2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team represented Niagara University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Purple Eagles, led by second-year head coach Greg Paulus, played their home games at the Gallagher Center in Lewiston, New York as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They finished the season 9–11, 7–9 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated No. 4 seed Marist in the quarterfinals, but lost to No. 9 seed Iona 64–70 in the semifinals.

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Record	9–11 (7–9 MAAC)
Head coach	Greg Paulus (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Bryan Smothers Brett Ervin Kevin Devitt
Home arena	Gallagher Center

2020–21 MAAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Siena	12	–	4		.750			12	–	5		.706
Monmouth	12	–	6		.667			12	–	8		.600
Saint Peter's	10	–	8		.556			14	–	11		.560
Marist	10	–	8		.556			12	–	9		.571
Niagara	7	–	9		.438			9	–	11		.450
Canisius	7	–	5		.583			7	–	6		.538
Fairfield	7	–	11		.389			10	–	17		.370
Quinnipiac	7	–	10		.412			9	–	13		.409
Iona †	6	–	3		.667			12	–	6		.667
Manhattan	6	–	12		.333			7	–	13		.350
Rider	5	–	13		.278			6	–	17		.261
Note: The MAAC has ordered standings based on league wins, not winning percentage, since all teams did not reach 20 conference games played. These standings were also used for seeding purposes in the 2021 MAAC tournament.
† 2021 MAAC tournament winner

Previous season

The Purple Eagles finished the 2019–20 season 12–20 overall, 9–11 in MAAC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the #6 seed in the MAAC tournament, they defeated #11 seed Marist 56–54 in the first round. Before they could face #3 seeded Rider in the MAAC tournament quarterfinals, all postseason tournaments were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roster

2020–21 Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Justin Roberts 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 189 lb (86 kg) RS Sr Toledo Lawrence, Kansas F 1 Kobi Nwandu 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Le Moyne York, Pennsylvania G 4 Tahjae Hill 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Hilton High School Hilton, New York G 10 Marcus Hammond 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Cardozo High School Queens, New York G 11 Raheem Solomon 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Jr Sacred Heart High School Hartford, Connecticut G 12 Shandon Brown 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr George Washington Boston, Massachusetts F 13 Touba Traore 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Massanutten Military Academy Bamako, Mali F 15 Greg Kuakumensah 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Cushing Academy Worcester, Massachusetts F 20 Jordan Cintron 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Longwood The Bronx, New York G/F 22 Nick MacDonald 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So St. Thomas More School Amherst, New York G 24 Trey Syroka 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So Whitmer High School Toledo, Ohio F 32 Will Engelhardt 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Kimball Union Academy Syracuse, New York G 33 Steven Levnaic 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 180 lb (82 kg) RS So RISE Centre Academy Hamilton, Ontario F 34 Nicholas Kratholm 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr Miami Dade College Louisville, Kentucky	Head coach Greg Paulus (Duke) Assistant coach(es) Bryan Smothers (Wayne State) Brett Ervin (West Virginia Wesleyan) Kevin Devitt (DePaul) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 15, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 3, 2020* 8:00 pm, ACCRSN		at Syracuse	L 45–75	0–1	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
December 11, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Saint Peter's	L 54–70	0–2 (0–1)	John J. Moore Athletics Center  Jersey City, NJ
December 12, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN3		at Saint Peter's	L 49–53	0–3 (0–2)	John J. Moore Athletics Center  Jersey City, NJ
December 18, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairfield	W 68–51	1–3 (1–2)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
December 19, 2020 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Fairfield	W 81–61	2–3 (2–2)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
December 22, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPN+		at Albany	W 70–65	3–3	SEFCU Arena  Albany, NY
January 1, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at Marist	L 61–63	3–4 (2–3)	McCann Arena  Poughkeepsie, NY
January 2, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3		at Marist	W 86–72	4–4 (3–3)	McCann Arena  Poughkeepsie, NY
January 8, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		Rider	L 70–76	4–5 (3–4)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
January 9, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Rider	W 66–55	5–5 (4–4)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
January 15, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Manhattan	L 49–58	5–6 (4–5)	Draddy Gymnasium  Riverdale, NY
January 16, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Manhattan	L 55–58	5–7 (4–6)	Draddy Gymnasium  Riverdale, NY
January 22, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3		at Quinnipiac	W 59–56	6–7 (5–6)	People's United Center  Hamden, CT
January 23, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Quinnipiac	L 69–78	6–8 (5–7)	People's United Center  Hamden, CT
January 29, 2021 4:00 pm		Monmouth	L 67–77	6–9 (5–8)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
January 30, 2021 4:00 pm		Monmouth	W 83–74	7–9 (6–8)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
February 20, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+		Siena	W 64–62	8–9 (7–8)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
February 21, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN3		Siena	L 66–68	8–10 (7–9)	Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
February 26, 2021		Canisius	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
February 27, 2021		Canisius	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Gallagher Center  Lewiston, NY
MAAC tournament
March 11, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+	(5)	vs. (4) Marist Quarterfinals	W 67–62	9–10	Boardwalk Hall  Atlantic City, NJ
March 12, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPNews	(5)	vs. (9) Iona Semifinals	L 64–70	9–11	Boardwalk Hall  Atlantic City, NJ
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources