# 2020–21 Hartford Hawks men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Hartford Hawks men's basketball team represented the University of Hartford in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion in West Hartford, Connecticut and were led by 11th-year head coach John Gallagher. They finished the season 15-9, 8-6 in America East Play to finish in 4th place. They defeated Binghamton, Albany, Vermont, and UMass Lowell to be champions the America East tournament. They received the America East’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time where they lost in the first round to Baylor. This was their only time making the NCAA Tournament as a D1 school (the school would announce the demotion to D3 just 2 months later, making the move in 2023.)

## Previous season

The Hawks finished the 2019–20 season 18–15, 9–7 in America East play to finish in third place. They defeated UMass Lowell and Stony Brook to advance to the championship game of the America East tournament vs Vermont. However, the championship game, and all postseason tournaments, were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 27, 2020* 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | at UConn | L 57–69 | 0–1 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Storrs, CT |
| December 1, 2020* 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 12 Villanova Bubbleville | L 53–87 | 0–2 | Mohegan Sun Arena Uncasville, CT |
| December 2, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Fairfield | W 66–61 | 1–2 | Alumni Hall Fairfield, CT |
| December 4, 2020* 6:00 pm | | Central Connecticut Rivalry | W 80–65 | 2–2 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| December 7, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Fairfield | W 67–54 | 3–2 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| December 19, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Maine | W 63–60 | 4–2 (1–0) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| December 20, 2020 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Maine | W 65–50 | 5–2 (2–0) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| December 27, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at New Hampshire | L 69–77 | 5–3 (2–1) | Lundholm Gym Durham, NH |
| December 28, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at New Hampshire | L 51–53 | 5–4 (2–2) | Lundholm Gym Durham, NH |
| January 2, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Binghamton | W 76–56 | 6–4 (3–2) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| January 3, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Binghamton | W 77–74 | 7–4 (4–2) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMass Lowell | L 62–71 | 7–5 (4–3) | Costello Athletic Center Lowell, MA |
| January 10, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMass Lowell | W 75–58 | 8–5 (5–3) | Costello Athletic Center Lowell, MA |
| January 16, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMBC | W 70–63 | 9–5 (6–3) | UMBC Event Center Catonsville, MD |
| January 17, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at UMBC | L 49–57 | 9–6 (6–4) | UMBC Event Center Catonsville, MD |
| January 30, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stony Brook | W 59–57 | 10–6 (7–4) | Island Federal Credit Union Arena Stony Brook, NY |
| January 31, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Stony Brook | L 49–63 | 10–7 (7–5) | Island Federal Credit Union Arena Stony Brook, NY |
| February 13, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | NJIT | L 57–67 | 10–8 (7–6) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| February 14, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | NJIT | W 75–61 | 11–8 (8–6) | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| America East tournament ||||||
| February 27, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | (9) Binghamton First round | W 77–60 | 12–8 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| February 28, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | (5) Albany Quarterfinals | W 83–77 | 13–8 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| March 6, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | (4) | at (2) Vermont Semifinals | W 71–65 | 14–8 | Patrick Gym Burlington, VT |
| March 13, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN2 | (4) | (6) UMass Lowell Championship | W 64–50 | 15–8 | Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion West Hartford, CT |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2021 2:30 pm, truTV | (16 S) | vs. (1 S) No. 3 Baylor First Round | L 55–79 | 15–9 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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