RICHMOND, Ky. — The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team has released its 2019-20 schedule, head coach A.W. Hamilton announced on Monday.
The schedule is highlighted by the Colonels playing all six Division-I universities in Kentucky – Kentucky on November 8, Western Kentucky on November 15, Northern Kentucky on December 8, Louisville on December 14, Morehead State on February 13 and February 29 and Murray State on February 27.
It will be the first time in program history the Colonels have squared off against Kentucky, Louisville, WKU, NKU, Morehead State and Murray State all in the same season.
In all, EKU’s 2019-20 schedule features eight teams that played in a national postseason tournament and 10 teams that won at least 20 games last season.
After hosting Madison County neighbor Berea College in an exhibition on Halloween, the Colonels will open the regular season by hosting Chattanooga on November 5. Eastern went on the road and defeated the Mocs, 81-78, last season in Chattanooga.
On November 8, EKU will travel up I-75 to face Kentucky for the first time since 2015. The Wildcats won 30 games and advanced to the Elite Eight of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
EKU will host Ohio Chillicothe on November 12 before welcoming in-state rival Western Kentucky to McBrayer Arena on Friday night, November 15. The last time the Hilltoppers came to Richmond, EKU earned a resounding 78-59 win in 2016.
The Colonels will then host Alice Lloyd College on November 19 before travelling to Washington D.C. to play a pair of neutral-site games vs. Florida International (November 22) and Cleveland State (November 23). FIU went 20-14 and earned a spot in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last season.
The Colonels will play five of their next six games on the road, starting with USC Upstate on December 3 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. EKU will then return to Kentucky to play at NKU on December 8. The Norse are fresh off a 26-9 season in which they punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
On December 14, Eastern will play Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals won 20 games last season and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The rugged stretch of road games continues on December 19 when the Colonels travel to Huntington, West Virginia to play Hamilton’s alma mater, Marshall. The Thundering Herd went 23-14 and won the CollegeInsider.com Tournament last year.
EKU returns home to host Charleston Southern on December 21. CSU won 18 games last season to qualify for the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Colonels close out the non-conference portion of the schedule at East Carolina on Saturday, December 28.
Eastern opens Ohio Valley Conference play with four straight home games – Tennessee Tech on January 2, Jacksonville State on January 4, Eastern Illinois on January 9 and SIUE on January 11.
Other notable OVC home games include reigning regular season champion Belmont on Saturday, February 22 and a Leap Day special versus rival Morehead State in the regular season finale on Saturday, February 29.
In Hamilton's first season as head coach, EKU ranked 13th in the country in scoring offense (82.6 points-per-game) and second in the country in both steals-per-game (10.2) and turnovers forced-per-game (18.3).
Fans can get a head start on the 2019-20 season by placing a non-refundable $50 deposit on season tickets that will be included in the overall price of the package. For questions or to place your deposit, call the EKUSports ticket office at 844-3-GOBIGE.
