2019–20 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team represented the University of Arkansas during the 2019–20 season. The team was led by first-year head coach Eric Musselman, and played their home games at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas as a member of the Southeastern Conference. The Razorbacks finished with a record of 20–12 (7–11), with junior Mason Jones earning a share of the SEC Player of the Year award and being named a consensus First-Team All-SEC player.

2019–20 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
2019–20 record	20–12 (7–11 SEC)
Head coach	Eric Musselman (1st season)
Assistant coaches	Corey Williams Chris Crutchfield Clay Moser
Home arena	Bud Walton Arena

2019–20 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3		.833			25	–	6		.806
No. 20 Auburn	12	–	6		.667			25	–	6		.806
LSU	12	–	6		.667			21	–	10		.677
Mississippi State	11	–	7		.611			20	–	11		.645
Florida	11	–	7		.611			19	–	12		.613
South Carolina	10	–	8		.556			18	–	13		.581
Texas A&M	10	–	8		.556			16	–	14		.533
Tennessee	9	–	9		.500			17	–	14		.548
Alabama	8	–	10		.444			16	–	15		.516
Arkansas	7	–	11		.389			20	–	12		.625
Missouri	7	–	11		.389			15	–	16		.484
Ole Miss	6	–	12		.333			15	–	17		.469
Georgia	5	–	13		.278			16	–	16		.500
Vanderbilt	3	–	15		.167			11	–	21		.344
As of January 29, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll NOTE: The 2020 SEC Tournament was canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arkansas started the season strongly, going into conference play with an 11–1 record, including two road wins against Power Five teams, Georgia Tech and Indiana. The first quarter of conference play was promising for the Razorbacks, with the only setback coming on the road against LSU, 79–77. Heading into a highly anticipated home game with #10 Kentucky, the Hogs were 14–2, with a 3–1 conference record. Arkansas led with less than nine minutes left in the game when Kentucky head coach John Calipari was ejected, sparking a Kentucky run and victory. From there the season bottomed out, with the Hogs finishing the last fourteen games of the conference season with a record of 4–10 for a final regular season record of 19–12 (7–11), including a five-game losing streak without star guard Isaiah Joe that featured back-to-back overtime losses for the first time in school history, in addition to a one-point loss.[1] Heading into the last quarter of the conference season, Arkansas avenged earlier losses to Missouri and Tennessee, placing the Hogs back on the bubble, but fell on the road to thirteenth-place Georgia, effectively knocking the Razorbacks out of tournament contention. After splitting the last two games of the season at home against LSU and on the road against Texas A&M, the Hogs were on the outside looking in, most likely needing to win the SEC Tournament to receive an NCAA Tournament bid.[2]

After winning their first-round game against Vanderbilt on March 11, 2020, the Hogs were slated for a rematch against South Carolina in the second round, but the SEC announced on March 12, 2020 that the SEC Tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an announcement following from the NCAA later that day that the whole tournament was cancelled, along with all other winter and spring championships, ending the Razorbacks' season.

The Razorbacks received some votes for the AP Poll throughout the non-conference season, but never earned a ranking, and stopped receiving votes by the end of January.[3]

Mason Jones was voted the SEC Player of the Year by the league media, sharing the honor with Reggie Perry, a Mississippi State player and former Arkansas commit, while the coaches' award went to Immanuel Quickley, of Kentucky. Jones was the third Razorback to win the award, along with Bobby Portis and Corliss Williamson. Jones had an outstanding season, being named SEC Player of the Week four times, one of three SEC players to ever do so and the first in over a decade. Jones led the SEC in scoring, becoming the first Razorback to claim the SEC scoring title, while also finishing ranked eighth in the country for points per game. Jones led the NCAA in both free throw attempts and makes, while also having nine thirty-point games, the most by an SEC player in two decades. Jones broke Sidney Moncrief's school record for free throws made in a season, in addition to being one of only three players in the previous thirty years to score forty points in a game multiple times in a season. Jones was named a consensus First-Team All-SEC player, the tenth time an Arkansas player has achieved that honor.[4] Jones was also named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press (AP).

