2019–20 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

2019–20 Murray State Racers men's basketball
2019–20 Murray State Racers men's basketball
Ohio Valley regular season co-champions
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	23–9 (15–3 OVC)
Head coach	Matt McMahon (5th season);
Assistant coaches	Shane Nichols; Tim Kaine; Casey Long;
Home arena	CFSB Center
	Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Belmont †	15	–	3	.833	26	–	7	.788
Murray State	15	–	3	.833	23	–	9	.719
Austin Peay	14	–	4	.778	21	–	12	.636
Eastern Kentucky	12	–	6	.667	16	–	17	.485
Tennessee State	9	–	9	.500	18	–	15	.545
Eastern Illinois	9	–	9	.500	17	–	15	.531
Jacksonville State	8	–	10	.444	13	–	19	.406
Morehead State	7	–	11	.389	13	–	19	.406
Tennessee Tech	6	–	12	.333	9	–	22	.290
UT Martin	5	–	13	.278	9	–	20	.310
SIU Edwardsville	5	–	13	.278	8	–	23	.258
Southeast Missouri State	3	–	15	.167	7	–	24	.226

† 2020 OVC tournament winner

The 2019–20 Murray State Racers men's basketball team represented Murray State University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Racers, led by fifth-year head coach Matt McMahon, played their home games at the CFSB Center in Murray, Kentucky as members of the Ohio Valley Conference. They finished the season 23–9, 15–3 in OVC play to finish in a tie for the OVC regular season championship. They defeated Austin Peay in the semifinals of the OVC Tournament to advance to the championship game where they lost to Belmont. With 23 wins, they were a candidate for a postseason bid. However, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Previous season

The Racers finished the 2018–19 season 28–5, 16–2 in OVC play to tie as OVC regular season championship with Belmont. They defeated Jacksonville State and Belmont to become champions of the OVC Tournament. They earned the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they won in the First Round against Marquette. They then lost in the Second Round to Florida State.

Roster

2019–20 Murray State Racers men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Demond Robinson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	255 lb (116 kg)	Fr	Lee HS	Montgomery, AL
G	1	DaQuan Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Fr	Holly Springs HS	Holly Springs, MS
G	2	Chico Carter, Jr.	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Fr	Cardinal Newman HS	Columbia, SC
G	4	Noah Kamba	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Dexter Southfield School	Lynn, MA
G	10	Tevin Brown	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	So	Fairhope HS	Fairhope, AL
F	11	Matt Smith	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Fr	Independence HS	Charlotte, NC
F	13	Devin Gilmore	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Madison-Ridgeland	Picayune, MS
G	14	Jaiveon Eaves	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Madisonville North Hopkins HS John A. Logan College	Madisonville, KY
G	22	Brion Whitley	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Riverview HS	Sarasota, FL
F	23	KJ Williams	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	So	Cleveland Central HS	Cleveland, MS
F	24	Anthony Smith	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Sr	Potomac HS Barton CC	Suitland, MD
G	25	Rod Thomas	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	Fr	Paducah Tilghman HS	Paducah, KY
F	32	Darnell Cowart	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	280 lb (127 kg)	Sr	Agua Fria HS Cowley College	Chicago, IL
G	45	Jason Holliday	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Jr	Brusly HS Bossier Parish CC	Baton Rouge, LA

Head coach

Matt McMahon (Appalachian State)

Assistant coach(es)

Shane Nichols (Wofford)
Tim Kaine (Winthrop)
Casey Long (Chattanooga)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 23, 2019

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 4, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Martin Methodist	W 105–64		CFSB Center Murray, KY
Regular Season
Nov 9, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern	W 69–49	1–0	CFSB Center (3,709) Murray, KY
Nov 12, 2019* 8:00 pm, SECN+		at Tennessee	L 63–82	1–1	Thompson–Boling Arena (16,913) Knoxville, TN
Nov 16, 2019* 7:30 pm, ESPN+		Brescia	W 114–48	2–1	CFSB Center (3,909) Murray, KY
Nov 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Southern Illinois	W 79–66	3–1	CFSB Center (4,549) Murray, KY
Nov 25, 2019* 6:30 pm		vs. La Salle Gulf Coast Showcase first round	L 64–75	3–2	Hertz Arena (1,112) Estero, FL
Nov 26, 2019* 12:30 pm		vs. Weber State Gulf Coast Showcase consolation 2nd round	W 69–68	4–2	Hertz Arena (786) Estero, FL
Nov 27, 2019* 12:30 pm		vs. Drake Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game	L 53–63	4–3	Hertz Arena (653) Estero, FL
Dec 3, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Missouri State	L 69–71	4–4	JQH Arena (3,817) Springfield, MO
Dec 7, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Middle Tennessee	W 85–52	5–4	CFSB Center (4,807) Murray, KY
Dec 16, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Kennesaw State	W 74–38	6–4	CFSB Center (3,016) Murray, KY
Dec 21, 2019* 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Evansville	L 76–78	6–5	Ford Center (7,316) Evansville, IN
Dec 28, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Cumberland (TN)	W 81–46	7–5	CFSB Center (4,107) Murray, KY
OVC Regular Season
Jan 2, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UT Martin	W 89–76	8–5 (1–0)	CFSB Center (3,314) Murray, KY
Jan 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	W 81–59	9–5 (2–0)	CFSB Center (4,125) Murray, KY
Jan 9, 2020* 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at Jacksonville State	W 72–68	10–5 (3–0)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (3,139) Jacksonville, AL
Jan 11, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	W 81–69	11–5 (4–0)	Eblen Center (1,106) Cookeville, TN
Jan 16, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at UT Martin	W 84–62	12–5 (5–0)	Skyhawk Arena (3,209) Martin, TN
Jan 18, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	W 96–91	13–5 (6–0)	Show Me Center (1,784) Cape Girardeau, MO
Jan 23, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN2		Belmont	W 85–75	14–5 (7–0)	CFSB Center (6,023) Murray, KY
Jan 25, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Tennessee State	W 76–64	15–5 (8–0)	CFSB Center (4,925) Murray, KY
Jan 30, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Illinois	W 73–70	16–5 (9–0)	CFSB Center (4,530) Murray, KY
Feb 1, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		SIU Edwardsville	W 74–55	17–5 (10–0)	CFSB Center (7,512) Murray, KY
Feb 6, 2020 6:30 pm, ESPN+		at Belmont	L 64–71	17–6 (10–1)	Curb Event Center (2,703) Nashville, TN
Feb 8, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Tennessee State	W 73–65	18–6 (11–1)	Gentry Complex (3,102) Nashville, TN
Feb 13, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPNU		at Austin Peay	L 68–71	18–7 (11–2)	Dunn Center (4,052) Clarksville, TN
Feb 15, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Morehead State	W 85–57	19–7 (12–2)	CFSB Center (4,816) Murray, KY
Feb 20, 2020 7:30 pm, ESPN+		at Eastern Illinois	L 60–63	19–8 (12–3)	Lantz Arena (1,444) Charleston, IL
Feb 22, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville	W 59–58	20–8 (13–3)	Sam M. Vadalabene Center (747) Edwardsville
Feb 27, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Eastern Kentucky	W 74–62	21–8 (14–3)	CFSB Center (5,727) Murray, KY
Feb 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN+		Austin Peay	W 75–61	22–8 (15–3)	CFSB Center (8,229) Murray, KY
Ohio Valley Conference Tournament
March 6, 2020 9:00 pm, ESPNU	(2)	vs. (3) Austin Peay Semifinals	W 73–61	23–8	Ford Center (3,435) Evansville, IN
March 7, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2	(2)	vs. (1) Belmont Championship	L 75–76	23–9	Ford Center (4,456) Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.

References

v t e Murray State Racers men's basketball
Venues	Lovett Auditorium (1925–1950) Carr Health Building (1950–1954) Racer Arena (1954–1998) CFSB Center (1998–present)
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25