Men's Basketball | 10/3/2019 3:59:00 PM
MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University head men's basketball coach
Butch Estes has announced the team's 2019-20 schedule. The Buccaneers' regular season schedule includes 13 games at home in the Health & Sports Center.
FULL SCHEDULE
Estes, who enters his 7th season as head coach of the Bucs with a record of 134-49 is set to compete with 10 returners and five newcomers this year. During the 2019-20 season, the Bucs finished 18-11 and made it to the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Semifinal.
Despite pulling off a huge upset in 2017 after beating eventual Southeastern Conference champs Auburn 100-95, Barry has been able to continue scheduling big-time exhibition opponents, including Miami, Florida, Louisville and Auburn. This year, Barry will travel to Tallahassee, Florida and take on the Seminoles who advanced to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 last season.
"We have built strong relationships with coaches all over the country and that gives us the ability to play some of the top Division I programs." Estes said. "Those programs are always looking for good competition. That's why they're so good and we have been able to appeal to them because we have proved that we can play at a pretty high level," Estes added.
For the second-straight year the Buccaneers will start their regular season schedule against Clark Atlanta. Barry will travel to L.S. Epps Gymnasium on November 9th to take on the Panthers after winning last years game 69-57 in The Shores.
The Buccaneer home schedule will begin on November 14th against the College of Staten Island in their first year as an NCAA Division II participant and continue on Sunday, November, 17th against Lake Erie College from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
The 20-game SSC schedule begins Saturday, November 23rd at home against 2019 Sunshine State Conference Tournament Champion Florida Southern. Senior day is on Saturday, February 29th against Saint Leo in the Health & Sports Center.
A couple of key SSC games in the Health & Sports Center this season will begin with the 2019-20 regular season champions, Nova Southeastern on Wednesday, January 22nd. Then, the following week on January 29th, Lynn University will arrive in The Shores to take on the Bucs. Last season, Marcelo Perez had one of the most unforgettable plays of the year connecting on a buzzer-beater to send the No. 15-ranked Fighting Knights home with a crushing loss.
In regards to the SSC this season and how things will shape up, coach Estes shared his thoughts. "Some of the top teams will again be in the top and I hope that we will be in that group," Estes shared. "There were a couple of key individuals that are gone, but I don't think anyone had any substantial losses. I think we will be a very balanced conference, but I think if we can finish top three or maybe even top four, we have a pretty good chance to get into the NCAA Tournament."
The Bucs have a strong team coming back this season, led by SSC All-Newcomer Team Tylan Birts. Birts, a senior forward, led the team in rebounding and steals, averaging 12.6 points per game and shooting a league-best 60.4 percent from the floor. Evan Walshe, a senior guard, averaged 9.6 points per game, shooting 32.3 percent from three-point range. Point guard David Moya, another senior, was second in the league in assist/turnover ratio and fifth overall in assists.
In addition, several newcomers will look to make an immediate impact. Jake Kakar (6-3, G), a junior transfer from Barton, averaged 14.3 points per game with the Bulldogs. Raivis Scerbinskis (6-8, F) and Chris Mejia (6-3, G) are NCAA D-I transfers from Winthrop and Southeastern Louisiana respectively. Freshman guard Toru Dean (6-0) was Mr. Basketball in Dade County. Fellow freshman Tomas Mikyska (6-7) was a member of the Czech Republic's U16 and U18 national teams.
All home and conference games will be broadcast on the SSC Digital Network. Admission to games will cost $5 with BarryU students, staff and faculty allowed in free with their ID card.
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