The 2019–20 Mountain West 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 began in December 2019 and concluded in February 2020. This season marked the 20th season of Mountain West Conference basketball.

Preseason Coaching changes On March 15, 2019, UNLV head coach Marvin Menzies was fired after three seasons. On March 27, 2019, South Dakota State head coach T. J. Otzelberger was announced as the new head coach of UNLV.

On April 7, 2019, Nevada head coach Eric Musselman resigned after four seasons to become the head coach of Arkansas. On April 11, 2019, former UCLA and New Mexico head coach Steve Alford was announced as the new head coach of Nevada.

Media Day The Mountain West Men's Basketball Media Day was held at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, Nevada.

Preseason poll Utah State received all 17 first-place votes in the conference media poll. Place Team Points 1 Utah State (17) 187 2 San Diego State 150 3 New Mexico 141 4 Nevada 135 5 Boise State 128 6 Fresno State 103 7 UNLV 89 8 Air Force 76 9 Colorado State 59 10 Wyoming 36 11 San Jose State 17(first place votes)

Preseason awards Honor Player Team Preseason Player of the Year Sam Merrill Utah State Preseason Newcomer of the Year Malachi Flynn San Diego State Preseason Freshman of the Year K.J. Hymes Nevada

Preseason All-Conference team Position Player Class Team F Lavelle Scottie Sr. Air Force G Derrick Alston Jr. Jr. Boise State F/C Nico Carvacho Sr. Colorado State G Sam Merrill Sr. Utah State C Neemias Queta So. Utah State

Watchlists Player Team Watchlist(s) Sam Merrill Utah StateJerry West AwardNaismith College Player of the YearJohn R. Wooden Award Neemias Queta Utah StateKareem Abdul-Jabbar AwardJohn R. Wooden Award Nico Carvacho Colorado State Kareem Abdul–Jabbar Award

Regular season

Conference matrix

  Air ForceBoise StColorado StFresno StNevadaNew MexicoSan Diego StSan Jose StUNLVUtah StWyomingvs. Air Force — 1–11–01–02–01–01–01–11–01–10–1vs. Boise State1–1 — 0–10–11–11–02–00–10–11–10–2vs. Colorado State0–11–0 — 0–21–10–11–00–10–12–00–2vs. Fresno State0–11–02–0 — 0–01–12–00–22–02–00–1vs. Nevada0–21–11–10–0 — 0–11–01–10–21–00–1vs. New Mexico0–10–11–01–11–0 — 2–01–12–00–00–2vs. San Diego State0–10–20–10–20–10–2 — 0–10–10–20–2vs. San Jose State1–11–01–02–01–11–11–0 — 1–01–01–0vs. UNLV0–11–01–00–22–00–21–00–1 — 1–10–1vs. Utah State1–11–10–20–20–10–02–00–11–1 — 0–1vs. Wyoming1–02–02–01–01–02–02–00–11–01–0 —Total 4–10 9–6 9–5 5–10 9–5 6–8 15–0 3–11 8−6 10–5 1–13

Postseason

Mountain West tournament

All-Conference Teams and Awards

Award Recipients Player of the Year Malachi Flynn (San Diego State) Coach of the Year Brian Dutcher (San Diego State) Newcomer of the Year Jalen Harris (Nevada) Defensive Player of the Year Malachi Flynn (San Diego State) Sixth Man of the Year Nisré Zouzoua (Nevada) Freshman of the Year Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State) First Team Malachi Flynn (San Diego State) Jalen Harris (Nevada) Sam Merrill (Utah State) Matt Mitchell (San Diego State) Bryce Hamilton (UNLV) Second Team Yanni Wetzell (San Diego State) Neemias Queta (Utah State) Nico Carvacho (Colorado State) Justinian Jessup (Boise State) Derrick Alston Jr. (Boise State)Jazz Johnson (Nevada) Third Team Justin Bean (Utah State) Lavell Scottie (Air Force) Seneca Knight (San Jose State) Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State) Amauri Hardy (UNLV) Honorable Mention KJ Feagin (San Diego State) Hunter Maldonado (Wyoming) Lindsey Drew (Nevada) Nate Grimes (Fresno State) Orlando Robinson (Fresno State) All-Defensive Team Malachi Flynn (San Diego State) KJ Feagin (San Diego State) Neemias Queta (Utah State) Lindsey Drew (Nevada) Justin Bean (Utah State)

Notes and references