2020 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2020 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament was the final event of the 2019–20 men's basketball season for the Horizon League, and the final event in the league's 2019-20 season. It began on March 3, 2020 and ended on March 10; first-round and quarterfinal games were played at the home courts of the higher seed, with all remaining games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The winner received the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, though that was cancelled two days later due to the coronavirus pandemic, along with all other winter tourneys and spring sports. [1]
| 2020 Horizon League Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2019–20 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Site | Campus sites (First Round and Quarterfinals) Indiana Farmers Coliseum Indianapolis, Indiana (Semifinals and Finals) |
| Champions | Northern Kentucky (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Darrin Horn (1st title) |
| MVP | Jalen Tate (Northern Kentucky) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN |
| 2019–20 Horizon League men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wright State | 15 | – | 3 | .833 | 25 | – | 7 | .781 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Kentucky † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 23 | – | 9 | .719 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Bay | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 17 | – | 16 | .515 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youngstown State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UIC | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oakland | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cleveland State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Milwaukee | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Detroit Mercy* | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 8 | – | 23 | .258 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| IUPUI | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *ineligible for postseason due to APR violations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2020 Horizon League Tournament winner As of June 27, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
9 of 10 eligible teams participated in the tournament with the top 2 teams receiving byes to the semifinals. Detroit Mercy was ineligible for postseason play, including the conference tournament, due to low APR scores.[2] Teams were seeded by conference record, then seeded further with tiebreakers for teams with the same win-loss records.[3]
| Seed | School | Conf | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wright State | 15−3 | |
| 2 | Northern Kentucky | 13–5 | |
| 3 | Green Bay | 11–7 | |
| 4 | UIC | 10–8 | 1–1 vs Northern Kentucky |
| 5 | Youngstown State | 10–8 | 0–2 vs Northern Kentucky |
| 6 | Oakland | 8–10 | |
| 7 | Cleveland State | 7–11 | 2–0 vs Milwaukee |
| 8 | Milwaukee | 7–11 | 0–2 vs Cleveland State |
| 9 | IUPUI | 3–15 | |
Schedule
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round – Tuesday, March 3 | ||||
| 1 | 8:00 pm | No. 9 IUPUI at No. 4 UIC | 59–93 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 7:00 pm | No. 8 Milwaukee at No. 5 Youngstown State | 57–63 | |
| 3 | 7:00 pm | No. 7 Cleveland State at No. 6 Oakland | 59–80 | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5 | ||||
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 6 Oakland at No. 3 Green Bay | 63–78 | ESPN+ |
| 5 | 8:00 pm | No. 5 Youngstown State at No. 4 UIC | 61–67 | |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 9 | ||||
| 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 UIC vs. No. 1 Wright State | 73–56 | ESPNU |
| 7 | 9:30 pm | No. 3 Green Bay vs. No. 2 Northern Kentucky | 69–80 | ESPN2 |
| Finals – Tuesday, March 10 | ||||
| 8 | 7:00 pm | No. 4 UIC vs. No. 2 Northern Kentucky | 71–62 | ESPN |
| All game times local. Rankings denote tournament seed | ||||
Bracket
| First round Tuesday, March 3 |
Quarterfinals Thursday, March 5 |
Semifinals Monday, March 9 |
Championship Tuesday, March 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Wright State | 56 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UIC | 73 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Green Bay | 78 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Oakland | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UIC | 93 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | IUPUI | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UIC | 62 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Pairings are re-seeded after the first and second rounds.) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Northern Kentucky | 71 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Youngstown State | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Milwaukee | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | UIC | 67 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Youngstown State | 61 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Oakland | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Cleveland State | 59 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Northern Kentucky | 80 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Green Bay | 69 | ||||||||||||||||||
References
- "2020 Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championships". Horizon League. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
- Crawford, Kirkland; Thomas, Chris (May 9, 2019). "Detroit Mercy basketball not eligible for NCAA tournament after low APR score". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
- "Horizon League Reveils Brackets for Basketball Championships". Horizon League. Retrieved 2020-02-14.