# 2019–20 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represented Butler University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were coached by LaVall Jordan, in his third year as head coach of his alma mater. The Bulldogs played their home games at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana as members of the Big East Conference. The Bulldogs finished the season 23–9, 10–8 in Big East play which put them in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Big East tournament, they were slated to play Providence in the second game of the quarterfinals, but the Tournament was cancelled at halftime of the first game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rest of the NCAA postseason.

## Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2018–19 season 16–17, 7–11 in Big East play which tied them for eighth place. As the No. 9 seed in the Big East tournament, they were defeated by Providence in the quarterfinals. The Bulldogs received an at-large bid to the NIT as the No. 5 seed in the TCU bracket. There they were defeated in the first round by Nebraska.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Nate Fowler | 51 | C | 6'10" | 240 | Senior | Cincinnati, OH | Graduated |
| Paul Jorgensen | 5 | G | 6'2" | 185 | RS Senior | New City, NY | Graduated |
| Joey Brunk | 50 | C | 6'11" | 250 | RS Sophomore | Indianapolis, IN | Transferred to Indiana |
| Jerald Gillens-Butler | 21 | G/F | 6'4" | 230 | Sophomore | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Transferred to Elon |

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Derrik Smits | 21 | C | 7'1" | 240 | Graduate | Zionsville, IN | Transferred from Valparaiso. Immediately eligible to play as he graduated from Valparaiso. |

