2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball
2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	6–12 (3–11 MAC)
Head coach	Rob Murphy (10th season);
Assistant coaches	Kevin Mondro; Matt Cline; Tony Harvey;
Home arena	Convocation Center
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team represented Eastern Michigan University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by 10th-year head coach Rob Murphy, played their home games at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan as members of the Mid-American Conference. Starting this season, the MAC announced the removal of divisions.^[1] They finished the season 6–12, 3–11 in MAC play to finish in 10th place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament.

2020–21 Mid-American Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Toledo	15	–	4	.789	21	–	9	.700
Buffalo	12	–	5	.706	16	–	9	.640
Akron	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Kent State	12	–	6	.667	15	–	8	.652
Ohio †	9	–	5	.643	17	–	8	.680
Bowling Green	10	–	8	.556	14	–	12	.538
Miami (OH)	9	–	8	.529	12	–	11	.522
Ball State	8	–	9	.471	10	–	13	.435
Western Michigan	4	–	12	.250	5	–	16	.238
Eastern Michigan	3	–	11	.214	6	–	12	.333
Central Michigan	3	–	13	.188	7	–	16	.304
Northern Illinois	2	–	12	.143	3	–	16	.158

† 2021 MAC tournament winner

Following the season, the school announced it as parting ways with Murphy after 10 seasons.^[2] On April 12, 2021, the school hired EMU alum and former Kent State, Arkansas, and South Florida head coach Stan Heath as the team's new head coach.^[3]

Previous season

The Eagles finished the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 16–16, 6–12 in MAC play to finish in a tie for last place in the West Division. They lost in the first round of the MAC tournament to Kent State.^[4]

Roster

2020–21 Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Yeikson Montero	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Pensacola State	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
F	1	Ty Groce	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Sr	Lincoln High School	Ypsilanti, Michigan
G/F	2	Miles Gibson	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Jr	Northwest Kansas Tech	Richmond, Virginia
G	3	Drew Lowder	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	Holy Cross	Jackson, Michigan
G	4	Bryce McBride	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Dyersburg State Community College	Jackson, Tennessee
G	5	Noah Morgan	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Northwest Florida State	Mount Vernon, New York
G	10	Darion Spottsville	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Sr	South Mountain Community College	Phoenix, Arizona
G	12	Andrew Wells	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	Fr	International Sports Academy	East Lansing, Michigan
G	13	Chris James	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	So	St. John Bosco High School	Long Beach, California
F	15	Axel Okongo	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Sr	Missouri	Saâcy-sur-Marne, France
F	21	James Love III	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Sr	Kansas State	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
F	23	Thomas Binelli	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Sr	Monroe College	Bologna, Italy
F	33	Derek Ballard Jr.	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	RS Jr	Southfield-Lathrup High School	Southfield, Michigan

Head coach

Rob Murphy (Central State)

Assistant coach(es)

Kevin Mondro (Detroit Mercy)
Matt Kline (South Alabama)
Tony Harvey (Cameron)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: March 11, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm, BTN	at No. 13 Michigan State	L 67–83	0–1	Breslin Center East Lansing, MI
December 4, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Toledo	L 74–91	0–2 (0–1)	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
December 9, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Adrian	W 95–35	1–2	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
December 16, 2020 8:00 pm, ESPN3	Valparaiso	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN
December 27, 2020 2:00 pm	Olivet	W 94–65	2–2	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
December 29, 2020 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Central Michigan	L 60–87	2–3 (0–2)	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 2, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN3	Kent State	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 5, 2021 7:00 pm	Akron	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Akron	W 71–59	3–3 (1–2)	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 12, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	at Toledo	L 63–96	3–4 (1–3)	Savage Arena Toledo, OH
January 14, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	Calvin	W 67–56	4–4	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 16, 2021 4:30 pm, ESPN3	at Central Michigan	L 64–75	4–5 (1–4)	McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI
January 19, 2021 7:00 pm	Western Michigan	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
January 21, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Buffalo	L 77–92	4–6 (1–5)	Alumni Arena Amherst, NY
January 23, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN3	Miami (OH)	L 63–85	4–7 (1–6)	Convocation Center (100) Ypsilanti, MI
January 26, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN3	at Akron	L 65–86	4–8 (1–7)	James A. Rhodes Arena Akron, OH
January 29, 2021	at Northern Illinois	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center DeKalb, IL
February 2, 2021 7:00 pm	Bowling Green	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
February 6, 2021 2:00 pm	at Ohio	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Athens, OH
February 9, 2021 7:00 pm	at Miami (OH)	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues		Millett Hall Oxford, OH
February 13, 2021 1:00 pm	Ball State	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
February 16, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3	Buffalo	Postponed due to COVID-19 issues		Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
February 20, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3	at Kent State	L 51–64	4–9 (1–8)	MAC Center Kent, OH
February 23, 2021 7:00 pm	Bowling Green	L 69–82	4–10 (1–9)	Convocation Center (125) Ypsilanti, MI
February 25, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3	at Ohio	L 67–86	4–11 (1–10)	Convocation Center Athens, OH
February 27, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3	Northern Illinois	W 91–57	5–11 (2–10)	Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI
March 2, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	at Ball State	L 65–100	5–12 (2–11)	Worthen Arena (92) Muncie, IN
March 5, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN3	at Western Michigan	W 64–63	6–12 (3–11)	University Arena (100) Kalamazoo, MI
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[5]^[6]

References

^ "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
^ "Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan part ways after 10 yrs". Coaches Database. March 17, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
^ "Eastern Michigan hires Heath as basketball coach". ESPN.com. April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
^ "Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State – Game Recap – March 9, 2020 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
^ "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
^ "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.

[1] "Mid-American Conference cancels postseason tournaments for eight sports, changes basketball format". CBSSports.com. May 12, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2021.

[2] "Rob Murphy, Eastern Michigan part ways after 10 yrs". Coaches Database. March 17, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.

[3] "Eastern Michigan hires Heath as basketball coach". ESPN.com. April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 19, 2021.

[4] "Eastern Michigan vs. Kent State – Game Recap – March 9, 2020 – ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 19, 2020.

[5] "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved March 10, 2021.

[6] "2020-21 Eastern Michigan Eagles Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2021.

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