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
Classification	Division I
Season	2020–21
Teams	12
Site	Campus sites (First Round and Quarterfinals) Indiana Farmers Coliseum Indianapolis, Indiana (Semifinals and Finals)
Champions	Cleveland State (2nd title)
Winning coach	Dennis Gates (1st title)
MVP	Torrey Patton (Cleveland State)
Television	ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2, ESPN
Horizon League men's basketball tournaments ← 2020 2022 →

2020–21 Horizon League men's basketball standings

v t e	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

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 Due to the unbalanced nature of the conference schedule because of COVID-19, teams were seeded by an unpublished formula generated by the league that took into account the following:^[1]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

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

	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

First round

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 Hall – Detroit, 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 Center – Youngstown, 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 Center – Green 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 Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin Referees: Steve Honacki, Brian Shore, Tariq Lucas

Quarterfinals

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

Wolstein Center – Cleveland, Ohio

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

Nutter Center – Fairborn, Ohio

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

BB&T Arena – Highland Heights, Kentucky

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

Athletics Center O'rena – Auburn Hills, Michigan

Semifinals

ESPNU

March 8, 2021 6:30 p.m. EST

No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers vs. No. 1 Cleveland State Vikings

Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana

ESPN2

March 8, 2021 9:30 p.m. EST

No. 4 Northern Kentucky Norse vs. No. 3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies

Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana

Championship

ESPN

March 9, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST

Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana