# 2020–21 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team

The 2020–21 SMU Mustangs men's basketball team represented Southern Methodist University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Mustangs, led by fifth-year head coach Tim Jankovich, played their home games at Moody Coliseum on their campus in University Park, Texas as members of the American Athletic Conference (AAC). They finished the season 11–6, 7–4 in AAC play, to finish in fourth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the AAC tournament to Cincinnati. They received an invitation to the NIT where they lost in the first round to Boise State.

## Previous season

The Mustangs finished the 2019–20 season 19–11, 9–9 in AAC play, to finish in seventh place. They entered as the No. 7 seed in the AAC tournament, which was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| C. J. White | 13 | G | 6'5" | 185 | Junior | Little Rock, AR | Walk-on; transferred to Little Rock |
| Isiaha Mike | 15 | F | 6'8" | 215 | RS Junior | Scarborough, ON | Played professionally |
| Grant Youngkin | 20 | G | 6'3" | 190 | RS Junior | Washington, D.C. | Walk-on; not on team roster |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Yor Anei | F | 6'10" | 235 | Junior | Overland Park, KS | Transferred from Oklahoma State. Anei was granted a waiver for immediate eligibility on December 16 and will have two years of remaining eligibility. |

### 2020 recruiting class

SMU did not sign any recruits for the 2020 class.

### 2021 recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021) :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jalen Smith PG | Orlando, FL | Oak Ridge High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | 08/30/20 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: NR |||||||
| 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: "SMU 2021 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020. "2022 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020. "2021 SMU Mustangs Basketball 24/7 Sports Commits". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020. |||||||

## Preseason
### AAC preseason media poll

On October 28, The American released the preseason poll and other preseason awards.
Coaches Poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Houston | 99 (2) |
| 2 | Memphis | 90 (2) |
| 3 | SMU | 80 |
| 4 | Cincinnati | 77 |
| 5 | South Florida | 61 |
| 6 | Tulsa | 50 |
| 7 | Wichita State | 44 |
| 8 | UCF | 37 |
| 9 | East Carolina | 34 |
| 10 | Temple | 18 |
| 11 | Tulane | 15 |

### Preseason awards

* All-AAC First Team – Kendric Davis
* All-AAC Second Team – Tyson Jolly

## Roster

* Preseason: Tyson Jolly decided to opt out for the season.
* January 23, 2021: Tyson Jolly decided to rejoin the team for the remainder of the season.

## Schedule and results

The Mustangs began a series with Dayton in Dayton, Ohio beginning in the 2020–21 season.

### COVID-19 impact

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Mustangs' schedule was subject to change, including the cancellation or postponement of individual games, the cancellation of the entire season, or games played either with minimal fans or without fans in attendance and just essential personnel.
* Two previously scheduled games were postponed (vs. Arizona State and @ UNLV) were postponed to the 2021–22 season.
* The game @ South Florida scheduled for February 20 was moved to Dallas.

### Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Sam Houston State | W 97–67 | 1–0 | 33 – Davis | 7 – Hunt | 6 – Chargois | Moody Coliseum (1,530) University Park, TX |
| November 30, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | W 91–54 | 2–0 | 19 – Hunt | 11 – Chargois | 11 – Davis | Moody Coliseum (1,501) University Park, TX |
| December 2, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Houston Baptist | W 102–75 | 3–0 | 20 – tied | 11 – Hunt | 13 – Davis | Moody Coliseum (1,507) University Park, TX |
| December 5, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Dayton | W 66–64 | 4–0 | 21 – Davis | 6 – Davis | 3 – Davis | UD Arena (0) Dayton, OH |
| December 8, 2020* | | Vanderbilt American/SEC Alliance | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| December 16, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | East Carolina | W 70–55 | 5–0 (1–0) | 13 – Davis | 5 – Chargois | 1 – tied | Moody Coliseum (1,564) University Park, TX |
| December 30, 2020 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Temple | W 79–71 | 6–0 (2–0) | 17 – McNeill | 9 – Chargois | 5 – Davis | Liacouras Center Philadelphia, PA |
| January 3, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 5 Houston Rivalry | L 60–74 | 6–1 (2–1) | 23 – Davis | 12 – Hunt | 4 – Davis | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| January 6, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Cincinnati | L 69–76 | 6–2 (2–2) | 14 – Davis | 10 – Hunt | 14 – Davis | Moody Coliseum (1,568) University Park, TX |
| January 11, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Temple | W 79–68 | 7–2 (3–2) | 20 – Davis | 11 – Hunt | 8 – Davis | Moody Coliseum (1,417) University Park, TX |
| January 20, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Tulane | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Devlin Fieldhouse New Orleans, LA |
| January 23, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at UCF | W 78–65 | 8–2 (4–2) | 21 – Davis | 8 – Hunt | 9 – Davis | Addition Financial Arena (1,394) Orlando, FL |
| January 26, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Memphis Previously scheduled for January 14 | L 72–76 | 8–3 (4–3) | 15 – Jolly | 6 – Jasey | 6 – Davis | FedExForum (2,157) Memphis, TN |
| January 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Memphis | W 67–65 | 9–3 (5–3) | 17 – Hunt | 6 – Jolly | 8 – Davis | Moody Coliseum (1,698) University Park, TX |
| January 31, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN | | at No. 6 Houston rivalry | L 48–70 | 9–4 (5–4) | 11 – Davis | 8 – Hunt | 4 – Davis | Fertitta Center Houston, TX |
| February 3, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Tulsa Previously scheduled for February 13 | W 65–63 | 10–4 (6–4) | 22 – Davis | 12 – Hunt | 10 – Davis | Reynolds Center (100) Tulsa, OK |
| February 6, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPNU | | South Florida | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| February 8, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at East Carolina | W 71–56 | 11–4 (7–4) | 25 – Davis | 9 – Hunt | 8 – Davis | Williams Arena (51) Greenville, NC |
| February 17, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tulane | Postponed due to severe weather | Postponed due to severe weather | Postponed due to severe weather | Postponed due to severe weather | Postponed due to severe weather | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| February 20, 2021 11:00 a.m., ESPNU | | South Florida | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| February 23, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | UCF | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| February 25, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at Wichita State Previously scheduled for February 28 | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Charles Koch Arena Wichita, KS |
| February 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Wichita State Previously scheduled for January 17 | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Postponed due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| March 4, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | | at Cincinnati | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati, OH |
| March 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Tulsa | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues | Moody Coliseum University Park, TX |
| AAC tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (4) | vs. (5) Cincinnati Quarterfinals | L 71–74 | 11–5 | 35 – Davis | 12 – Chargois | 4 – Davis | Dickies Arena (778) Fort Worth, TX |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 18, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN | (3) | vs. (2) Boise State First round – Memphis bracket | L 84–85 | 11–6 | 23 – Davis | 7 – Davis | 12 – Davis | Comerica Center (836) Frisco, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. |||||||||

## Awards and honors
### American Athletic Conference honors
#### All-AAC First Team

* Kendric Davis

#### All-AAC Third Team

* Feron Hunt
Source: