# 2020–21 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by 15th-year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers finished the season 10–15, 7–11 in MVC play, to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Illinois State in the first round before being forced to forfeit their quarterfinal game against Drake due to positive COVID-19 tests.

## Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2019–20 season 25–6, 14–4 in MVC play, to win the MVC regular-season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Drake. As a regular-season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they were set to receive an automatic bid to NIT. However, all postseason tournaments were thereafter canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Logan Wolf | 10 | G | 6'4" | 220 | Freshman | Cedar Falls, IA | Walk-on and dual-sport athlete (football); left basketball program to focus on football. |
| Lincoln Conrey | 12 | F | 6'5" | 203 | Senior | Waterloo, IA | Graduated |
| Justin Dahl | 15 | C | 7'0" | 261 | RS Senior | Carver, MN | Graduated |
| Shandon Goldman | 20 | F | 6'10" | 220 | Senior | Evansville, AR | Graduated |
| Isaiah Brown | 24 | G | 6'7" | 180 | Senior | Flower Mound, TX | Graduated |
| Spencer Haldeman | 30 | G | 6'1" | 175 | RS Senior | Peosta, IA | Graduated |
| Luke McDonnell | 34 | F | 6'9" | 212 | RS Senior | Dubuque, IA | Graduated |

### 2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Nate Heise #0 SG | Lake City, MN | Lincoln High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 191 lb (87 kg) | May 13, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Bowen Born #13 PG | Norwalk, IA | Norwalk High School | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Aug 24, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Tytan Anderson #32 SF | Eldridge, IA | North Scott High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 14, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| 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 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 2, 2021. ||||||

### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Michael Duax SF | Dubuque, IA | Hempstead High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Feb 11, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Chase Courbat C | Cedar Falls, IA | Cedar Falls High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Aug 26, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Landon Wolf SG | Cedar Falls, IA | Cedar Falls High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 23, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: |||||||
| 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 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2020* 3:30 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Western Kentucky Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic | L 87–93 | 0–1 | Sanford Pentagon (0) Sioux Falls, SD |
| November 26, 2020* 4:30 p.m., ESPN | | vs. Saint Mary's Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic | L 64–66 | 0–2 | Sanford Pentagon (0) Sioux Falls, SD |
| November 27, 2020* 3:00 p.m., ESPNU | | vs. Utah State Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic | L 71–82 | 0–3 | Sanford Pentagon (0) Sioux Falls, SD |
| December 4, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | St. Ambrose | W 98–53 | 1–3 | McLeod Center (0) Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 9, 2020* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at No. 19 Richmond | L 68–78 | 1–4 | Robins Center (0) Richmond, VA |
| December 27, 2020 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 59–79 | 1–5 (0–1) | McLeod Center (668) Cedar Falls, IA |
| December 28, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri State | W 85–75 | 2–5 (1–1) | McLeod Center (0) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 2, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Evansville | L 61–65 | 2–6 (1–2) | Ford Center (0) Evansville, IN |
| January 3, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Evansville | L 64–70 | 2–7 (1–3) | Ford Center (0) Evansville, IN |
| January 10, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 78–72 | 3–7 (2–3) | McLeod Center (708) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 11, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | L 73–75 | 3–8 (2–4) | McLeod Center (608) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 16, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Loyola | L 57–72 | 3–9 (2–5) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (0) Chicago, IL |
| January 17, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN | | at Loyola | L 46–88 | 3–10 (2–6) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (0) Chicago, IL |
| January 25, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Coe | W 70–60 | 4–10 | McLeod Center (515) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 30, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | at Southern Illinois | W 74–62 | 5–10 (3–6) | Banterra Center (0) Carbondale, IL |
| January 31, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Southern Illinois | L 68–71 | 5–11 (3–7) | Banterra Center (0) Carbondale, IL |
| February 6, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Indiana State | L 57–61 | 5–12 (3–8) | McLeod Center (0) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 7, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Indiana State | W 70–67 | 6–12 (4–8) | McLeod Center (826) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 10, 2021 6:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Drake | L 59–80 | 6–13 (4–9) | Knapp Center (971) Des Moines, IA |
| February 13, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | L 57–70 | 6–14 (4–10) | McLeod Center (713) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 14, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 74–60 | 7–14 (5–10) | McLeod Center (953) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 17, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drake | L 69–77 | 7–15 (5–11) | McLeod Center (914) Cedar Falls, IA |
| February 26, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Illinois State | W 70–56 | 8–15 (6–11) | Redbird Arena Normal, IL |
| February 27, 2021 5:00 p.m., CBSSN | | at Illinois State | W 94–87 $^{2OT}$ | 9–15 (7–11) | Redbird Arena Normal, IL |
| MVC tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (10) Illinois State First round | W 65–60 | 10–15 | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| March 5, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (7) | vs. (2) Drake Quarterfinals | Forfeit | Forfeit | Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
Source: