2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Chris Holtmann, in his fourth season with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes played their home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio as members of the Big Ten Conference.

2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 7
Record	21–10 (12–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Chris Holtmann (4th season)
Assistant coaches	Ryan Pedon (4th season) Terry Johnson (4th season) Jake Diebler (2nd season)
Home arena	Value City 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

They finished the season 21–10, 12–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan before losing to Illinois in overtime in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South region. However, they were upset in the First Round by No. 15-seeded Oral Roberts.

Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place.^[1] The 2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament and 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Alonzo Gaffney	0	F	6'9"	198	Freshman	Cleveland, OH	Transferred to Northwest Florida (JUCO)
Luther Muhammad	1	G	6'3"	185	Sophomore	Jersey City, NJ	Transferred to Arizona State
D. J. Carton	3	G	6'1"	190	Freshman	Bettendorf, IA	Transferred to Marquette
Andre Wesson	24	F	6'6"	220	Senior	Westerville, OH	Graduated
Kaleb Wesson	34	F	6'9"	270	Junior	Westerville, OH	Declared for 2020 NBA draft
Daniel Hummer	40	G	6'0"	175	RS Senior	Upper Arlington, OH	Walk-on; graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jimmy Sotos	1	G	6'3"	200	Senior	Elk Grove Village, IL	Transferred from Bucknell. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Seth Towns	31	F	6'8"	230	Graduate Student	Columbus, OH	Transferred from Harvard. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Meechie Johnson Jr. PG	Cleveland, OH	Garfield Heights (OH)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 13, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (80)
Eugene Brown III SG	Conyers, GA	Southwest DeKalb (GA)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 16, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (80)
Zed Key PF	Bay Shore, NY	Long Island Lutheran (NY)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sep 22, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:    (80)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.

2021 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021)
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Malaki Branham #4 SG	Akron, OH	St. Vincent-St. Mary	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jul 22, 2020
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Kalen Etzler #21 PF	Convoy, OH	Crestview	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	May 12, 2019
	Recruit ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.

