2019–20 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team explained

Sport:Basketball
Year:2019–20
Team:Auburn Tigers
Conference:Southeastern Conference
Short Conf:SEC
Coachrank:20
Aprank:20
Record:25–6
Conf Record:12–6
Head Coach:Bruce Pearl
Hc Year:6th
Asst Coach1:Ira Bowman
Ac1 Year:2nd
Asst Coach2:Wes Flanigan
Ac2 Year:2nd
Asst Coach3:Steven Pearl
Ac3 Year:3rd
Arena:Auburn Arena
Champion:Legends Classic champions

The 2019–20 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented Auburn University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The team's head coach was Bruce Pearl in his sixth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at Auburn Arena in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 25–6, 12–6 in SEC play to finish in a tie for second place. They were set to be the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament with a bye to the quarterfinals. However, the SEC Tournament and all other postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2018–19 season 30–10, 11–7 in SEC play. As the No. 5 seed in the SEC tournament, the Tigers defeated Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee to win the tournament championship. It was Auburn's second SEC Tournament championship and first since 1985. The Tigers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. There, they defeated New Mexico State and Kansas to advance to the team first Sweet Sixteen since 2003. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated No. 1-seeded North Carolina to advance to the Elite Eight. There they defeated No. 2 seed Kentucky to advance to the program's first Final Four. In the Final Four, they suffered a controversial loss to eventual national champion Virginia.

Offseason

Departures

Auburn lost seniors Cole Blackstock, Bryce Brown, Malik Dunbar, and Horace Spencer to graduation. In addition, Jared Harper and Chuma Okeke declared for the NBA draft. The Orlando Magic picked Okeke as the 16th draft choice, making him the first Auburn player to be drafted since 2001. Harper signed with the Phoenix Suns, Brown with the Sacramento Kings, and Dunbar with the Golden State Warriors. Spencer signed with Argentine club Atenas de Cordoba.

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes
Cole Blackstock41C6'9"260Killen, ALGraduated
Bryce Brown2G6'3"198Stone Mountain, GAGraduated
Malik Dunbar4G/F6'6"230North Augusta, SCGraduated
Jared Harper1G5'11"175Mableton, GAPlay professionally
Chuma Okeke5F6'8"230Atlanta, GADeclared for the NBA draft; selected 16th overall by the Orlando Magic.
Horace Spencer0F6'8"225Philadelphia, PAGraduated

2020 Recruiting class

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on October 15, 2019.[1]

Media poll
1 Kentucky
2 Florida
3 LSU
4 Auburn
5 Tennessee
6 Alabama
7 Mississippi State
8 Ole Miss
9 Georgia
10 South Carolina
11 Arkansas
12 Texas A&M
13 Missouri
14 Vanderbilt

Schedule and results

|-! colspan=9 style=| Exhibition|-!colspan=9 style=|Regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| SEC Tournament|- style="background:#bbbbbb"| style="text-align:center"|March 13, 2020
6:00 pm, SECN| style="text-align:center"| (2) No. 20| vs.
Quarterfinals| colspan=5 rowspan=1 style="text-align:center"|Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[2] | style="text-align:center"|Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN|-[3]

Rankings

See also: 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings. *AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

Samir Doughty

Isaac Okoro

Austin Wiley

Notes and References

  1. Web site: UK picked to win 2020 SEC Men's Basketball Championship. October 15, 2019 . SEC Sports . October 15, 2019.
  2. Web site: 2020 SEC Tournament canceled Thursday amid coronavirus pandemic concerns.
  3. Web site: 2019-20 Men's Basketball Schedule.
  4. Web site: SEC announces 2020 Men's Basketball Awards. www.secsports.com. 2020-03-10.
  5. Web site: Mississippi State's Perry, Arkansas' Jones share SEC honors. 2020-03-10. AP NEWS. 2020-03-10.
  6. Web site: 2020 SEC Men's Basketball Preseason Teams announced . November 4, 2019 . . November 4, 2019.
  7. Web site: AUBURN CAPTURES ROMAN LEGENDS CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OLD TRAPPER. 26 November 2019. www.gazellegroup.com. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20200921163259/https://www.gazellegroup.com/main/legends/auburn-captures-roman-legends-classic-presented-by-old-trapper-crown/ . 2020-09-21 . 2019-12-02.