### 2019 Recruiting Class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| John-Michael Mulloy C | Carmel, IN | Carmel High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Sep 6, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Khalif Battle SG | Metuchen, NJ | Trenton Catholic Academy | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 4, 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: "2019 Butler Commits". Rivals.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 26, 2019* 7:30 p.m. | | IU Kokomo | W 70–40 | – | 18 – McDermott | 7 – Tucker | 6 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,392) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 1, 2019* 7:00 p.m. | | Indianapolis | W 79–47 | – | 29 – McDermott | 11 – Nze | 5 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,527) Indianapolis, IN |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2019* 6:30 p.m., FS2 | | IUPUI | W 80–47 | 1–0 | 26 – McDermott | 11 – Nze | 9 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,706) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 9, 2019* 7:00 p.m., FSN | | New Orleans | W 79–53 | 2–0 | 18 – Nze | 10 – Nze | 10 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,118) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 12, 2019* 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | Minnesota Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 64–56 | 3–0 | 27 – Baldwin | 8 – Nze | 3 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,879) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 16, 2019* 8:00 p.m., FS2 | | Wofford Hall of Fame Classic campus game | W 80–61 | 4–0 | 23 – Baldwin | 7 – Tied | 7 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,054) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 22, 2019* 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Morehead State CBE Hall of Fame Classic campus game | W 68–50 | 5–0 | 17 – Baldwin | 8 – Baldwin | 5 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,707) Indianapolis, IN |
| November 25, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Missouri CBE Hall of Fame Classic semifinal | W 63–52 | 6–0 | 13 – Tied | 7 – Nze | 7 – Thompson | Sprint Center Kansas City, MO |
| November 26, 2019* 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Stanford CBE Hall of Fame Classic championship | W 68–67 | 7–0 | 22 – Baldwin | 8 – Nze | 4 – Thompson | Sprint Center (8,506) Kansas City, MO |
| December 3, 2019* 7:00 p.m., SECN | No. 24 | at Ole Miss | W 67–58 | 8–0 | 31 – Baldwin | 7 – Nze | 3 – Tied | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (7,348) Oxford, MS |
| December 7, 2019* 12:00 p.m., FOX | No. 24 | Florida | W 76–62 | 9–0 | 16 – Tied | 7 – McDermott | 7 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,303) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 10, 2019* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | at No. 11 Baylor Big East/Big 12 Battle | L 52–53 | 9–1 | 19 – Baldwin | 8 – Thompson | 3 – Baldwin | Ferrell Center (7,270) Waco, TX |
| December 14, 2019* 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 18 | Southern | W 66–41 | 10–1 | 12 – Golden | 7 – Nze | 8 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (7,635) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 21, 2019* 2:30 p.m., BTN | No. 17 | vs. Purdue Crossroads Classic | W 70–61 | 11–1 | 14 – Golden | 6 – Nze | 6 – Thompson | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,538) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 28, 2019* 4:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 12 | Louisiana–Monroe | W 67–36 | 12–1 | 16 – Smits | 8 – Baldwin | 6 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,040) Indianapolis, IN |
| Big East regular season |||||||||
| December 31, 2019 7:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 11 | at St. John's | W 60–58 | 13–1 (1–0) | 19 – Baldwin | 12 – Nze | 5 – Nze | Carnesecca Arena (3,816) Queens, NY |
| January 4, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 11 | Creighton | W 71–57 | 14–1 (2–0) | 20 – Baldwin | 11 – McDermott | 2 – Tied | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,129) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 10, 2020 9:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 6 | at Providence | W 70–58 | 15–1 (3–0) | 17 – Tied | 9 – Golden | 3 – Thompson | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,674) Providence, RI |
| January 15, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 5 | No. 18 Seton Hall | L 70–78 | 15–2 (3–1) | 19 – Baldwin | 10 – Tucker | 6 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,823) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 18, 2020 1:00 p.m., FSN | No. 5 | at DePaul | L 66–79 | 15–3 (3–2) | 16 – Baldwin | 8 – McDermott | 6 – Thompson | Wintrust Arena (8,967) Chicago, IL |
| January 21, 2020 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | No. 13 | at No. 9 Villanova | L 61–76 | 15–4 (3–3) | 21 – Baldwin | 12 – Nze | 5 – Tied | Finneran Pavilion (6,501) Villanova, PA |
| January 24, 2020 9:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 13 | Marquette | W 89–85 $^{OT}$ | 16–4 (4–3) | 31 – Baldwin | 9 – McDermott | 5 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,204) Indianapolis, IN |
| January 28, 2020 9:00 p.m., CBSSN | No. 16 | at Georgetown | W 69–64 | 17–4 (5–3) | 25 – McDermott | 8 – McDermott | 6 – Baldwin | Capital One Arena (5,329) Washington, D.C. |
| February 1, 2020 2:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 16 | Providence | L 61–65 | 17–5 (5–4) | 14 – Baldwin | 8 – Tucker | 5 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,132) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 5, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 19 | No. 10 Villanova | W 79–76 | 18–5 (6–4) | 21 – McDermott | 8 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,814) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 9, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 19 | at Marquette | L 57–76 | 18–6 (6–5) | 23 – Baldwin | 6 – Tied | 7 – Thompson | Fiserv Forum (17,526) Milwaukee, WI |
| February 12, 2020 6:30 p.m., CBSSN | No. 19 | Xavier | W 66–61 | 19–6 (7–5) | 14 – McDermott | 6 – McDermott | 5 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,878) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 15, 2020 2:30 p.m., FOX | No. 19 | Georgetown | L 66–73 | 19–7 (7–6) | 17 – Baldwin | 7 – McDermott | 6 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,158) Indianapolis, IN |
| February 19, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 21 | at No. 16 Seton Hall | L 72–74 | 19–8 (7–7) | 20 – Baldwin | 10 – Nze | 6 – Baldwin | Prudential Center (10,481) Newark, NJ |
| February 23, 2020 4:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 21 | at No. 15 Creighton | L 59–81 | 19–9 (7–8) | 13 – Baddley | 7 – Nze | 4 – Battle | CHI Health Center Omaha (18,148) Omaha, NE |
| February 29, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1 | | DePaul | W 60–42 | 20–9 (8–8) | 13 – Tied | 8 – Baldwin | 5 – Baldwin | Hinkle Fieldhouse (9,234) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 p.m., CBSSN | | St. John's | W 77–55 | 21–9 (9–8) | 16 – McDermott | 14 – McDermott | 5 – Thompson | Hinkle Fieldhouse (8,675) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 7, 2020 8:30 p.m., FS1 | | at Xavier | W 72–71 | 22–9 (10–8) | 36 – Baldwin | 8 – Nze | 3 – Tied | Cintas Center Cincinnati, OH |
| Big East tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2020 2:30 pm, FS1 | (5) No. 24 | vs. (4) Providence Quarterfinal | Big East tournament canceled | Big East tournament canceled | Big East tournament canceled | Big East tournament canceled | Big East tournament canceled | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time . |||||||||

## 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 | RV | 24 | 18 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 21 | RV | RV | 24 | 23 |
| Coaches | — | — | RV | RV | 24 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 23 | RV | 25 | 21 | 21 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

## Awards

| Name | Award(s) |
| Kamar Baldwin | Preseason All-Big East First Team Big East Player of the Week – Jan. 27 |