2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record9–15 (6–13 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaWelsh–Ryan Arena
Seasons
2020–21 Big Ten Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Michigan 14 – 3   .824 23 – 5   .821
No. 2 Illinois † 16 – 4   .800 24 – 7   .774
No. 8 Iowa 14 – 6   .700 22 – 9   .710
No. 20 Purdue 13 – 6   .684 18 – 10   .643
No. 7 Ohio State 12 – 8   .600 21 – 10   .677
Wisconsin 10 – 10   .500 18 – 13   .581
Rutgers 10 – 10   .500 16 – 12   .571
Maryland 9 – 11   .450 17 – 14   .548
Michigan State 9 – 11   .450 15 – 13   .536
Indiana 7 – 12   .368 12 – 15   .444
Penn State 7 – 12   .368 11 – 14   .440
Northwestern 6 – 13   .316 9 – 15   .375
Minnesota 6 – 14   .300 14 – 15   .483
Nebraska 3 – 16   .158 7 – 20   .259
† Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Chris Collins, the Wildcats played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2019–20 season 8–22, 3–17 to finish in 13th place in Big Ten play. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Minnesota.[1]

Offseason

Departures

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
A. J. Turner 21 F 6'7" 200 Rs Sr Mount Clemens, MI Graduated
Pat Spencer 12 G 6'3" 205 Grad Student Davidsonville, MD Completed athletic eligibility; graduated from Loyola (MD) in 2019

Recruiting class

Roster

2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Boo Buie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Gould Academy Albany, New York
G 1 Chase Audige 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So William & Mary Coram, New York
G 2 Ryan Greer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Northfield Mount Hermon Atlanta, Georgia
G 3 Ty Berry 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Fr Sunrise Christian Academy Newton, Kansas
F 10 Miller Kopp 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Houston Christian High School Houston, Texas
G 11 Anthony Gaines 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr New Hampton School Kingston, New York
C 15 Ryan Young 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) RS So Bethlehem Catholic High School Stewartsville, New Jersey
F 22 Pete Nance 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Revere High School Akron, Ohio
F 31 Robbie Beran 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Collegiate School Richmond, Virginia
C 34 Matthew Nicholson 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Fr Clarkston High School Clarkston, Michigan
G 50 Dom Martinelli 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Glenbrook South High School Glenview, Illinois
G 53 Roy Dixon III (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Greater Atlanta Christian Atlanta, Georgia
G 54 Dylan Sandhu (W) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 165 lb (75 kg) RS So Detroit Country Day Northville, Michigan
G 55 Eric Zalewski (W) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Jr Stevenson High School Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: April 9, 2021

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Regular season
December 2, 2020*
8:00 pm, BTN 		Arkansas–Pine Bluff W 92–49  1–0
  18 – Kopp   7 – Tied   8 – Greer  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 5, 2020*
4:00 pm, BTN 		Chicago State W 111–66  2–0
  20 – Audige   12 – Gaines   7 – Buie  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 9, 2020*
8:15 pm, ESPN 		Pittsburgh
ACC–Big Ten Challenge 		L 70–71  2–1
  14 – Buie   7 – Tied   6 – Buie  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 13, 2020*
3:00 pm, ESPNU 		SIU Edwardsville Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville Welsh–Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
December 15, 2020*
3:00 pm, BTN+ 		Quincy W 100–48  3–1
  23 – Kopp   7 – Nance   4 – Tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 20, 2020
6:00 pm, BTN 		No. 4 Michigan State W 79–65  4–1
(1–0) 		 30 – Buie   12 – Nance   4 – Tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 23, 2020
7:30 pm, BTN 		at Indiana W 74–67  5–1
(2–0) 		 17 – Audige   9 – Young   4 – Buie  Assembly Hall (0)
Bloomington, IN
December 26, 2020
1:00 pm, FS1 		No. 23 Ohio State W 71–70  6–1
(3–0) 		 23 – Kopp   7 – Young   5 – Buie  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
December 29, 2020
8:00 pm, FS1 		No. 19 at No. 10 Iowa L 72–87  6–2
(3–1) 		 21 – Nance   6 – Buie   8 – Buie  Carver–Hawkeye Arena (464)
Iowa City, IA
January 3, 2021
6:30 pm, BTN 		No. 19 at No. 16 Michigan L 66-85  6-3
(3-2) 		 14 – Beran   7 – Young   4 – Buie  Crisler Center (88)
Ann Arbor, MI
January 7, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		No. 12 Illinois L 56-81  6-4
(3-3) 		 11 – Beran   5 – Tied   4 – Beran  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
January 13, 2021
6:00 pm, BTN 		at No. 21 Ohio State L 71-81  6-5
(3-4) 		 25 – Audige   9 – Kopp   6 – Buie  Value City Arena (0)
Columbus, OH
January 17, 2021
11:00 am, CBS 		No. 5 Iowa L 73-96  6-6
(3-5) 		 16 – Nance   9 – Nance   6 – Greer  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
January 20, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		at No. 10 Wisconsin L 52-68  6-7
(3-6) 		 16 – Audige   12 – Nance   5 – Buie  Kohl Center (0)
Madison, WI
January 23, 2021
6:00 pm, BTN 		at Penn State L 78-81  6-8
(3-7) 		 19 – Kopp   7 – Nance   4 – Buie  Bryce Jordan Center (273)
University Park, PA
January 31, 2021
6:30 pm, BTN 		Rutgers L 56-64  6-9
(3-8) 		 15 – Kopp   9 – Nance   3 – Tied  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
February 3, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		No. 4 Michigan Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan[2] Welsh–Ryan Arena 
Evanston, IL
February 6, 2021
3:30 pm, BTN 		at No. 24 Purdue L 70-75  6-10
(3-9) 		 20 – Nance   8 – Nance   6 – Tied  Mackey Arena (250)
West Lafayette, IN
February 10, 2021
4:30 pm, BTN 		Indiana L 76-79 2OT 6-11
(3-10) 		 19 – Audige   7 – Nance   5 – Young  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
February 13, 2021
4:00 pm, BTN 		at No. 25 Rutgers L 50–64  6–12
(3–11) 		 11 – Tied   7 – Nance   3 – Buie  Rutgers Athletic Center (0)
Piscataway, NJ
February 16, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		at No. 5 Illinois L 66–73  6–13
(3–12) 		 22 – Audige   7 – Gaines   1 – Tied  State Farm Center (162)
Champaign, IL
February 21, 2021
6:00 pm, BTN 		No. 21 Wisconsin L 51–68  6–14
(3–13) 		 19 – Buie   6 – Gaines   4 – Buie  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
February 25, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		at Minnesota W 67–59  7–14
(4–13) 		 25 – Buie   8 – Young   4 – Nance  Williams Arena (23)
Minneapolis, MN
March 3, 2021
8:00 pm, BTN 		Maryland W 60–55  8–14
(5–13) 		 15 – Buie   7 – Young   4 – Greer  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
March 7, 2021
12:30 pm, BTN 		Nebraska W 79–78  9–14
(6–13) 		 14 – Audige   7 – Nance   6 – Buie  Welsh–Ryan Arena (0)
Evanston, IL
Big Ten tournament
March 10, 2021
5:30 pm, BTN 		(13) vs. (12) Minnesota
First round 		L 46–51  9–15
  9 – Kopp   11 – Nance   3 – Buie  Lucas Oil Stadium (5,909)
Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre12345678910111213141516Final
AP————RV19RVRV—————————Not released
Coaches—————22RV———————————

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

  1. ^ "Northwestern vs. Minnesota - Game Recap - March 11, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ^ Svoboda, Kurt (January 23, 2021). "University of Michigan Athletics Enters Department-Wide Activity Pause". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 23, 2021.