2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team
The 2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represents Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights are led by fifth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and play their home games at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as sixth-year members of the Big Ten Conference.
2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball | |
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Conference | Big Ten Conference |
2020–21 record | 11–6 (7–6 Big Ten) |
Head coach |
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Assistant coaches |
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Home arena | Rutgers Athletic Center |
2020–21 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 4 Michigan | 8 | – | 1 | .889 | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 12 Illinois | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 7 Ohio State | 9 | – | 4 | .692 | 15 | – | 4 | .789 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 24 Purdue | 8 | – | 5 | .615 | 13 | – | 7 | .650 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 19 Wisconsin | 8 | – | 5 | .615 | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No. 8 Iowa | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 13 | – | 6 | .684 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rutgers | 7 | – | 6 | .538 | 11 | – | 6 | .647 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 5 | – | 6 | .455 | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 4 | – | 7 | .364 | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Penn State | 4 | – | 7 | .364 | 7 | – | 8 | .467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maryland | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 10 | – | 9 | .526 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State | 3 | – | 7 | .300 | 9 | – | 7 | .563 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northwestern | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nebraska | 0 | – | 6 | .000 | 4 | – | 9 | .308 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2021 Big Ten Tournament winner As of February 7, 2021; Rankings from AP Poll |
Previous season
The Knights finished the 2019–20 season 20–11 and 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Following the regular season, the Big Ten Tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the Knights' season.[1] In January 2020, Rutgers was nationally ranked for the first time since 1979.[2]
Offseason
Departures
Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
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Akwasi Yeboah | 1 | G/F | 6'6" | 235 | RS Senior | Chigwell, England | Graduated, signed with Saint-Quentin of the LNB Pro B.[3] |
Joey Downes | 10 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Senior | East Sandwich, MA | Walk-on, graduated |
Shaq Carter | 13 | F | 6'9" | 250 | Senior | Hollywood, FL | Graduated |
Peter Kiss | 32 | G | 6'5" | 200 | RS Junior | New York, NY | Graduate transferred to Bryant[4] |
2020 recruiting class
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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Clifford Omoruyi #10 C |
Benin City, Nigeria | Roselle Catholic | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Mar 29, 2020 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: | ||||||
Mawot Mag #42 PF |
Melbourne, Australia | Prolific Prep | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Nov 20, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: | ||||||
Dean Reiber #78 PF |
Greensboro, NC | Northwest Guilford | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Aug 31, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: | ||||||
Oskar Palmquist #75 PF |
Kinna, Sweden | Marks Gymnasieskola | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 8, 2019 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: | ||||||
Aiden Terry PG |
Mount Washington, KY | Bullitt Central | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 150 lb (68 kg) | Aug 21, 2020 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: | ||||||
Sources:
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Roster
2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Schedule and results
Date time, TV |
Rank# | Opponent# | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state | |||
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Non-conference regular season | |||||||||||
November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus |
No. 24 | Sacred Heart | W 86–63 | 1–0 |
16 – Harper Jr. | 11 – Omoruyi | 8 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
November 27, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 24 | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 96–75 | 2–0 |
30 – Harper Jr. | 8 – Mulcahy | 7 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
November 29, 2020* 4:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 24 | Hofstra | W 70–56 | 3–0 |
17 – Young | 9 – 3 tied | 7 – Mulcahy | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
December 8, 2020* 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 |
No. 21 | Syracuse ACC–Big Ten Challenge |
W 79–69 | 4–0 |
26 – Harper Jr. | 12 – Johnson | 10 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
Big Ten regular season | |||||||||||
December 14, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 19 | at Maryland | W 74–60 | 5–0 (1–0) |
27 – Harper Jr. | 16 – Johnson | 4 – Tied | Xfinity Center (0) College Park, MD | |||
December 20, 2020 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 |
No. 19 | No. 13 Illinois | W 91–88 | 6–0 (2–0) |
28 – Harper Jr. | 9 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Baker | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
December 23, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN |
No. 11 | at No. 23 Ohio State | L 68–80 | 6–1 (2–1) |
20 – Harper Jr. | 6 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Mulcahy | Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH | |||
December 29, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 14 | Purdue | W 81–76 | 7–1 (3–1) |
25 – Mathis | 8 – Johnson | 4 – Tied | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
January 2, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 |
No. 14 | No. 10 Iowa | L 75–77 | 7–2 (3–2) |
17 – Young | 10 – Johnson | 5 – Tied | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
January 5, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 |
No. 15 | at No. 23 Michigan State | L 45–68 | 7–3 (3–3) |
13 – Harper Jr. | 7 – Johnson | 4 – Mulcahy | Breslin Student Events Center (0) East Lansing, MI | |||
January 9, 2021 12:00 p.m., BTN |
No. 15 | Ohio State | L 68–79 | 7–4 (3–4) |
19 – Young | 8 – Johnson | 3 – McConnell | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | |||
January 15, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 |
No. 9 Wisconsin | L 54–60 | 7–5 (3–5) |
19 – Young | 12 – Johnson | 3 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | ||||
January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN |
at Penn State | L 67-75 | 7-6 (3–6) |
18 – Harper Jr. | 7 – Johnson | 5 – Mulcahy | Bryce Jordan Center (209) University Park, PA | ||||
January 24, 2021 12:00 p.m., BTN |
at Indiana | W 74-70 | 8-6 (4–6) |
19 – Baker | 12 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Baker | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN | ||||
January 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1 |
Michigan State | W 67-37 | 9-6 (5–6) |
13 – Johnson | 14 – Johnson | 5 – Baker | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | ||||
January 31, 2021 7:30 p.m., BTN |
at Northwestern | W 64-56 | 10-6 (6–6) |
19 – Young | 6 – Johnson | 5 – Mulcahy | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL | ||||
February 4, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 |
Minnesota | W 76–72 | 11–6 (7–6) |
16 – Baker | 12 – Johnson | 4 – Mulcahy | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ | ||||
February 10, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN |
at Iowa | Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA | |||||||||
February 13, 2021 BTN |
Northwestern | Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ | |||||||||
February 18, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 |
at Michigan | Crisler Center Ann Arbor, MI | |||||||||
February 21, 2021 BTN |
Maryland | Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ | |||||||||
February 24, 2021 BTN |
Indiana | Rutgers Athletic Center Piscataway, NJ | |||||||||
February 28, 2021 BTN |
at Nebraska | Pinnacle Bank Arena Lincoln, NE | |||||||||
March 6, 2021 FS1 |
at Minnesota | Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN | |||||||||
Big Ten Tournament | |||||||||||
March 2021 |
vs. TBD | United Center Chicago, IL | |||||||||
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |
Rankings
Week | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final | |
AP | 24 | 24^ | 24 | 21 | 19 | 11 | 14 | 15 | RV | NR | NR | RV | |||||||||
Coaches | 23 | 23^ | 23^ | 22 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 14 | RV | RV | NR | RV |
^AP and Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll, and Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.
References
- Boone, Kyle (March 13, 2020). "2020 NCAA Tournament canceled due to growing threat of coronavirus pandemic". CBS Sports. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Braziller, Zach (January 20, 2020). "Rutgers basketball ranked in top 25 for first time in 41 years". New York Post. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
- Bessiere, Kévin (August 12, 2020). "Akwasi Yeboah complète le puzzle du SQBB". Courrier picard (in French). Retrieved August 26, 2020.
- "Grasso signs Big Ten transfer Peter Kiss". Bryant Bulldogs. June 10, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.