2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

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.

2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	9–15 (6–13 Big Ten)
Head coach	Chris Collins (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Brian James Emanuel Dildy Jon Borovich
Home arena	Welsh–Ryan Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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

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 Chris Collins (Duke) Assistant coach(es) Brian James (Illinois State) Emanuel Dildy (Eastern Illinois) Jon Borovich (Central Michigan) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt 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
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	RV	19	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	22	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

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