 2, 2020 7:00 pm | Montana State | W 68–59 | 8–5 (1–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,288) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 4, 2020 7:00 pm | Montana | W 74–66 | 9–5 (2–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,431) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 9, 2020 7:00 pm | at Weber State | W 65–64 | 10–5 (3–1) | Dee Events Center (4,022) Ogden, UT |
| Jan 16, 2020 7:00 pm | Sacramento State | W 71–52 | 11–5 (4–1) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,495) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 18, 2020 2:00 pm | Northern Arizona | L 58–64 | 11–6 (4–2) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,525) Greeley, CO |
| Jan 25, 2020 3:00 pm | at Idaho | W 74–53 | 12–6 (5–2) | Cowan Spectrum (943) Moscow, ID |
| Jan 27, 2020 7:00 pm | at Eastern Washington | W 89–84 $^{OT}$ | 12–7 (5–3) | Reese Court (1,481) Cheney, WA |
| Jan 30, 2020 7:00 pm | Idaho State | W 83–67 | 13–7 (6–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,477) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 1, 2020 7:00 pm | Weber State | W 70–52 | 14–7 (7–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,776) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 6, 2020 7:00 pm | at Southern Utah | W 68–60 | 15–7 (8–3) | America First Event Center (2,196) Cedar City, UT |
| Feb 10, 2020 7:00 pm | Portland State | L 71–83 | 15–8 (8–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,158) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 13, 2020 6:00 pm | at Northern Arizona | W 84–54 | 16–8 (9–4) | Walkup Skydome (635) Flagstaff, AZ |
| Feb 15, 2020 8:00 pm | at Sacramento State | W 68–65 | 17–8 (10–4) | Hornets Nest (998) Sacramento, CA |
| Feb 20, 2020 7:00 pm | Southern Utah | W 68–66 | 18–8 (11–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,503) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 22, 2020 7:00 pm | at Idaho State | W 85–72 | 19–8 (12–4) | Reed Gym (1,405) Pocatello, ID |
| Feb 27, 2020 7:00 pm | Idaho | W 93–49 | 20–8 (13–4) | Bank of Colorado Arena (1,721) Greeley, CO |
| Feb 29, 2020 7:00 pm | Eastern Washington | L 64–68 | 20–9 (13–5) | Bank of Colorado Arena (2,582) Greeley, CO |
| Mar 5, 2020 7:00 pm | at Montana | W 71–64 | 21–9 (14–5) | Dahlberg Arena (4,822) Missoula, MT |
| Mar 7, 2020 4:00 pm | at Montana State | W 75–61 | 22–9 (15–5) | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Bozeman, MT |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| Canceled ||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
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