Previous season

On March 26, 2019, Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek fired former head coach Mike Anderson.[5] Following a 12-day search, Yurachek announced Musselman's hiring on April 7.[6]

Former guard Keyshawn Embery-Simpson had already announced following Anderson's firing that he would be leaving the school and transferring to Tulsa.[7]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Daniel Gafford	10	F	6'11"	233	Sophomore	El Dorado, Arkansas	Declared for the NBA Draft; selected 38th overall by the Chicago Bulls.
Keyshawn Embery-Simpson	11	G	6'3"	202	Freshman	Midwest City, Oklahoma	Transferred to Tulsa
Gabe Osabuohien	22	F	6'8"	221	Sophomore	Toronto, Ontario	Dismissed from team;[8] transferred to West Virginia
Justice Hill	–	G	5'11"	202	Freshman	Little Rock, Arkansas	Transferred to Salt Lake CC[9]

Incoming Transfers

Name	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Jimmy Whitt	SG	6'3"	175	Graduate Student	Columbia, MO	Transferred from SMU after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.
Jeantal Cylla	PF	6'7"	215	Graduate Student	Lake Worth, FL	Transferred from UNC Wilmington after graduating. Will have one year of eligibility beginning immediately.
JD Notae	PG	6'2"	185	Junior	Covington, GA	Transferred from Jacksonville. Under NCAA transfer rules, Notae will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.[10]
Connor Vanover	PF	7'3"	230	Sophomore	Little Rock, AR	Transferred from California. Under NCAA transfer rules, Vanover will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have three years of remaining eligibility.
Abayomi Iyiola	PF	6'9"	210	Junior	Atlanta, GA	Transferred from Stetson. Under NCAA transfer rules, Iyiloa will have to sit out the 2019–20 season. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

Jamario Bell would also join the team with one year of eligibility after his career with the Arkansas football team ended.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Justice Hill PG	Little Rock, Arkansas	LR Christian	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Nov 14, 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 Arkansas Commits". Rivals.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on October 15, 2019.[11]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team
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

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Razorbacks had one player selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.

Second Team Isaiah Joe

Roster

2019–20 Arkansas Razorbacks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown SF 2 Adrio Bailey 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 222 lb (101 kg) Sr Lakeview HS Campti, Louisiana PF 14 Jamario Bell 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr Junction City HS Junction City, Arkansas PF 35 Reggie Chaney 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) So Findlay Prep Tulsa, Oklahoma PF 4 Jeantal Cylla 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) GS Lake Worth Community HS UNC Wilmington Lake Worth, Florida SG 5 Jalen Harris 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS Jr Word of God Christian Academy New Mexico Raleigh, North Carolina PF 24 Ethan Henderson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Parkview Arts & Science HS Little Rock, Arkansas SG 1 Isaiah Joe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Northside HS Fort Smith, Arkansas SG 15 Mason Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Jr Triple A Academy Connors State College DeSoto, Texas PF 22 Abayomi Iyiola  6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Greenforest-McCalep Christian Academy Stetson Atlanta, Georgia PG 11 JD Notae  6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Newton HS Jacksonville University Covington, Georgia PF 13 Emeka Obukwelu 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 222 lb (101 kg) RS Jr Plano West Senior HS UT-Tyler Plano, Texas PG 0 Desi Sills 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 196 lb (89 kg) So Jonesboro HS Jonesboro, Arkansas PF 23 Connor Vanover  7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) 230 lb (104 kg) So Findlay Prep California Little Rock, Arkansas SG 33 Jimmy Whitt 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 175 lb (79 kg) GS Hickman HS SMU Columbia, Missouri	Head coach Eric Musselman (San Diego) Assistant coach(es) Corey Williams Clay Moser Chris Crutchfield Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2019-07-28

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 20, 2019* 3:00 pm		Little Rock	W 79–64		25 – Joe	9 – Whitt Jr.	3 – Tied	Bud Walton Arena (7,364) Fayetteville, AR
October 25, 2019* 7:00 pm		Southwestern Oklahoma State	W 78–51		22 – Jones	9 – Chaney	5 – Sills	Bud Walton Arena (3,509) Fayetteville, AR
Regular season
November 5, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Rice	W 91–43	1–0	32 – Jones	9 – Bailey	7 – Joe	Bud Walton Arena (17,274) Fayetteville, AR
November 12, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+		North Texas	W 66–43	2–0	16 – 2 tied	6 – Jones	2 – 2 tied	Bud Walton Arena (12,001) Fayetteville, AR
November 16, 2019* 4:00 pm, SECN+		Montana College Hoops Roadshow	W 64–46	3–0	19 – Jones	11 – Bailey	4 – Jones	Bud Walton Arena (13,058) Fayetteville, AR
November 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Texas Southern College Hoops Roadshow	W 82–51	4–0	33 – Joe	10 – Whitt Jr.	5 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (11,182) Fayetteville, AR
November 22, 2019* 8:00 pm, SECN		South Dakota College Hoops Roadshow	W 77–56	5–0	24 – Whitt Jr.	7 – Tied	5 – Joe	Bud Walton Arena (12,581) Fayetteville, AR
November 26, 2019* 6:00 pm, ACCN		at Georgia Tech	W 62–61 ^OT	6–0	24 – Jones	9 – Joe	4 – Sills	Hank McCamish Pavilion (6,547) Atlanta, GA
November 30, 2019* 4:00 pm, SECN+		Northern Kentucky College Hoops Roadshow	W 66–60	7–0	24 – Whitt Jr.	11 – Chaney	5 – 2 tied	Bud Walton Arena (14,080) Fayetteville, AR
December 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Austin Peay	W 69–61	8–0	17 – Whitt Jr.	6 – Joe	3 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (11,995) Fayetteville, AR
December 7, 2019* 6:30 pm, CBSSN		at Western Kentucky	L 79–86 ^OT	8–1	20 – Sills	12 – Whitt Jr.	4 – Whitt Jr.	E. A. Diddle Arena (6,862) Bowling Green, KY
December 14, 2019* 12:30 pm, ESPNU		Tulsa	W 98–79	9–1	41 – Jones	7 – Chaney	4 – Tied	Bud Walton Arena (15,589) Fayetteville, AR
December 21, 2019* 7:00 pm		vs. Valparaiso	W 72–68	10–1	21 – Joe	9 – Jones	4 – 2 tied	Simmons Bank Arena (15,630) North Little Rock, AR
December 29, 2019* 5:00 pm, BTN		at Indiana	W 71–64	11–1	24 – Joe	8 – Bailey	6 – Jones	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (14,892) Bloomington, IN
January 4, 2020 6:00 pm, SECN		Texas A&M	W 69–59	12–1 (1–0)	17 – 2 tied	6 – Jones	5 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
January 8, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at LSU	L 77–79	12–2 (1–1)	24 – Jones	7 – Bailey	4 – Jones	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (8,662) Baton Rouge, LA
January 11, 2020 5:00 pm, SECN		at Ole Miss	W 76–72	13–2 (2–1)	34 – Joe	6 – Jones	9 – Jones	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (8,233) Oxford, MS
January 15, 2020 7:30 pm, SECN		Vanderbilt	W 75–55	14–2 (3–1)	30 – Whitt Jr.	8 – Whitt Jr.	8 – Jones	Bud Walton Arena (14,321) Fayetteville, AR
January 18, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN		No. 10 Kentucky	L 66–73	14–3 (3–2)	19 – Jones	6 – Jones	2 – Tied	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
January 22, 2020 6:00 pm, SECN		at Mississippi State	L 70–77	14–4 (3–3)	20 – Tied	7 – Tied	4 – Jones	Humphrey Coliseum (6,337) Starkville, MS
January 25, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPN2		TCU Big 12/SEC Challenge	W 78–67	15–4	22 – Whitt Jr.	6 – Bailey	6 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
January 29, 2020 7:30 pm, SECN		South Carolina	L 77–79	15–5 (3–4)	34 – Jones	12 – Jones	4 – Jones	Bud Walton Arena (14,085) Fayetteville, AR
February 1, 2020 5:00 pm, SECN		at Alabama	W 82–78	16–5 (4–4)	30 – Jones	11 – Chaney	2 – Tied	Coleman Coliseum (12,461) Tuscaloosa, AL
February 4, 2020 6:00 pm, SECN		No. 11 Auburn	L 76–79 ^OT	16–6 (4–5)	40 – Jones	7 – Tied	5 – Jones	Bud Walton Arena (17,196) Fayetteville, AR
February 8, 2020 2:30 pm, SECN		at Missouri	L 79–83 ^OT	16–7 (4–6)	17 – Tied	11 – Chaney	4 – Harris	Mizzou Arena (11,439) Columbia, MO
February 11, 2020 6:00 pm, SECN		at Tennessee	L 61–82	16–8 (4–7)	19 – Whitt Jr.	6 – Chaney	2 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (17,222) Knoxville, TN
February 15, 2020 12:00 pm, SECN		Mississippi State	L 77–78	16–9 (4–8)	38 – Jones	6 – Tied	3 – Whitt Jr.	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
February 18, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPNU		at Florida	L 59–73	16–10 (4–9)	21 – Jones	8 – Bailey	5 – Jones	O'Connell Center (9,023) Gainesville, FL
February 22, 2020 12:00 pm, SECN		Missouri	W 78–68	17–10 (5–9)	21 – Joe	8 – Jones	4 – Jones	Bud Walton Arena (19,200) Fayetteville, AR
February 26, 2020 7:30 pm, SECN		Tennessee	W 86–69	18–10 (6–9)	37 – Jones	9 – Henderson	4 – Whitt Jr.	Bud Walton Arena (14,101) Fayetteville, AR
February 29, 2020 5:00 pm, SECN		at Georgia	L 89–99	18–11 (6–10)	26 – Tied	6 – Sills	6 – Whitt Jr.	Stegeman Coliseum (10,017) Athens, GA
March 4, 2020 6:00 pm, SECN		LSU	W 99–90	19–11 (7–10)	36 – Jones	15 – Whitt Jr.	5 – Whitt Jr.	Bud Walton Arena (15,169) Fayetteville, AR
March 7, 2020 3:30 pm, SECN		at Texas A&M	L 69–77	19–12 (7–11)	30 – Jones	5 – Tied	4 – Whitt Jr.	Reed Arena (8,443) College Station, TX
SEC Tournament
March 11, 2020 8:30 pm, SECN	(11)	vs. (14) Vanderbilt First round	W 86–73	20–12	22 – Jones	6 – Jones	6 – Jones	Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, TN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

