# 2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by 1st-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 12–20 overall, 9–11 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the #6 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated #11 seed Marist 56–54 in the first round. Before they could face #3 seeded Rider in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Previous season

The Purple Eagles finished the 2018–19 season 13–19 overall, 6–12 in MAAC play to finish in a three-way tie for ninth place. As the 11th seed in the 2019 MAAC tournament, they were defeated by No. 6 seed Monmouth in the first round, 76–72.
On March 11, 2019, head coach Chris Casey was fired. He finished at Niagara with a six-year record of 64–129. On March 28, 2019, Niagara hired Patrick Beilein as their new head coach. On October 24, it was announced that head coach Patrick Beilein would be stepping down from his job, citing personal reasons. That same day, assistant coach Greg Paulus was announced as interim head coach.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Roberts Wesleyan | W 72–57 | | Gallagher Center (267) Lewiston, NY |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 8, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Drexel Garden State Showcase | L 64–72 | 0–1 | Daskalakis Athletic Center (1,129) Philadelphia, PA |
| November 10, 2019* 1:00 pm, BTN Plus | | at Rutgers Garden State Showcase | L 39–86 | 0–2 | Louis Brown Athletic Center (4,203) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 13, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stephen F. Austin Garden State Showcase | L 80–89 | 0–3 | William R. Johnson Coliseum (2,441) Nacogdoches, TX |
| November 18, 2019* 7:00 pm | | Bryant Garden State Showcase | L 62–73 | 0–4 | Gallagher Center (1,251) Lewiston, NY |
| November 27, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Purdue Fort Wayne | L 54–77 | 0–5 | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum (1,055) Fort Wayne, IN |
| December 1, 2019* 4:00 pm | | at Norfolk State | W 65–61 | 1–5 | Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall (824) Norfolk, VA |
| December 8, 2019* 1:00 pm | | Colgate | W 93–82 | 2–5 | Gallagher Center (1,276) Lewiston, NY |
| December 14, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Albany | L 80–84 | 2–6 | SEFCU Arena (1,776) Albany, NY |
| December 18, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at St. Bonaventure | L 70–87 | 2–7 | Reilly Center (2,016) St. Bonaventure, NY |
| December 21, 2019* 2:00 pm | | at Buffalo | L 72–92 | 2–8 | Alumni Arena (2,644) Amherst, NY |
| December 28, 2019* 7:00 pm | | at Syracuse | L 57–71 | 2–9 | Carrier Dome (18,125) Syracuse, NY |
| MAAC regular season ||||||
| January 3, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Fairfield | W 75–66 | 3–9 (1–0) | Gallagher Center (1,115) Lewiston, NY |
| January 5, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Manhattan | L 62–67 | 3–10 (1–1) | Gallagher Center (1,078) Lewiston, NY |
| January 10, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Quinnipiac | L 56–67 | 3–11 (1–2) | People's United Center (912) Hamden, CT |
| January 12, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Iona | W 70–69 | 4–11 (2–2) | Hynes Athletic Center (1,317) New Rochelle, NY |
| January 17, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Rider | W 70–68 | 5–11 (3–2) | Gallagher Center (980) Lewiston, NY |
| January 19, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Siena | W 72–71 | 6–11 (4–2) | Gallagher Center (1,020) Lewiston, NY |
| January 24, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Monmouth | L 71–82 | 6–12 (4–3) | OceanFirst Bank Center (2,415) West Long Branch, NJ |
| January 26, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Saint Peter's | L 53–58 | 6–13 (4–4) | Yanitelli Center (522) Jersey City, NJ |
| January 31, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Marist | L 48–67 | 6–14 (4–5) | Gallagher Center (1,066) Lewiston, NY |
| February 2, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Quinnipiac | W 75–59 | 7–14 (5–5) | Gallagher Center (935) Lewiston, NY |
| February 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Manhattan | L 59–77 | 7–15 (5–6) | Draddy Gymnasium (1,345) Riverdale, NY |
| February 9, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Rider | L 58–73 | 7–16 (5–7) | Alumni Gymnasium (1,528) Lawrenceville, NJ |
| February 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Canisius Battle of the Bridge | W 69–66 | 8–16 (6–7) | Gallagher Center (1,568) Lewiston, NY |
| February 16, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Monmouth | W 77–72 | 9–16 (7–7) | Gallagher Center (1,111) Lewiston, NY |
| February 21, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield | L 60–61 | 9–17 (7–8) | Alumni Hall (1,656) Fairfield, CT |
| February 23, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Marist | L 54–76 | 9–18 (7–9) | McCann Arena (1,549) Poughkeepsie, NY |
| February 27, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Saint Peter's | W 63–54 | 10–18 (8–9) | Gallagher Center (985) Lewiston, NY |
| February 29, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Iona | W 100–91 $^{OT}$ | 11–18 (9–9) | Gallagher Center (1,193) Lewiston, NY |
| March 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Siena | L 55–77 | 11–19 (9–10) | Times Union Center (7,146) Albany, NY |
| March 6, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Canisius Battle of the Bridge | L 63–67 | 11–20 (9–11) | Koessler Athletic Center (1,805) Buffalo, NY |
| MAAC tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2020 10:15 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (11) Marist First round | W 56–54 | 12–20 | Boardwalk Hall (878) Atlantic City, NJ |
| March 12, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | vs. (3) Rider Quarterfinals | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Boardwalk Hall Atlantic City, NJ |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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