Roster

2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Meechie Johnson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 172 lb (78 kg) Fr Garfield Heights HS Cleveland, Ohio G 1 Jimmy Sotos 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Bucknell Elk Grove Village, Illinois G 2 Musa Jallow 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Jr Bloomington HS North Bloomington, Indiana G 3 Eugene Brown III 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Southwest DeKalb HS Conyers, Georgia G 4 Duane Washington Jr. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Sierra Canyon School Grand Rapids, Michigan F 10 Justin Ahrens 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Versailles HS Versailles, Ohio G 13 CJ Walker 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Sr Florida State Indianapolis, Indiana F 14 Justice Sueing 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr California Honolulu, Hawaii C 15 Ibrahima Diallo 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Prolific Prep Saly, Senegal F 23 Zed Key 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Fr Long Island Lutheran HS Bay Shore, New York F 25 Kyle Young 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Jackson HS Canton, Ohio F 31 Seth Towns 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) GS Harvard Columbus, Ohio F 32 E. J. Liddell 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Belleville HS Belleville, Illinois G 40 Jansen Davidson Jr. (W) 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Fairmont HS Kettering, Ohio F 42 Harrison Hookfin (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Lebanon HS Cincinnati, Ohio	Head coach Chris Holtmann (Taylor) Assistant coach(es) Ryan Pedon (Wooster) Terry Johnson (Purdue Fort Wayne) Jake Diebler (Valparaiso) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Ohio State canceled its game against Alabama A&M due to COVID-19 issues at Alabama A&M.^[2] They also postponed their game against Penn State,^[3] rescheduling the game to January 27, 2021.^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN	No. 23	Illinois State	W 94–67	1–0	19 – Sueing	8 – Tied	6 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
November 29* 12:00 pm, BTN	No. 23	UMass Lowell	W 74–64	2–0	21 – Washington Jr.	8 – Tied	5 – Walker	Covelli Center (0) Columbus, OH
December 2* 5:00 pm, BTN	No. 23	Morehead State	W 77–44	3–0	16 – Liddell	9 – Young	4 – Tied	Covelli Center (0) Columbus, OH
December 5* Canceled	No. 23	Alabama A&M	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Alabama A&M[2]					Value City Arena  Columbus, OH
December 8* 7:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 22	at Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 90–85	4–0	19 – Liddell	12 – Liddell	4 – Tied	Edmund P. Joyce Center (156) Notre Dame, IN
December 13* 4:00 pm, BTN	No. 22	Cleveland State	W 67–61	5–0	17 – Washington Jr.	10 – Key	3 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
December 16 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 20	at Purdue	L 60–67	5–1 (0–1)	14 – Sueing	8 – Young	7 – Walker	Mackey Arena (250) West Lafayette, IN
December 19* 4:15 pm, CBS	No. 20	vs. UCLA CBS Sports Classic	W 77–70	6–1	14 – Washington Jr.	6 – Key	4 – Walker	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
December 23 4:30 pm, BTN	No. 23	No. 11 Rutgers	W 80–68	7–1 (1–1)	22 – Washington Jr.	12 – Young	5 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
December 26 2:00 pm, FS1	No. 23	at Northwestern	L 70–71	7–2 (1–2)	15 – Liddell	8 – Tied	5 – Walker	Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL
December 30 6:30 pm, BTN	No. 25	Nebraska	W 90–54	8–2 (2–2)	18 – Ahrens	6 – Tied	3 – Tied	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 3, 2021 5:30 pm, BTN	No. 25	at No. 21 Minnesota	L 60–77	8–3 (2–3)	21 – Washington Jr.	7 – Tied	3 – Sueing	Williams Arena (0) Minneapolis, MN
January 9 12:00 pm, BTN		at No. 15 Rutgers	W 79–68	9–3 (3–3)	17 – Washington Jr.	10 – Sueing	5 – Sueing	Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ
January 13 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 21	Northwestern	W 81–71	10–3 (4–3)	23 – Washington Jr.	10 – Liddell	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 16 12:00 pm, FOX	No. 21	at No. 14 Illinois	W 87–81	11–3 (5–3)	26 – Liddell	7 – Tied	4 – Sueing	State Farm Center (175) Champaign, IL
January 19 6:30 pm, BTN	No. 15	Purdue	L 65–67	11–4 (5–4)	21 – Washington Jr.	7 – Liddell	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 23 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 15	at No. 10 Wisconsin	W 74–62	12–4 (6–4)	20 – Liddell	7 – Liddell	4 – Washington Jr.	Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI
January 27 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 13	Penn State	W 83–79	13–4 (7–4)	22 – Liddell	10 – Sueing	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 31 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 13	Michigan State	W 79–62	14–4 (8–4)	20 – Liddell	8 – Liddell	3 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 4 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 7	at No. 8 Iowa	W 89–85	15–4 (9–4)	16 – Tied	11 – Sueing	9 – Walker	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (503) Iowa City, IA
February 8 9:00 pm, FS1	No. 4	at Maryland	W 73–65	16–4 (10–4)	18 – Tied	6 – Liddell	4 – Washington Jr.	Xfinity Center (0) College Park, MD
February 13 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	Indiana	W 78–59	17–4 (11–4)	19 – Liddell	10 – Sueing	4 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 18 8:00 pm, BTN	No. 4	at Penn State	W 92–82	18–4 (12–4)	23 – Liddell	6 – Sueing	7 – Walker	Bryce Jordan Center (244) University Park, PA
February 21 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 4	No. 3 Michigan Rivalry	L 87–92	18–5 (12–5)	30 – Washington Jr.	10 – Liddell	3 – Tied	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 25 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at Michigan State	L 67–71	18–6 (12–6)	18 – Liddell	8 – Liddell	5 – Walker	Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI
February 28 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 4	No. 9 Iowa	L 57–73	18–7 (12–7)	15 – Liddell	5 – Tied	4 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
March 6 4:00 pm, ESPN	No. 7	No. 4 Illinois	L 68–73	18–8 (12–8)	19 – Liddell	8 – Sueing	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
Big Ten tournament
March 11, 2021 2:00 pm, BTN	(5) No. 9	vs. (13) Minnesota Second Round	W 79–75	19–8	16 – Tied	7 – Sueing	6 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (6,206) Indianapolis, IN
March 12, 2021 2:00 pm, BTN	(5) No. 9	vs. (4) No. 20 Purdue Quarterfinals	W 87–78 OT	20–8	20 – Washington Jr.	10 – Sueing	7 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (7,634) Indianapolis, IN
March 13, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS	(5) No. 9	vs. (1) No. 4 Michigan Semifinals/Rivalry	W 68–67	21–8	24 – Washington Jr.	6 – Washington Jr.	4 – Tied	Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN
March 14, 2021 3:30 pm, CBS	(5) No. 9	vs. (2) No. 3 Illinois Championship	L 88–91 OT	21–9	32 – Washington Jr.	8 – Washington Jr.	4 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2021 3:00 pm, CBS	(2 S) No. 7	vs. (15 S) Oral Roberts First Round	L 72–75 OT	21–10	23 – Liddell	12 – Liddell	5 – Liddell	Mackey Arena  West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[5]

Rankings

See also: 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	23	23	22	20	23	25	RV	21	15	13	7	4	4	4	7	9	7	Not released
Coaches	24	24^	20	19	20	20т	RV	RV	18	15	9	5	4	5	10	10	7	15

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