The 2021 America East Men's Basketball Conference tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the America East Conference that began on February 27, 2021 and ended on March 13, 2021. Starting in the semifinals, all tournament games were played on the home arenas of the higher-seeded school. In Pod Play and the Quarterfinals, games were played at either New Hampshire or Hartford. The winner received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1][2]
| 2021 America East men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2020–21 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Site | Campus sites |
| Champions | Hartford (1st title) |
| Winning coach | John Gallagher (1st title) |
| MVP | Austin Williams (Hartford) |
| Television | ESPN+ ESPN2 |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMBC | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 14 | – | 6 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vermont | 10 | – | 4 | .714 | 10 | – | 5 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Hampshire | 9 | – | 6 | .600 | 10 | – | 9 | .526 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hartford † | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 15 | – | 9 | .625 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albany | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMass Lowell | 7 | – | 8 | .467 | 11 | – | 12 | .478 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stony Brook | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 9 | – | 14 | .391 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NJIT | 6 | – | 10 | .375 | 7 | – | 12 | .368 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Binghamton | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maine | 2 | – | 6 | .250 | 2 | – | 7 | .222 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maine suspended its season on February 13, 2021. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2021 AmEast tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
editAll of the teams, except for Maine, in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. Maine cancelled their season after going 2–7, so they did not compete in the conference tournament.[3] The teams were seeded by record in conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | AEC Record | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UMBC | 10–4 | 2–0 vs Albany |
| 2 | Vermont | 10–4 | 1–1 vs Albany |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 9–6 | |
| 4 | Hartford | 8–6 | |
| 5 | Albany | 6–6 | |
| 6 | UMass Lowell | 7–8 | |
| 7 | Stony Brook | 7–9 | |
| 8 | NJIT | 6–10 | |
| 9 | Binghamton | 4–10 |
Schedule
edit| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pod Play – Saturday, February 27 | |||||
| 1 | 1:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell vs No. 7 Stony Brook (at New Hampshire) | 64–62 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| 2 | 2:00 pm | No. 9 Binghamton at No. 4 Hartford | 60–77 | 0 | |
| 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 8 NJIT vs No. 5 Albany (at Hartford) | 66–76 | 0 | |
| Quarterfinals – Sunday, February 28 | |||||
| 4 | 1:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 3 New Hampshire | 72–64 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| 5 | 3:00 pm | No. 5 Albany at No. 4 Hartford | 77–83 | 0 | |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 6 | |||||
| 6 | 2:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 1 UMBC | 79–77 | ESPN+ | |
| 7 | 4:00 pm | No. 4 Hartford at No. 2 Vermont | 71–65 | ||
| Championship – Saturday, March 13 | |||||
| 8 | 11:00 am | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 4 Hartford | 50–64 | ESPN2 | |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding. All games hosted by higher-seeded team or at pod site.[4] | |||||
Bracket and results
edit| Pod Play Saturday, February 27, 2021 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Sunday, February 28, 2021 ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 6, 2021 ESPN3/ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 13, 2021 ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | UMBC | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | New Hampshire | 64 | 6 | UMass Lowell | 79 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | UMass Lowell | 72 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | UMass Lowell | 64 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | UMass Lowell | 50 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Stony Brook | 62 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hartford | 64 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Hartford | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Vermont | 65 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Binghamton | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Hartford | 83 | 4 | Hartford | 71 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | Albany | 77 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Albany | 76 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | NJIT | 66 | ||||||||||||||||
Game summaries
editPod Play
editESPN+
|
February 27, 2021
1:00 pm EST |
| No. 7 Stony Brook Seawolves 62, No. 6 UMass Lowell River Hawks 64 | ||
| Scoring by half: 43-29, 19-35 | ||
| Pts: J. Rodriguez – 22 Rebs: M. Gueye – 13 Asts: J. McKenzie – 2 |
Pts: O. Noel – 23 Rebs: 2 tied – 4 Asts: 2 tied – 3 | |
Lundholhm Gymnasium – Durham, NH
Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: Kevin O'Connell, Andy O'Brien, Michael Fortunato |
ESPN+
|
February 27, 2021
2:00 pm EST |
| No. 9 Binghamton Bearcats 60, No. 4 Hartford Hawks 77 | ||
| Scoring by half: 24-34, 36-43 | ||
| Pts: D. Petcash – 15 Rebs: H. Hjalmarsson – 7 Asts: 3 tied – 2 |
Pts: A. Williams – 29 Rebs: A. Williams – 15 Asts: 2 tied – 5 | |
Chase Arena – West Hartford, CT
Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: John Floyd, King Whetstone, Mike Kitts Jr. |
ESPN+
|
February 27, 2021
5:00 pm EST |
| No. 8 NJIT Highlanders 66, No. 5 Albany Great Danes 76 | ||
| Scoring by half: 23-39, 43-37 | ||
| Pts: Z. Cooks – 26 Rebs: 3 tied – 4 Asts: M. Gray – 2 |
Pts: J. Doles – 21 Rebs: 2 tied – 6 Asts: J. Horton – 7 | |
Chase Hall – West Hartford, CT
Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: John Floyd, King Whetstone, Mike Kitts Jr. |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Gaydos, Ryan (February 25, 2021). "2021 America East Conference men's basketball tournament: Matchups, players to know & more". Fox News. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ Byrum, Tyler (February 23, 2021). "America East tournament 2021: Bracket, how to watch, dates, preview, location". NBCSports.com. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
- ^ "Maine opts out of rest of season, citing COVID". February 13, 2021.
- ^ "2021 Hercules Tires Men's #AEPlayoffs Matchups Set". America East Conference. February 21, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.