# 2020–21 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Colorado State Rams men's basketball team represented Colorado State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Niko Medved in his third season. The Rams played their home games at Moby Arena on CSU's main campus in Fort Collins, Colorado as members of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 20-8, 14-4 to finish in 3rd place. They defeated Fresno State in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West tournament before losing in the semifinals to Utah State. They received an invitation to the NIT where they defeated Buffalo and NC State to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Memphis. They played the third-place game where they lost to Louisiana Tech.

## Previous season

The Rams finished the 2019–20 season 20–12, 11–7 in Mountain West play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They lost in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to Wyoming.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Hyron Edwards | 0 | G | 6'0" | 165 | RS Senior | East Chicago, IN | Graduation |
| Kris Martin | 1 | G | 6'4" | 190 | RS Senior | Frisco, TX | Graduation |
| Nico Carvacho | 32 | F/C | 6'11" | 245 | RS Senior | Frisco, TX | Graduation |
| Teyvion Kirk | 2 | G | 6'4" | 185 | Junior | Joliet, IL | Transferred to UIC |

### 2020 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Isaiah Rivera SG | Geneseo, IL | Geneseo High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Nov 13, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Jacob Jennissen C | Sauk Centre, MN | Sauk Centre Secondary | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 232 lb (105 kg) | Unknown |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Trace Young G | Austin, TX | Dripping Springs High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Feb 10, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| 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: "Colorado State Commit List for 2020". Rivals.com. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. "ESPN – Colorado State Rams Basketball Recruiting 2020". ESPN.com. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| December 12, 2020* 2:30 0m, MWN | | CSU–Pueblo | W 89–77 | 1–0 | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| December 14, 2020* 6:00 pm, MWN | | Northern Arizona | W 91–52 | 2–0 | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| December 19, 2020* 6:00 pm, WCCN | | at Saint Mary's | L 33–53 | 2–1 | University Credit Union Pavilion Moraga, CA |
| December 22, 2022* 2:00 pm, WCCN | | vs. Santa Clara | W 70–57 | 3–1 | Kaiser Permanente Arena Santa Cruz, CA |
| December 28, 2020 6:00 pm, MWN | | Fresno State | W 75–53 | 4–1 (1–0) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| December 30, 2020 2:00 pm, MWN | | Fresno State | W 81–59 | 5–1 (2–0) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| January 2, 2021 2:00 pm, CBS | | at San Diego State | W 70–67 | 6–1 (3–0) | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 4, 2021 7:00 pm, FS1 | | at San Diego State | L 65–78 | 6–2 (3–1) | Viejas Arena San Diego, CA |
| January 7, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | UNLV | W 74–71 | 7–2 (4–1) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| January 9, 2021 2:00 pm, FS1 | | UNLV | W 83–80 | 8–2 (5–1) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| January 14, 2021 7:30 pm, MWN | | vs. San Jose State | W 90–57 | 9–2 (6–1) | Ability360 Phoenix, AZ |
| January 16, 2021 4:00 pm, MWN | | vs. San Jose State | W 88–61 | 10–2 (7–1) | Ability360 Phoenix, AZ |
| January 19, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Utah State | L 64–83 | 10–3 (7–2) | Smith Spectrum (1,553) Logan, UT |
| January 21, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1 | | at Utah State | W 84–76 | 11–3 (8–2) | Smith Spectrum (1,592) Logan, UT |
| January 27, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Boise State | W 78–56 | 12–3 (9–2) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| January 29, 2021 9:00 pm, FS1 | | Boise State | L 77–85 | 12–4 (9–3) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| February 4, 2021 7:00 pm, MWN | | at Wyoming | W 74–72 | 13–4 (10–3) | Arena-Auditorium (1,807) Laramie, WY |
| February 6, 2021 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Wyoming | W 68–59 | 14–4 (11–3) | Arena-Auditorium (2,000) Laramie, WY |
| February 16, 2021* 7:00 pm, MWN | | Northern Colorado | Cancelled due to Covid-19 | Cancelled due to Covid-19 | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| February 27, 2021 2:00 pm, MWN | | Air Force | W 72–49 | 15–4 (12–3) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| March 1, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN | | Air Force | W 74–44 | 16–4 (13–3) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| March 3, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | New Mexico Previously scheduled for Feb. 9 | W 87–73 | 17–4 (14–3) | Moby Arena Fort Collins, CO |
| March 5, 2021 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Nevada Previously scheduled for Feb. 20 | L 82–85 | 17–5 (14–4) | Lawlor Events Center (100) Reno, NV |
| Mountain West tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2021 9:30 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (6) Fresno State Quarterfinals | W 72–62 | 18–5 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| March 12, 2021 9:59 pm, CBSSN | (3) | vs. (2) Utah State Semifinals | L 50–62 | 18–6 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, NV |
| NIT ||||||
| March 19, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | vs. (4) Buffalo First round – Colorado State bracket | W 75–73 | 19–6 | The Super Pit Denton, TX |
| March 25, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN | (1) | vs. (3) NC State Quarterfinals – Colorado State bracket | W 65–61 | 20–6 | Comerica Center Frisco, TX |
| March 27, 2021 9:00 am, ESPN | (1) | vs. (1) Memphis Semifinals | L 67–90 | 20–7 | Comerica Center Frisco, TX |
| March 28, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN | (1) | vs. (4) Louisiana Tech Third-place game | L 74–76 | 20–8 | Comerica Center Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||
Source

## Notable games
### Regular season

* January 2, 2021 at Viejas Arena: Colorado State came back from a 26-point deficit to beat San Diego State 70–67, the largest comeback in Mountain West history.

### 2021 Mountain West tournament

* Quarterfinals: March 11, 2021 at Thomas & Mack Center: No. 3 seed Colorado State beat No. 6 seed Fresno State 72–62 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Mountain West Conference men's basketball tournament.
* Semifinals: March 12, 2021 at Thomas & Mack Center: No. 3 seed Colorado State was beaten by No. 2 seed Utah State 62–50 in the semifinals of the tournament. Utah State would continue on to lose to San Diego State in the tournament championship.

### 2021 National Invitation Tournament (NIT)

* First round: March 19, 2021 at UNT Coliseum: No. 1 seed Colorado State beat No. 4 seed Buffalo 75–73 on a game-winning layup by Isaiah Stevens in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
* Quarterfinals: March 25, 2021 at Comerica Center: No. 1 seed Colorado State beat No. 3 seed NC State 65–61. Isaiah Stevens led scoring for the Rams, recording 18 points on 6 of 13 shots and four free throws.
* Semifinals: March 27, 2021 at Comerica Center: No. 1 seed Colorado State was beaten by No. 1 seed Memphis, 90–67. Memphis would continue on to win the 2021 National Invitation Tournament.
* Third-place game: March 28, 2021 at Comerica Center: No. 1 seed Colorado State was beaten by No. 4 seed Louisiana Tech 76–74 on a buzzer beater shot by Louisiana Tech star Kenneth Lofton Jr.