See also

• 2019–20 Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball team

References

1. Holt, Bob (9 March 2020). "UA's NCAA goals begin with Vandy". wholehogsports.com. Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Inc. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
2. Gasaway, John. "NCAA tournament Bubble Watch: Updated look at the wildest bubble in years". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
3. "Arkansas 2020 AP Men's Basketball Rankings – College Poll Archive – Historical College Football and Basketball Polls and Rankings". collegepollarchive.com. College Poll Archive. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
4. Cawood, Mike (10 March 2020). "Jones Tabbed SEC Co-Player Of The Year; Consensus 1st Team". arkansasrazobacks.com. University of Arkansas. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
5. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2019/03/26/arkansas-fires-mike-anderson-after-eight-year-tenure/39260135/
6. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/arkansas-hires-eric-musselman-away-from-nevada-as-new-razorbacks-mens-basketball-coach/
7. https://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/college/tu/tu-lands-arkansas-transfer-keyshawn-embery-simpson/article_9c92ee91-d959-5b37-8711-1040af3d3201.html
8. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2019/08/15/arkansas-dismisses-forward-gabe-osabuohien/39964257/
9. https://www.wholehogsports.com/news/2019/aug/01/former-hog-justice-hill-transfers-jc/
10. https://247sports.com/college/arkansas/Article/JD-Notae-commits-Arkansas-transfer-132232948/
11. "UK picked to win 2020 SEC Men's Basketball Championship". SEC Sports. October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 15, 2019.