# 2019–20 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represented Eastern Illinois University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by eighth-year head coach Jay Spoonhour, played their home games at Lantz Arena as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 17–15, 9–9 in OVC play, to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Jacksonville State in the first round of the OVC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Austin Peay.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2018–19 season 14–18, 7–11 in OVC play, to finish in sixth place. They lost to UT Martin in the first round of the OVC tournament.

## Preseason

In a vote of conference coaches and sports information directors, Eastern Illinois was picked to finish in 7th place in the OVC.

### Preseason All-OVC team

The Panthers had one player selected to the preseason all-OVC team.
* Josiah Wallace – Guard

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 30, 2019* 7:00 p.m. | | Missouri–St. Louis | W 66–51 | | Lantz Arena Charleston, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 p.m., FSSW+ | | at No. 13 Texas Tech | L 60–85 | 0–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (15,098) Lubbock, TX |
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Wisconsin | L 52–65 | 0–2 | Kohl Center (17,106) Madison, WI |
| November 12, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Chicago State | W 98–34 | 1–2 | Lantz Arena (1,198) Charleston, IL |
| November 18, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Indiana Northwest Incarnate Word MTE Event | W 114–61 | 2–2 | Lantz Arena (1,232) Charleston, IL |
| November 22, 2019* 2:00 p.m. | | vs. St. Francis (Ill.) Incarnate Word MTE Event | W 87–47 | 3–2 | McDermott Center (130) San Antonio, TX |
| November 23, 2019* 12:00 p.m., UIW TV | | vs. Bethune–Cookman Incarnate Word MTE Event | L 63–66 | 3–3 | McDermott Center (126) San Antonio, TX |
| November 24, 2019* 6:00 p.m., UIW Pay-Per-View | | at Incarnate Word Incarnate Word MTE Event | W 72–63 | 4–3 | McDermott Center (349) San Antonio, TX |
| December 4, 2019* 6:00 p.m., YouTube | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | L 69–74 | 4–4 | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (1,059) Fort Wayne, IN |
| December 7, 2019* 3:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | Green Bay | W 93–80 | 5–4 | Lantz Arena (1,488) Charleston, IL |
| December 14, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Milwaukee | W 75–68 | 6–4 | UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena (1,101) Milwaukee, WI |
| December 16, 2019* 7:00 p.m. | | at Western Illinois | W 85–47 | 7–4 | Western Hall (347) Macomb, IL |
| December 21, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Grand Canyon | L 63–85 | 7–5 | GCU Arena (6,634) Phoenix, AZ |
| Ohio Valley regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tennessee State | L 79–84 | 7–6 (0–1) | Gentry Complex Nashville, TN |
| January 4, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Belmont | L 55–87 | 7–7 (0–2) | Curb Event Center (1,905) Nashville, TN |
| January 9, 2020 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Eastern Kentucky | L 74–77 | 7–8 (0–3) | McBrayer Arena Richmond, KY |
| January 11, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Morehead State | L 66–69 | 7–9 (0–4) | Ellis Johnson Arena (1,474) Morehead, KY |
| January 16, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State | W 70–69 | 8–9 (1–4) | Lantz Arena (1,460) Charleston, IL |
| January 18, 2020 3:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tennessee Tech | W 84–59 | 9–9 (2–4) | Lantz Arena (1,525) Charleston, IL |
| January 23, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | UT Martin | W 95–83 | 10–9 (3–4) | Lantz Arena (1,725) Charleston, IL |
| January 25, 2020 3:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southeast Missouri State | W 61–59 | 11–9 (4–4) | Lantz Arena (1,538) Charleston, IL |
| January 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Murray State | L 70–73 | 11–10 (4–5) | CFSB Center (4,530) Murray, KY |
| February 1, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Austin Peay | L 64–68 | 11–11 (4–6) | Dunn Center (2,128) Clarksville, TN |
| February 6, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Kentucky | L 84–91 | 11–12 (4–7) | Lantz Arena (1,400) Charleston, IL |
| February 8, 2020 3:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | Morehead State | W 71–65 | 12–12 (5–7) | Lantz Arena (1,515) Charleston, IL |
| February 13, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | SIU Edwardsville | L 74–76 | 12–13 (5–8) | Lantz Arena (1,111) Charleston, IL |
| February 15, 2020 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at UT Martin | L 79–80 $^{OT}$ | 12–14 (5–9) | Skyhawk Arena (1,013) Martin, TN |
| February 20, 2020 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Murray State | W 63–60 | 13–14 (6–9) | Lantz Arena (1,444) Charleston, IL |
| February 22, 2020 3:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | Austin Peay | W 83–80 $^{OT}$ | 14–14 (7–9) | Lantz Arena (1,633) Charleston, IL |
| February 27, 2020 7:15 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southeast Missouri State | W 72–70 | 15–14 (8–9) | Show Me Center (1,775) Cape Girardeau, MO |
| February 29, 2020 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at SIU Edwardsville | W 70–52 | 16–14 (9–9) | Vadalabene Center Edwardsville, IL |
| Ohio Valley Conference tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2020 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (7) Jacksonville State First round | W 67–61 | 17–14 | Ford Center (593) Evansville, IN |
| March 5, 2020 8:30 p.m., ESPN+ | (6) | vs. (3) Austin Peay Quarterfinals | L 65–76 | 17–15 | Ford Center (1,005) Evansville, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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