2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Michigan University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by 10th-year head coach Rob Murphy, played their home games at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference. Starting this season, the MAC announced the removal of divisions.^[1] They finished the season 6–12, 3–11 in MAC play to finish in 10th place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament.

2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	6–12 (3–11 MAC)
Head coach	Rob Murphy (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Kevin Mondro Matt Cline Tony Harvey
Home arena	Convocation Center
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Toledo	15	–	4		.789			21	–	9		.700
Buffalo	12	–	5		.706			16	–	9		.640
Akron	12	–	6		.667			15	–	8		.652
Kent State	12	–	6		.667			15	–	8		.652
Ohio †	9	–	5		.643			17	–	8		.680
Bowling Green	10	–	8		.556			14	–	12		.538
Miami (OH)	9	–	8		.529			12	–	11		.522
Ball State	8	–	9		.471			10	–	13		.435
Western Michigan	4	–	12		.250			5	–	16		.238
Eastern Michigan	3	–	11		.214			6	–	12		.333
Central Michigan	3	–	13		.188			7	–	16		.304
Northern Illinois	2	–	12		.143			3	–	16		.158
† 2021 MAC tournament winner

Following the season, the school announced it as parting ways with Murphy after 10 seasons.^[2] On April 12, 2021, the school hired EMU alum and former Kent State, Arkansas, and South Florida head coach Stan Heath as the team's new head coach.^[3]

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 16–16, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in a tie for last place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Kent State.^[4]

Roster

2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Yeikson Montero 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Pensacola State Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic F 1 Ty Groce 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Sr Lincoln High School Ypsilanti, Michigan G/F 2 Miles Gibson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr Northwest Kansas Tech Richmond, Virginia G 3 Drew Lowder 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Holy Cross Jackson, Michigan G 4 Bryce McBride 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Dyersburg State Community College Jackson, Tennessee G 5 Noah Morgan 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Northwest Florida State Mount Vernon, New York G 10 Darion Spottsville 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr South Mountain Community College Phoenix, Arizona G 12 Andrew Wells 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr International Sports Academy East Lansing, Michigan G 13 Chris James 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So St. John Bosco High School Long Beach, California F 15 Axel Okongo 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Sr Missouri Saâcy-sur-Marne, France F 21 James Love III 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Sr Kansas State Fort Lauderdale, Florida F 23 Thomas Binelli 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Sr Monroe College Bologna, Italy F 33 Derek Ballard Jr. 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) RS Jr Southfield-Lathrup High School Southfield, Michigan	Head coach Rob Murphy (Central State) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Mondro (Detroit Mercy) Matt Kline (South Alabama) Tony Harvey (Cameron) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 11, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm, BTN		at No. 13 Michigan State	L 67–83	0–1	Breslin Center  East Lansing, MI
December 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Toledo	L 74–91	0–2 (0–1)	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
December 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Adrian	W 95–35	1–2	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
December 16, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN3		Valparaiso	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Athletics–Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
December 27, 2020 2:00 pm		Olivet	W 94–65	2–2	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
December 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Central Michigan	L 60–87	2–3 (0–2)	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 2, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN3		Kent State	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 5, 2021 7:00 pm		Akron	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		Akron	W 71–59	3–3 (1–2)	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 12, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Toledo	L 63–96	3–4 (1–3)	Savage Arena  Toledo, OH
January 14, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3		Calvin	W 67–56	4–4	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 16, 2021 4:30 pm, ESPN3		at Central Michigan	L 64–75	4–5 (1–4)	McGuirk Arena  Mount Pleasant, MI
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm		Western Michigan	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
January 21, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Buffalo	L 77–92	4–6 (1–5)	Alumni Arena  Amherst, NY
January 23, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN3		Miami (OH)	L 63–85	4–7 (1–6)	Convocation Center (100) Ypsilanti, MI
January 26, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN3		at Akron	L 65–86	4–8 (1–7)	James A. Rhodes Arena  Akron, OH
January 29, 2021		at Northern Illinois	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  DeKalb, IL
February 2, 2021 7:00 pm		Bowling Green	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 6, 2021 2:00 pm		at Ohio	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 9, 2021 7:00 pm		at Miami (OH)	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Millett Hall  Oxford, OH
February 13, 2021 1:00 pm		Ball State	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 16, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3		Buffalo	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
February 20, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Kent State	L 51–64	4–9 (1–8)	MAC Center  Kent, OH
February 23, 2021 7:00 pm		Bowling Green	L 69–82	4–10 (1–9)	Convocation Center (125) Ypsilanti, MI
February 25, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ohio	L 67–86	4–11 (1–10)	Convocation Center  Athens, OH
February 27, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3		Northern Illinois	W 91–57	5–11 (2–10)	Convocation Center  Ypsilanti, MI
March 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Ball State	L 65–100	5–12 (2–11)	Worthen Arena (92) Muncie, IN
March 5, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3		at Western Michigan	W 64–63	6–12 (3–11)	University Arena (100) Kalamazoo, MI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[5][6]

References

1. "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
2. "Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan part ways after 10 yrs". Coaches Database. March 17, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
3. "Eastern Michigan hires Heath as basketball coach". ESPN.com. April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
4. "Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State – Game Recap – March 9, 2020 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
5. "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
6. "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.