The 2019–20 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team represented

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

during the

2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 5, 2019. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020. The 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was sch ...

as a member of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. The team's head coach was

Bruce Pearl Bruce Alan Pearl (born March 18, 1960) is an American college basketball coach, and the head coach of the Auburn Tigers men's basketball team. He previously served as the head coach at Tennessee, Milwaukee, and Southern Indiana. Pearl led Souther ...

in his sixth season at Auburn. The team played their home games at

Auburn Arena Neville Arena, formerly Auburn Arena, is a 9,121-seat multi-purpose arena in Auburn, Alabama, on the campus of Auburn University. Built in 2010 to replace Beard–Eaves–Memorial Coliseum, the $86 million facility is the home of the Auburn Tiger ...

in Auburn, Alabama. They finished the season 25–6, 12–6 in SEC play to finish in a tie for second place. They were set to be the No. 2 seed in the

SEC tournament The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

with a bye to the quarterfinals. However, the SEC Tournament and all other postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2018–19 season 30–10, 11–7 in SEC play. As the No. 5 seed in the

, the Tigers defeated

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

to win the tournament championship. It was Auburn's second SEC Tournament championship and first since

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. The Tigers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. There, they defeated New Mexico State and

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

to advance to the team first Sweet Sixteen since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated No. 1-seeded

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

to advance to the Elite Eight. There they defeated No. 2 seed

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

to advance to the program's first Final Four. In the Final Four, they suffered a controversial loss to eventual national champion

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Offseason

Departures

Auburn lost seniors Cole Blackstock,

Bryce Brown Bryce Lee Brown (born May 14, 1991) is a former American football running back who played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, and Seattle Seahawks. He attended the University of Tennessee his freshman year of college, but decided to tra ...

, Malik Dunbar, and Horace Spencer to graduation. In addition,

Jared Harper Jared Lamar Harper (born September 14, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for Valencia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers where he was the starting point guard on the T ...

and

Chuma Okeke Chukwuma Julian "Chuma" Okeke (born August 18, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Okeke played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers before being drafted 16th ...

declared for the NBA draft. The

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

picked Okeke as the 16th draft choice, making him the first Auburn player to be drafted since 2001. Harper signed with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

, Brown with the Sacramento Kings, and Dunbar with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. Spencer signed with Argentine club Atenas de Cordoba.

2019 recruiting class

2020 Recruiting class

Preseason

SEC media poll

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

Roster

Schedule and results

, - ! colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, SEC Tournament , - style="background:#bbbbbb" , style="text-align:center", March 13, 2020
6:00 pm, SECN , style="text-align:center", (2) No. 20 , vs.
''Quarterfinals'' , colspan=5 rowspan=1 style="text-align:center", ''Cancelled due to the

'' , style="text-align:center", Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, TN , -

Rankings

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

Samir Doughty

* Coaches' First Team All-SEC * AP Second Team All-SEC

Isaac Okoro

* Coaches' Second Team All-SEC * Coaches' SEC All-Freshman Team * Coaches' SEC All-Defensive Team

Austin Wiley

*Preseason Coaches' Second Team All-SEC * Legends Classic MVP

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2019-20 Auburn Tigers men's basketball team

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Auburn Tigers men's basketball seasons

Auburn Tigers men's basketball The Auburn Tigers men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team that represents Auburn University. The school competes in the Southeastern Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...