# 2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball team represented Northwestern University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Chris Collins, the Wildcats played their home games at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference.

## Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2019–20 season 8–22, 3–17 to finish in 13th place in Big Ten play. They lost in the first round of the Big Ten tournament to Minnesota.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| A. J. Turner | 21 | F | 6'7" | 200 | Rs Sr | Mount Clemens, MI | Graduated |
| Pat Spencer | 12 | G | 6'3" | 205 | Grad Student | Davidsonville, MD | Completed athletic eligibility; graduated from Loyola (MD) in 2019 |

### Recruiting class
## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| December 2, 2020* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 92–49 | 1–0 | 18 – Kopp | 7 – Tied | 8 – Greer | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 5, 2020* 4:00 pm, BTN | | Chicago State | W 111–66 | 2–0 | 20 – Audige | 12 – Gaines | 7 – Buie | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 9, 2020* 8:15 pm, ESPN | | Pittsburgh ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 70–71 | 2–1 | 14 – Buie | 7 – Tied | 6 – Buie | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 13, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPNU | | SIU Edwardsville | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues at SIU-Edwardsville | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| December 15, 2020* 3:00 pm, BTN+ | | Quincy | W 100–48 | 3–1 | 23 – Kopp | 7 – Nance | 4 – Tied | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 20, 2020 6:00 pm, BTN | | No. 4 Michigan State | W 79–65 | 4–1 (1–0) | 30 – Buie | 12 – Nance | 4 – Tied | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 23, 2020 7:30 pm, BTN | | at Indiana | W 74–67 | 5–1 (2–0) | 17 – Audige | 9 – Young | 4 – Buie | Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN |
| December 26, 2020 1:00 pm, FS1 | | No. 23 Ohio State | W 71–70 | 6–1 (3–0) | 23 – Kopp | 7 – Young | 5 – Buie | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| December 29, 2020 8:00 pm, FS1 | No. 19 | at No. 10 Iowa | L 72–87 | 6–2 (3–1) | 21 – Nance | 6 – Buie | 8 – Buie | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (464) Iowa City, IA |
| January 3, 2021 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 19 | at No. 16 Michigan | L 66-85 | 6-3 (3-2) | 14 – Beran | 7 – Young | 4 – Buie | Crisler Center (88) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 7, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 12 Illinois | L 56-81 | 6-4 (3-3) | 11 – Beran | 5 – Tied | 4 – Beran | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| January 13, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 21 Ohio State | L 71-81 | 6-5 (3-4) | 25 – Audige | 9 – Kopp | 6 – Buie | Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH |
| January 17, 2021 11:00 am, CBS | | No. 5 Iowa | L 73-96 | 6-6 (3-5) | 16 – Nance | 9 – Nance | 6 – Greer | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| January 20, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 10 Wisconsin | L 52-68 | 6-7 (3-6) | 16 – Audige | 12 – Nance | 5 – Buie | Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI |
| January 23, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | L 78-81 | 6-8 (3-7) | 19 – Kopp | 7 – Nance | 4 – Buie | Bryce Jordan Center (273) University Park, PA |
| January 31, 2021 6:30 pm, BTN | | Rutgers | L 56-64 | 6-9 (3-8) | 15 – Kopp | 9 – Nance | 3 – Tied | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| February 3, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 4 Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues at Michigan | Welsh–Ryan Arena Evanston, IL |
| February 6, 2021 3:30 pm, BTN | | at No. 24 Purdue | L 70-75 | 6-10 (3-9) | 20 – Nance | 8 – Nance | 6 – Tied | Mackey Arena (250) West Lafayette, IN |
| February 10, 2021 4:30 pm, BTN | | Indiana | L 76-79 $^{2OT}$ | 6-11 (3-10) | 19 – Audige | 7 – Nance | 5 – Young | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| February 13, 2021 4:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 25 Rutgers | L 50–64 | 6–12 (3–11) | 11 – Tied | 7 – Nance | 3 – Buie | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 16, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 5 Illinois | L 66–73 | 6–13 (3–12) | 22 – Audige | 7 – Gaines | 1 – Tied | State Farm Center (162) Champaign, IL |
| February 21, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN | | No. 21 Wisconsin | L 51–68 | 6–14 (3–13) | 19 – Buie | 6 – Gaines | 4 – Buie | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| February 25, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | W 67–59 | 7–14 (4–13) | 25 – Buie | 8 – Young | 4 – Nance | Williams Arena (23) Minneapolis, MN |
| March 3, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | | Maryland | W 60–55 | 8–14 (5–13) | 15 – Buie | 7 – Young | 4 – Greer | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| March 7, 2021 12:30 pm, BTN | | Nebraska | W 79–78 | 9–14 (6–13) | 14 – Audige | 7 – Nance | 6 – Buie | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 10, 2021 5:30 pm, BTN | (13) | vs. (12) Minnesota First round | L 46–51 | 9–15 | 9 – Kopp | 11 – Nance | 3 – Buie | Lucas Oil Stadium (5,909) 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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | RV | 19 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.