2019–20 Northeast Conference men's basketball season

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2019–20 Northeast Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams11
TV partner(s)NEC Front Row, ESPN2, MSG, FCS, Regional Sports Networks
NBA Draft
Regular season
First placeMerrimack
Season MVPIsaiah Blackmon (SFPA)
Top scorerRaiquan Clark (LIU)
NEC tournament
ChampionsRobert Morris
Finals MVPDante Treacy (RMU)
Northeast Conference men's basketball seasons
2019–20 Northeast Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Merrimack* 14 – 4   .778 20 – 11   .645
Robert Morris † 13 – 5   .722 20 – 14   .588
Saint Francis (PA) 13 – 5   .722 22 – 10   .688
Sacred Heart 12 – 6   .667 20 – 13   .606
LIU 9 – 9   .500 15 – 18   .455
Fairleigh Dickinson 9 – 9   .500 11 – 19   .367
Mount St. Mary's 7 – 11   .389 11 – 21   .344
Bryant 7 – 11   .389 15 – 17   .469
St. Francis Brooklyn 7 – 11   .389 13 – 18   .419
Wagner 5 – 13   .278 8 – 21   .276
Central Connecticut 3 – 15   .167 4 – 27   .129
* Ineligible for NEC championship (reclassification from Division II)
† 2020 NEC tournament winner

The 2019–20 Northeast 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 in November. Conference play started in January and ended in February 2020.

The NEC tournament was held in March with the higher-seeded team hosting each game. The quarterfinals were played on March 4, the semifinals on March 7, and the championship game on March 10.

Changes from last season[edit]

Merrimack College joined the Northeast Conference from Division II Northeast-10 Conference.[1] They are not eligible this year for the NEC tournament.

On October 3, 2018 Long Island University announced that it would combine its two existing athletic programs—NEC member LIU Brooklyn and the Division II program at LIU Post—into a single Division I program under the LIU name. The new LIU program, nicknamed Sharks,[2] maintained LIU Brooklyn's existing memberships in Division I and the NEC.[3]

Head coaches[edit]

Team Head coach Previous position Year at school Overall record NEC record NEC tournament championships
Bryant Jared Grasso Iona
(asst.) 		2 10–20 7–11 0
Central Connecticut Donyell Marshall Buffalo
(asst.) 		4 31–61 16–38 0
Fairleigh Dickinson Greg Herenda UMass Lowell 7 81–108 50–56 2
LIU Derek Kellogg UMass 3 34–33 19–17 1
Merrimack Joe Gallo Robert Morris
(asst.) 		4 61–34 0–0 0
Mount St. Mary's Dan Engelstad Southern Vermont 2 9–22 6–12 0
Robert Morris Andrew Toole Robert Morris
(asst.) 		10 168–140 102–58 1
Sacred Heart Anthony Latina Sacred Heart
(asst.) 		7 70–118 46–60 0
St. Francis Brooklyn Glenn Braica St. John's
(asst.) 		10 132–152 86–74 0
Saint Francis (PA) Rob Krimmel Saint Francis
(asst.) 		8 97–123 65–59 0
Wagner Bashir Mason Wagner
(asst.) 		8 123–96 78–46 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2019–20 season.
  • Overall and NEC/NCAA records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2019–20 season. Because the current LIU athletic program inherited the athletic history of LIU Brooklyn, Kellogg's record includes his two seasons at LIU Brooklyn before the LIU athletic merger.
  • Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason[edit]

Preseason coaches poll[edit]

Source[4]

Rank Team
1. LIU (5)
2. Sacred Heart (3)
3. Saint Francis (PA) (1)
4. Fairleigh Dickinson (2)
5. Robert Morris
6. Bryant
7. Mount St. Mary's
8. St. Francis Brooklyn
9. Wagner
10. Central Connecticut
11. Merrimack

() first place votes

Preseason All-NEC team[edit]

Source[5]

Recipient School
Keith Braxton, (Senior, Guard) Saint Francis (PA)
Raiquan Clark, (R-Senior, Swingman) LIU
E.J. Anosike, (Junior, Swingman) Sacred Heart
Adam Grant, (Senior, Guard) Bryant
Jahlil Jenkins, (Junior, Guard) Fairleigh Dickinson

NEC regular season[edit]

Player of the week[edit]

Throughout the regular season, the Northeast Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.

