2021 Horizon League men's basketball tournament


The 2021 Horizon League men's basketball tournament was the final event of the 2020–21 men's basketball season for the Horizon League. It began on February 25, 2021, and ended on March 9; first-round and quarterfinal games were played at the home courts of the higher seed, with all remaining games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The winner received the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

2021 Horizon League men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams12
SiteCampus sites
(First Round and Quarterfinals)
Indiana Farmers Coliseum
Indianapolis, Indiana
(Semifinals and Finals)
ChampionsCleveland State (2nd title)
Winning coachDennis Gates (1st title)
MVPTorrey Patton (Cleveland State)
TelevisionESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 Horizon League men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Wright State 16 4   .800 18 6   .750
Cleveland State 16 4   .800 19 8   .704
Detroit Mercy 10 6   .625 12 10   .545
Northern Kentucky 11 7   .611 14 11   .560
Oakland 10 10   .500 12 18   .400
Youngstown State 9 11   .450 15 12   .556
IUPUI 7 9   .438 8 10   .444
Milwaukee 7 10   .412 10 12   .455
Green Bay 8 12   .400 8 17   .320
UIC 6 10   .375 9 13   .409
Purdue Fort Wayne 6 14   .300 8 15   .348
Robert Morris 3 12   .200 4 15   .211
2021 Horizon League tournament winner

Seeds

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All of the teams participated in the tournament with the top-four teams receiving byes to the quarterfinals. Due to the unbalanced nature of the conference schedule because of COVID-19, teams were seeded by an unpublished formula generated by the league that took into account the following:[1]

  • League winning percentage
  • Strength of schedule
  • Weighting road wins vs. home wins
  • Number of league games played
Seed School Winning pct Strength of schedule Road Wins / Home Wins League games played
1 Cleveland State .800 8 / 8 20
2 Wright State .800 8 / 8 20
3 Oakland .500 6 / 4 20
4 Northern Kentucky .611 5 / 6 18
5 Detroit .625 4 / 6 16
6 Youngstown State .450 4 / 5 20
7 Green Bay .400 2 / 6 20
8 Milwaukee .412 4 / 3 17
9 IUPUI .438 4 / 3 16
10 Purdue Fort Wayne .300 2 / 4 20
11 UIC .375 1 / 5 16
12 Robert Morris .200 1 / 2 15

Schedule

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Game Time[2] Matchup Score Television
First Round – Thursday, February 25
1 7:00 pm No. 12 Robert Morris at No. 5 Detroit Mercy 73–83 ESPN+
2 8:00 pm No. 11 UIC at No. 6 Youngstown State 58–74
3 8:00 pm No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne at No. 7 Green Bay 89–84 2OT
4 8:00 pm No. 9 IUPUI at No. 8 Milwaukee 72–84
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 2
5 7:00 pm No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne at No. 1 Cleveland State 104–108 3OT ESPN+
6 7:00 pm No. 5 Detroit Mercy at No. 4 Northern Kentucky 69–70
7 7:00 pm No. 8 Milwaukee at No. 2 Wright State 94–92 OT
8 7:30 pm No. 6 Youngstown State at No. 3 Oakland 83–87 OT
Semifinals – Monday, March 8
at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN
9 6:30 pm No. 8 Milwaukee vs. No. 1 Cleveland State 65–71 ESPNU
10 9:30 pm No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 3 Oakland 58–69 ESPN2
Championship – Tuesday, March 9
at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN
11 7:00 pm No. 1 Cleveland State vs. No. 3 Oakland 80–69 ESPN
All game times Eastern. Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket

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First round
Thursday, February 25
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 2
Semifinals
Monday, March 8
Championship
Tuesday, March 9
1 Cleveland State 108***
5 Detroit Mercy 83 10 Purdue Fort Wayne 104
12 Robert Morris 73 1 Cleveland State 71
8 Milwaukee 65
2 Wright State 92
6 Youngstown State 74 8 Milwaukee 94*
11 UIC 58 1 Cleveland State 80
3 Oakland 69
3 Oakland 87*
7 Green Bay 84 6 Youngstown State 83
10 Purdue Fort Wayne 89** 3 Oakland 69
4 Northern Kentucky 58
4 Northern Kentucky 70
8 Milwaukee 84 5 Detroit Mercy 69
9 IUPUI 72

* denotes overtime period

Game summaries

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First round

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ESPN+
February 25, 2021
7:00 p.m. EST
No. 12 Robert Morris Colonials 73, No. 5 Detroit Mercy Titans 83
Scoring by half: 24–36, 49–47
Pts: K. Spear – 22
Rebs: 2 tied – 5
Asts: J. Williams – 9
Pts: A. Davis – 46
Rebs: C. Brandon – 13
Asts: M. Fraser – 6
Calihan HallDetroit, Michigan
Referees: Chad Barlow, Josh White, Ed Phillips
ESPN+
February 25, 2021
8:00 p.m. EST
No. 11 UIC Flames 58, No. 6 Youngstown State Penguins 74
Scoring by half: 25–35, 33–39
Pts: T. Kirk – 13
Rebs: 2 tied – 7
Asts: T. Kirk – 4
Pts: M. Akuchie – 16
Rebs: M. Akuchie – 10
Asts: N. Bohannon – 6
Beeghly CenterYoungstown, Ohio
Referees: Ron Tyburski, Jon Campbell, Scott Siville
ESPN+
February 25, 2021
8:00 p.m. EST
No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons 89, No. 7 Green Bay Phoenix 84 (2OT)
Scoring by half: 38–35, 31–34 Overtime: 9–9, 11–6
Pts: J. Pipkins – 21
Rebs: J. Godfrey – 7
Asts: J. Godfrey – 5
Pts: P. Pipes – 27
Rebs: E. Ansong – 7
Asts: L. Stieber – 5
Resch CenterGreen Bay, Wisconsin
Referees: Bobby Daw, Matt Morales, Chris Pasci
ESPN+
February 25, 2021
8:00 p.m. EST
No. 9 IUPUI Jaguars 72, No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers 84
Scoring by half: 34–47, 38–37
Pts: J. Minnett – 13
Rebs: E. Goss – 17
Asts: M. Burk – 3
Pts: T. Lucas – 22
Rebs: A. Allen – 10
Asts: T. Lucas – 5
UW–Milwaukee Panther ArenaMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Referees: Steve Honacki, Brian Shore, Tariq Lucas

Quarterfinals

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ESPN+
March 2, 2021
7:00 p.m. EST
No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons 104, No. 1 Cleveland State Vikings 108 (3OT)
Scoring by half: 28–27, 39–40 Overtime: 9–9, 13–13, 15–19
Pts: J. Godfrey – 23
Rebs: R. Kpedi – 9
Asts: J. Godfrey – 12
Pts: T. Patton – 30
Rebs: 2 tied – 13
Asts: T. Gomillion – 6
ESPN+
March 2, 2021
7:00 p.m. EST
No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers 94, No. 2 Wright State Raiders 92 (OT)
Scoring by half: 26–44, 55–37 Overtime: 13–11
Pts: D. Gholston – 31
Rebs: D. Gholston – 9
Asts: T. Lucas – 5
Pts: G. Basile – 35
Rebs: G. Basile – 14
Asts: T. Holden – 3
ESPN+
March 2, 2021
7:00 p.m. EST
No. 5 Detroit Mercy Titans 69, No. 4 Northern Kentucky Norse 70
Scoring by half: 37–40, 32–30
Pts: B. Kuol – 20
Rebs: 2 tied – 5
Asts: A. Davis – 5
Pts: M. Warrick – 20
Rebs: T. Faulkner – 9
Asts: B. Langdon – 6
ESPN+
March 2, 2021
7:30 p.m. EST
No. 6 Youngstown State Penguins 83, No. 3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies 87 (OT)
Scoring by half: 36–37, 37–36 Overtime: 10–14
Pts: G. Covington – 30
Rebs: N. Bohannon – 13
Asts: N. Bohannon – 11
Pts: R. Williams – 22
Rebs: D. Oladapo – 10
Asts: J. Moore – 11

Semifinals

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ESPNU
March 8, 2021
6:30 p.m. EST
No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers vs. No. 1 Cleveland State Vikings
ESPN2
March 8, 2021
9:30 p.m. EST
No. 4 Northern Kentucky Norse vs. No. 3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Championship

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References

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  1. ^ "2020-21 HLMBB Notebook_0217 (PDF) - Horizon League" (PDF).
  2. ^ "2021 Horizon League Men's and Women's Basketball Championships" horizonleague.org Retrieved 02-20-2021.