# 2020–21 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Northern Illinois Huskies men's basketball team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies, led by interim head coach Lamar Chapman, played their home games at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Illinois as members of the Mid-American Conference. In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Huskies finished the season 3–16, 2–12 in MAC play to finish in last place. They failed to qualify for the MAC tournament which had been limited to provide that the bottom four finishers would not be eligible. The MAC also announced the removal of divisions in cost-cutting measure partly attributed to COVID-19.
On January 3, 2021, it was announced that head coach Mark Montgomery had been relieved of his duties after the team's 1–7 start to the season. Associate head coach Lamar Chapman was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2019–20 season 18–13, 11–7, to finish in a tie for first place in the MAC West division. They were scheduled to play Miami (OH) in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament, but the remainder of the tournament was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm | UIC | L 61–65 | 0–1 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| December 2, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | SIU Edwardsville | L 53–73 | 0–2 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| December 5, 2020* 6:00 pm, ACCNX | at Pittsburgh | L 59–89 | 0–3 | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| December 8, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | Ball State | L 70–79 $^{OT}$ | 0–4 (0–1) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| December 13, 2020* 1:00 pm, FS1 | at No. 3 Iowa | L 53–106 | 0–5 | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (546) Iowa City, IA |
| December 18, 2020* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | Chicago State | W 64–54 | 1–5 | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| December 22, 2020 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Toledo | L 55–78 | 1–6 (0–2) | Savage Arena Toledo, OH |
| January 2, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | Bowling Green | L 42–68 | 1–7 (0–3) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| January 5, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Ohio | L 73–76 | 1–8 (0–4) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Miami (OH) | L 58–70 | 1–9 (0–5) | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| January 12, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | Akron | W 67–65 | 2–9 (1–5) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| January 16, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Ball State | L 58–78 | 2–10 (1–6) | Worthen Arena (132) Muncie, IN |
| January 19, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | Ohio | Postponed | Postponed | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| January 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | Buffalo | Postponed | Postponed | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| January 26, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | at Bowling Green | Postponed | Postponed | Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH |
| January 30, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | Eastern Michigan | Postponed | Postponed | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| February 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Western Michigan | Postponed | Postponed | University Arena Kalamazoo, MI |
| February 6, 2021 1:30 pm, ESPN3 | Central Michigan | Postponed | Postponed | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| February 9, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | Toledo | Postponed | Postponed | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| February 13, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Kent State | L 58–80 | 2–11 (1–7) | MAC Center Kent, OH |
| February 16, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Akron | L 76–81 | 2–12 (1–8) | James A. Rhodes Arena (52) Akron, OH |
| February 20, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | Miami (OH) | L 64–69 | 2–13 (1–9) | Convocation Center (23) DeKalb, IL |
| February 23, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN3 | Buffalo | L 74–102 | 2–14 (1–10) | Convocation Center (27) DeKalb, IL |
| February 27, 2021 12:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Eastern Michigan | L 57–91 | 2–15 (1–11) | Convocation Center (75) Ypsilanti, MI |
| March 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+ | Western Michigan | L 63–73 | 2–16 (1–12) | Convocation Center (24) DeKalb, IL |
| March 5, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | at Central Michigan | W 79–74 | 3–16 (2–12) | McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
Sources