Against other conferences[edit]

Conference newcomer Merrimack produced the biggest upset of the season for an NEC team when they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 71–61.[23] For Merrimack, it was just their second Division I game since moving up from Division II this past season. It was the lone victory for an NEC team against a Power Five conference team; NEC teams produced a 1–15 overall record against that group of schools.

Conference matrix[edit]

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  Bryant Central Conn. Fairleigh Dickinson LIU Merrimack Mount St. Mary's Robert Morris Sacred Heart St. Francis Brooklyn Saint Francis (PA) Wagner
vs. Bryant – 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2
vs. Central Conn. 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1
vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–2
vs. LIU 0–1 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Merrimack 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1
vs. Mount St. Mary's 0–2 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0
vs. Robert Morris 0–1 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 – 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2
vs. Sacred Heart 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 – 0–2 2–0 0–1
vs. St. Francis Brooklyn 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 – 1–1 1–1
vs. Saint Francis (PA) 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 – 0–2
vs. Wagner 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 –
Total 7–11 3–15 9–9 9–9 14–4 7–11 13–5 12–6 7–11 13–5 5–13

All-NEC honors and awards[edit]

At the conclusion of the regular season, the conference selects outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches,[24] below are the results.

Postseason[edit]

NEC tournament[edit]

The NEC tournament features the top eight eligible teams from the field of eleven participate. The teams are seeded according to their conference records, and when there are similar records between teams, tie-breakers are applied. After the first round, teams are reseeded after each round, with highest remaining seeds receiving home court advantage.

Regular-season champion Merrimack was ineligible under NEC rules as a transitional D-I school. #1 Seed Robert Morris won the NEC tournament for a NEC record 9th time.[25]

Quarterfinals
Wednesday, March 4, 2020
NEC Front Row 		Semifinals
Saturday, March 7, 2020
ESPN3 		Championship
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
ESPN2
         
1 Robert Morris 59
8 St. Francis (NY) 58
1 Robert Morris 86
4 LIU 66
4 LIU 73
5 Fairleigh Dickinson 72
1 Robert Morris 77
(Pairings are reseeded after the first round)
2 St. Francis (PA) 67
3 Sacred Heart 61
6 Mount St. Mary's 59
3 Sacred Heart 72
2 St. Francis (PA) 84
2 St. Francis (PA) 87
7 Bryant 61

NCAA tournament[edit]

Main article: 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
Seed Region School First Four 1st round 2nd round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship
Robert Morris

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Northeast Conference - Merrimack College Accepts Invitation to Join Northeast Conference". northeastconference.org. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  2. ^ "Welcome to the Shark Tank: Long Island University Chooses the Shark as New Mascot" (Press release). Long Island University. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  3. ^ "Long Island University Announces Unification Into One LIU Division I Program" (Press release). LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds. October 3, 2018. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "Shark Attack! LIU Picked As 2019-20 NEC Men's Basketball Favorite". Northeastconference.org. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "Shark Attack! LIU Picked As 2019-20 NEC Men's Basketball Favorite". Northeastconference.org. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  6. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (11/11)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (11/18)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (11/25)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  9. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (12/2)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (12/9)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  11. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (12/16)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  12. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (12/23)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  13. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (12/30)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  14. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (1/6)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  15. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (1/13)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  16. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (1/22)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  17. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (1/27)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 1, 2020.
  18. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (2/3)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  19. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (2/10)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  20. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (2/17)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 21, 2020.
  21. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (2/25)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  22. ^ "Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Weekly Release (3/2)". northeastconference.org. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  23. ^ "Merrimack stuns Northwestern in 2nd D-I game". November 9, 2019.
  24. ^ "Saint Francis U's Isaiah Blackmon Tabbed NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year". Northeast Conference. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  25. ^ "Robert Morris Secures Ninth #NECMBB Crown, Dancing For First Time Since 2015". Northeast Conference. Retrieved March 11, 2020.

External links[edit]

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