# 2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ramblers, led by 10th-year head coach Porter Moser, played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and Drake to win the MVC tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. There they defeated No. 9-seeded Georgia Tech and upset No. 1-seeded Illinois to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State.
On April 3, 2021, Moser left Loyola to accept the head coaching position at Oklahoma. A few days later, the school announced that assistant coach Drew Valentine would take over as the Ramblers' head coach.

## Previous season

The Ramblers finished the 2019–20 season 21–11, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Valparaiso. All postseason play was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Bruno Skokna | 4 | G | 6'4" | 175 | Senior | Zagreb, Croatia | Graduated |
| Jalon Pipkins | 50 | G | 6'4" | 180 | Junior | Paris, TX | Transferred to Purdue Fort Wayne |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Damezi Anderson | 35 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Junior | South Bend, IN | Transferred from Indiana. |

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jacob Hutson C | Edina, MN | Edina (MN) | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Sep 27, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/R ||||||
| Baylor Hebb PG / SG | Colleyville, TX | Heritage (TX) | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 9, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/R ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 158 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2020 Loyola Ramblers Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| December 5, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Lewis | W 76–48 | 1–0 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 9, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chicago State | W 88–51 | 2–0 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 13, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at UIC | W 77–66 | 3–0 | Credit Union 1 Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 15, 2020* 7:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 12 Wisconsin | L 63–77 | 3–1 | Kohl Center Madison, WI |
| December 18, 2020* 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. Richmond | L 73–75 | 3–2 | Indiana Convention Center Indianapolis, IN |
| December 22, 2020* 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | | St. Francis (IL) | W 92–55 | 4–2 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 27, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Illinois State | W 90–60 | 5–2 (1–0) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| December 28, 2020 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Illinois State | W 86–55 | 6–2 (2–0) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 2, 2021* 6:30 pm, ESPN+ | | North Texas | W 57–49 | 7–2 | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 10, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN2 | | at Indiana State | L 71–76 | 7–3 (2–1) | Hulman Center (80) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 11, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Indiana State | W 58–48 | 8–3 (3–1) | Hulman Center (90) Terre Haute, IN |
| January 16, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Northern Iowa | W 72–57 | 9–3 (4–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 17, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN | | Northern Iowa | W 88–46 | 10–3 (5–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| January 20, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 75–39 | 11–3 (6–1) | Athletics–Recreation Center (95) Valparaiso, IN |
| January 24, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 69–56 | 12–3 (7–1) | Carver Arena Peoria, IL |
| January 25, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Bradley | W 65–58 | 13–3 (8–1) | Carver Arena Peoria, IL |
| January 31, 2021 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Missouri State | W 72–46 | 14–3 (9–1) | JQH Arena (1,505) Springfield, MO |
| February 1, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Missouri State | W 70–50 | 15–3 (10–1) | JQH Arena (1,122) Springfield, MO |
| February 6, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 68–55 | 16–3 (11–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| February 7, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 69–58 | 17–3 (12–1) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| February 13, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Drake | W 81–54 | 18–3 (13–1) | Knapp Center (864) Des Moines, IA |
| February 14, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | at Drake | L 50–51 $^{OT}$ | 18–4 (13–2) | Knapp Center (921) Des Moines, IA |
| February 17, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | No. 22 | Valparaiso | W 54–52 | 19–4 (14–2) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| February 26, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 21 | Southern Illinois | W 60–52 | 20–4 (15–2) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| February 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 21 | Southern Illinois | W 65–58 $^{OT}$ | 21–4 (16–2) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 5, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN+ | (1) No. 20 | vs. (9) Southern Illinois Quarterfinals | W 73–49 | 22–4 | Enterprise Center (830) St. Louis, MO |
| March 6, 2021 12:00 pm, CBSSN | (1) No. 20 | vs. (4) Indiana State Semifinals | W 65–49 | 23–4 | Enterprise Center (938) St. Louis, MO |
| March 7, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS | (1) No. 20 | vs. (2) Drake Championship | W 75–65 | 24–4 | Enterprise Center (1,265) St. Louis, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 19, 2021 3:00 pm, TBS | (8 MW) No. 17 | vs. (9 MW) Georgia Tech First Round | W 71–60 | 25–4 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,072) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 21, 2021 11:10 am, CBS | (8 MW) No. 17 | vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Illinois Second Round | W 71–58 | 26–4 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,670) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 27, 2021 1:40 pm, CBS | (8 MW) No. 17 | vs. (12 MW) Oregon State Sweet Sixteen | L 58–65 | 26–5 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,639) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —^ | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | RV | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 18 | 16 | 12 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.