# 2020–21 Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Abilene Christian Wildcats men's basketball team represented Abilene Christian University (ACU) in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wildcats, led by tenth-year head coach Joe Golding, were members of the Southland Conference. Due to renovations at their usual home arena of Moody Coliseum, they played their home games on temporary stands and court set up on the indoor tennis courts of the Teague Special Events Center.
This was the Wildcats' final season in the Southland Conference. ACU and three other schools from Texas will leave that league on July 1, 2021 to join the Western Athletic Conference. They finished the season 24-5, 13-2 in Southland Play to finish in 2nd place. They defeated Lamar and Nicholls to be champions of the Southland tournament. They received the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they upset Texas in the first round before losing in the second round to UCLA.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2019–20 season 20–11, 15–5 in Southland play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed, they received a double-bye to the semifinals of the Southland tournament, however, the tournament was 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 25, 2020* 10:00 am, FloHoops | | vs. East Tennessee State Gulf Coast Showcase | W 70–47 | 1–0 | Hertz Arena (50) Estero, FL |
| November 27, 2020* 1:00 pm, FloHoops | | vs. Austin Peay Gulf Coast Showcase | W 80–72 | 2–0 | Hertz Arena (50) Estero, FL |
| November 28, 2020* 10:00 am, FloHoops | | vs. Omaha Gulf Coast Showcase | W 70–58 | 3–0 | Hertz Arena (50) Estero, FL |
| December 1, 2020* 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Howard Payne West Texas Classic | W 81–51 | 4–0 | Teague Special Events Center (212) Abilene, TX |
| December 5, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Tarleton State West Texas Classic | W 69–48 | 5–0 | Teague Special Events Center (296) Abilene, TX |
| December 9, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at No. 17 Texas Tech | L 44–51 | 5–1 | United Supermarkets Arena (4,175) Lubbock, TX |
| December 12, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | McMurry | W 83–46 | 6–1 | Teague Special Events Center (210) Abilene, TX |
| December 16, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Hardin–Simmons | W 95–73 | 7–1 | Teague Special Events Center (228) Abilene, TX |
| December 22, 2020* 4:00 pm, SECN | | at Arkansas | L 72–85 | 7–2 | Bud Walton Arena (4,110) Fayetteville, AR |
| December 29, 2020* 7:00 pm | | Dallas Christian | W 82–44 | 8–2 | Teague Special Events Center (194) Abilene, TX |
| Southland Regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Lamar | W 83–65 | 9–2 (1–0) | Teague Special Events Center (245) Abilene, TX |
| January 6, 2021 7:00 pm | | at Houston Baptist | W 66–63 | 10–2 (2–0) | Sharp Gymnasium (140) Houston, TX |
| January 9, 2021 3:30 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | American Bank Center Corpus Christi, TX |
| January 16, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 76–42 | 11–2 (3–0) | Teague Special Events Center (332) Abilene, TX |
| January 20, 2021 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | | at Sam Houston State | L 57–64 | 11–3 (3–1) | Bernard Johnson Coliseum (707) Huntsville, TX |
| January 23, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Central Arkansas | W 93–58 | 12–3 (4–1) | Teague Special Events Center (411) Abilene, TX |
| January 27, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Stephen F. Austin | W 82–62 | 13–3 (5–1) | Teague Special Events Center (382) Abilene, TX |
| January 30, 2021 6:30 pm | | at Incarnate Word | W 75–67 | 14–3 (6–1) | McDermott Center (176) San Antonio, TX |
| February 1, 2021 7:00 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi rescheduled from January 9 | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | American Bank Center Corpus Christi, TX |
| February 6, 2021 4:30 pm | | at Lamar | W 77–62 | 15–3 (7–1) | Montagne Center (1,239) Beaumont, TX |
| February 8, 2021 7:00 pm | | at Texas A&M–Corpus Christi rescheduled from February 1 | W 82–69 | 16–3 (8–1) | American Bank Center (464) Corpus Christi, TX |
| February 10, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Houston Baptist | W 88–59 | 17–3 (9–1) | Teague Special Events Center (294) Abilene, TX |
| February 13, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 83–55 | 18–3 (10–1) | Teague Special Events Center (416) Abilene, TX |
| February 20, 2021 4:00 pm | | at Southeastern Louisiana | Canceled due to weather | Canceled due to weather | University Center Hammond, LA |
| February 24, 2021 7:30 pm, ESPN+ | | Sam Houston State | W 86–72 | 19–3 (11–1) | Teague Special Events Center (507) Abilene, TX |
| February 27, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Central Arkansas | L 82–84 | 19–4 (11–2) | Farris Center (489) Conway, AR |
| March 3, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Stephen F. Austin | W 63–61 | 20–4 (12–2) | William R. Johnson Coliseum (1,636) Nacogdoches, TX |
| March 6, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Incarnate Word | W 85–60 | 21–4 (13–2) | Teague Special Events Center Abilene, TX |
| Southland tournament ||||||
| March 12, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (6) Lamar Semifinals | W 93–71 | 22–4 | Merrell Center Katy, TX |
| March 13, 2021 8:30 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (1) Nicholls Championship | W 79–45 | 23–4 | Merrell Center (1,205) Katy, TX |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 20, 2021 8:50 pm, truTV, TNT | (14 E) | vs. (3 E) No. 9 Texas First Round | W 53–52 | 24–4 | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| March 22, 2021 4:15 pm, TBS | (14 E) | vs. (11 E) UCLA Second Round | L 47–67 | 24–5 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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