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 Merrimack College joined the Northeast Conference from Division II Northeast-10 Conference. 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, maintained LIU Brooklyn's existing memberships in Division I and the NEC.

Head coaches Team Head coach Previous position Year at school Overall record NEC record NEC tournament championshipsBryant Jared Grasso Iona (asst.) 2 0Central Connecticut Donyell Marshall Buffalo(asst.) 4 0Fairleigh Dickinson Greg Herenda UMass Lowell 7 2 LIU Derek Kellogg UMass 3 1Merrimack Joe Gallo Robert Morris(asst.) 4 0Mount St. Mary's Dan Engelstad Southern Vermont 2 0Robert Morris Andrew Toole Robert Morris(asst.) 10 1Sacred Heart Anthony Latina Sacred Heart(asst.) 7 0St. Francis Brooklyn Glenn Braica St. John's(asst.) 10 0Saint Francis (PA) Rob Krimmel Saint Francis(asst.) 8 0Wagner Bashir Mason Wagner(asst.) 8 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

Preseason coaches poll Source RankTeam 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 Source Recipient SchoolKeith Braxton, (Senior, Guard) Saint Francis (PA)Raiquan Clark, (R-Senior, Swingman) LIUE.J. Anosike, (Junior, Swingman) Sacred HeartAdam Grant, (Senior, Guard)BryantJahlil Jenkins, (Junior, Guard) Fairleigh Dickinson

NEC regular season

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

Week Player of the week Rookie of the weekNovember 11, 2019Juvaris Hayes, MC Charles Pride, BRY November 18, 2019Keith Braxton, SFPA Jordan Minor, MC November 25, 2019E.J. Anosike, SHU Charles Pride (2), BRY December 2, 2019Raiquan Clark, LIU Greg Outlaw, CCSU December 9, 2019 E.J. Anosike (2), SHU Jermaine Jackson Jr., LIU Benson Lin, BRY December 16, 2019 Chauncey Hawkins, SFBK Benson Lin (2), BRY December 23, 2019 E.J. Anosike (3), SHU Deniz Celen, SFBKTyler Thomas, SHU December 30, 2019 Jalen Gibbs, MSM Jordan Minor (2), MC January 6, 2020 Isaiah Blackmon, SFPA Tyler Thomas (2), SHU January 13, 2020Josh Williams, RMU Mykel Derring, MC January 22, 2020 A.J. Bramah, RMU Rob Higgins, SFBKBenson Lin (3), BRYJanuary 27, 2020 Jaleel Lord, MC Charles Pride (3), BRY February 3, 2020Juvaris Hayes (2), MC Devon Dunn, FDU February 10, 2020Keith Braxton (2), SFU Ty Flowers, LIU Larry Moreno, SFBK February 17, 2020E.J. Anosike (4), SHU Jahlil Jenkins, FDULarry Green III, BRY February 25, 2020 Isaiah Blackmon (2), SFU Larry Green III (2), BRY March 2, 2020 E.J. Anosike (5), SHU Keith Braxton (3), SFUCharles Pride (4), BRY

School Player of the week Awards Rookie of the week Awards Bryant09 Central Connecticut01 Fairleigh Dickinson11 LIU30Merrimack33Mount St. Mary's10Robert Morris20Sacred Heart5222Saint Francis (PA)50Wagner00

Against other conferences

Conference newcomer Merrimack produced the biggest upset of the season for an NEC team when they defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 71–61. 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.

NEC versus other Division I conferencesConferenceOutcomeAmerica East Conference6–13American Athletic Conference0–1Atlantic Coast Conference0–6Atlantic Sun Conference 3–2Atlantic 10 Conference 2–9Big East Conference0–9Big South Conference2–1Big Ten Conference1–4Big West Conference1–1

NEC versus other Division I conferencesConferenceOutcomeBig 12 Conference0–1Colonial Athletic Association 2–2Conference USA0–2Horizon League0–3Ivy League 4–6Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference 5–5Mid-American Conference1–2Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference 6–0Mountain West Conference0–2

NEC versus other Division I conferencesConferenceOutcomePac-12 Conference0–2Patriot League 8–7Southeastern Conference0–2Southland Conference0–1Sun Belt Conference0–1Western Athletic Conference1–1TotalAs of December 29, 2019 In bold are the Power Five conferences.

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   BryantCentral Conn.Fairleigh DickinsonLIUMerrimackMount St. Mary'sRobert MorrisSacred HeartSt. Francis BrooklynSaint Francis (PA)Wagnervs. Bryant – 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–2vs. Central Conn. 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–2vs. LIU 0–1 0–2 0–2 – 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1vs. Merrimack 1–1 0–2 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–1vs. Mount St. Mary's 0–2 0–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–0vs. Robert Morris 0–1 0–2 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 – 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–2vs. Sacred Heart 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–0 – 0–2 2–0 0–1vs. St. Francis Brooklyn 2–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–0 – 1–1 1–1vs. Saint Francis (PA) 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 – 0–2vs. 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 At the conclusion of the regular season, the conference selects outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches, below are the results.

Honor Recipient Player of the Year Isaiah Blackmon, SFPA Coach of the Year Joe Gallo, MER Defensive Player of the Year Juvaris Hayes, MER Rookie of the Year Michael Green III, BRY Most Improved Player of the Year Damian Chong Qui, MSM All-NEC First Team Keith Braxton, SFPA Raiquan Clark, LIU E.J. Anosike, SHU Juvaris Hayes, MER Isaiah Blackmon, SFPA

Honor Recipient All-NEC Second Team AJ Bramah, RMU Ty Flowers, LIU Adam Grant, BRY Jahlil Jenkins, FDU Josh Williams, RMU All-NEC Third Team Chauncey Hawkins, SFBK Deniz Celen, SFBK Kaleb Bishop, FDU Damian Chong Qui, MSM Koreem Ozier, SHU All-NEC Rookie Team Rob Higgins, SFBK Benson Lin, BRY Michael Green III, BRY Devon Dunn, FDU Myles Baker, CCSU

Postseason

NEC tournament 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.

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Four 1st round 2nd round Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship Robert Morris

See also 2019–20 Northeast Conference women's basketball season

References

External links NEC website