2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season

The 2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2019, followed by the start of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 5, 2019. Conference play began in late December 2019 and concluded in March with the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)CBS, CBSSN, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3, ESPN+, FSI, FSKC, FSMW, NBCSC
Regular Season
2020 MVC ChampionNorthern Iowa
Season MVPA. J. Green, Northern Iowa
Tournament
ChampionsBradley
  Runners-upValparaiso
Finals MVPDarrell Brown Jr., Bradley
Basketball seasons
2019–20 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Northern Iowa 14 4   .778 25 6   .806
Loyola Chicago 13 5   .722 21 11   .656
Indiana State 11 7   .611 18 12   .600
Bradley 11 7   .611 23 11   .676
Southern Illinois 10 8   .556 16 16   .500
Missouri State 9 9   .500 16 17   .485
Valparaiso 9 9   .500 19 16   .543
Drake 8 10   .444 20 14   .588
Illinois State 5 13   .278 10 21   .323
Evansville 0 18   .000 9 23   .281
2020 MVC tournament winner

Northern Iowa captured the regular season title at 14–4.

Bradley defeated Valparaiso in the championship game to win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and thereby would have received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Northern Iowa, by virtue of winning the regular season title, but not winning the conference tournament, would have received the conference's automatic bid to the National Invitational tournament.

All subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head Coaches

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Changes

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On March 6, 2019, Southern Illinois head coach Barry Hinson resigned.[1] He finished with a seven-year record of 116–106. The school announced on March 20 that former Loyola-Chicago associate head coach (and Saluki alumnus) Bryan Mullins had been named head coach.[2]

Coaches

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Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record MVC record MVC titles NCAA Tournaments
Bradley Brian Wardle Green Bay
(Head)
4 58–75 28–44 0 1
Drake Darian DeVries Creighton
(Assistant)
1 24–10 12–6 1 0
Evansville Walter McCarty Boston Celtics
(Assistant)
1 11–21 5–13 0 0
Illinois State Dan Muller Vanderbilt
(Assistant)
7 139–96 76–50 1 0
Indiana State Greg Lansing Indiana State
(Assistant)
9 148–142 80–82 0 1
Loyola-Chicago Porter Moser Saint Louis
(Assistant)
8 141–125 60–82 2 1
Missouri State Dana Ford Tennessee State
(Head)
1 16–16 10–8 0 0
Northern Iowa Ben Jacobson Northern Iowa
(Assistant)
13 266–168 139–95 2 4
Southern Illinois Bryan Mullins Loyola-Chicago
(Assistant)
0 0–0 0–0 0 0
Valparaiso Matt Lottich Valparaiso
(Assistant)
3 54–44 13–23 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Overall and MVC records are from time at current school and are through the beginning of the season.
  • Lottich and Moser's conference records only includes MVC play, not other conference records.

Preseason

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Poll

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Source[3]

Rank Team Points
1. Missouri State (29) 410
2. Bradley (5) 368
3. Northern Iowa (3) 343
4. Loyola-Chicago (6) 340
5. Drake 243
6. Indiana State 210
7. Illinois State (1) 193
8. Evansville 132
9. Valparaiso 98
10. Southern Illinois 83
(First-Place Votes)

All-Conference Teams

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Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Cameron Krutwig, Loyola-Chicago
First Team
Darell Brown Jr., Bradley
Tulia Da Silva, Missouri State
A. J. Green, Northern Iowa
Tyreke Key, Indiana State
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola-Chicago
Second Team
Jordan Barnes, Indiana State
Elijah Childs, Bradley
Keandre Cook, Missouri State
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Valparaiso
Ryan Vazekas, Valparaiso
Third Team
Zach Copeland, Illinois State
Gaige Prim, Missouri State
Lamont West, Missouri State
D. J. Wilkins, Drake
DeAndre Williams, Evansville
Lucas Williamson, Loyola-Chicago

Source[3]

Regular season

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Changes

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On December 27, 2019, Evansville placed head coach Walter McCarty on administrative leave and named current Evanville assistant coach (and former Samford head coach) Bennie Seltzer as interim head coach.[4] McCarty was in his second season at the school with an overall record at the time of 20–25. The school terminated McCarty's contract on January 21, 2020[5] and announced later that same day that former Marian, Butler and Iowa head coach, as well as Evansville associate head coach, Todd Lickliter would return as head coach, effective immediately.[6]

Conference Matrix

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This table summarizes head-to-head results between teams in conference play; each team will play eighteen conference games, facing each team twice.

  Bradley Drake Evansville Illinois State Indiana State Loyola-Chicago Missouri State Northern Iowa Southern Illinois Valparaiso
vs BU 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1
vs DU 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1
vs UE 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–0
vs IlSU 2–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs InSU 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1
vs LU 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2
vs MSU 2–0 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1
vs UNI 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–2 0–2
vs SIU 2–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs VU 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1
Overall 11–7 8–10 0–18 5–13 11–7 13–5 9–9 14–4 10–8 9–9

Postseason

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Coaches

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Source[7]

Honor Recipient
Coach of the Year Ben Jacobsen, Northern Iowa

Source[7]

All-Conference Teams

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Source[8]

Honor Recipient
Larry Bird Player of the Year A. J. Green, Northern Iowa
Defensive MVP Isaiah Brown, Northern Iowa
Sixth-Man of the Year Marquise Kennedy, Loyola-Chicago
Newcomer of the Year Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
Freshman of the Year Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
First Team
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Valparaiso
A. J. Green, Northern Iowa
Tyreke Key, Indiana State
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola-Chicago
Austin Phyfe, Northern Iowa
Second Team
Darrell Brown Jr., Bradley
Elijah Childs, Bradley
Keandre Cook, Missouri State
Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
Liam Robbins, Drake
Third Team
Jordan Barnes, Indiana State
Tate Hall, Loyola-Chicago
Nate Kennell, Bradley
Roman Penn, Drake
Gaige Prim, Missouri State

Source[8]

Conference tournament

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References

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  1. ^ "Barry Hinson steps down as Southern Illinois head coach". coachesdatabase.com. March 9, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
  2. ^ "Former Saluki Bryan Mullins named head coach at Southern Illinois". coachesdatabase.com. March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "2019-20 MVC MEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON POLL" (PDF). mvc-sports.com. October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  4. ^ Lindskog, Chad (December 27, 2019). "UE places Walter McCarty on leave for alleged 'unwelcome conduct'". courierpress.com. Retrieved December 28, 2019.
  5. ^ Lindskog, Chad (January 21, 2020). "University of Evansville fires Walter McCarty as head men's basketball coach". courierpress.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Lindskog, Chad (January 21, 2020). "Evansville hires Todd Lickliter as basketball head coach hours after firing Walter McCarty". courierpress.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  7. ^ a b "UNI's Ben Jacobson Named Top MVC Men's Basketball Coach" (PDF). mvc-sports.com. March 5, 2020. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "AJ Green of UNI is the 2020 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year" (PDF). mvc-sports.com. March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.