# 2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Southern Utah Thunderbirds men's basketball team represented Southern Utah University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Thunderbirds, led by 5th-year head coach Todd Simon, played their home games at the America First Event Center in Cedar City, Utah as members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 20-4, 12-2 in Big Sky Play to finish as regular season champions. They defeated Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament before losing in the semifinals to Montana State.

## Previous season

The Thunderbirds finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 9–11 in Big Sky play to finish in seventh place. They received the #7 seed in the Big Sky tournament, were they defeated the #10 seed Idaho in the first round 75–69. They were scheduled to face off against the #2 seed Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals, but the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 25, 2020* 5:00 pm | | at Loyola Marymount | L 83–85 | 0–1 | Gersten Pavilion Los Angeles, CA |
| November 28, 2020* 1:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Saint Katherine | W 95–47 | 1–1 | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| December 3, 2020 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana | W 64–63 | 2–1 (1–0) | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| December 5, 2020 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Montana | W 75–74 | 3–1 (2–0) | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| December 9, 2020* 6:00 pm | | at Utah Valley | W 81–71 | 4–1 | UCCU Center Orem, UT |
| December 17, 2020* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Dixie State | W 85–78 | 5–1 | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| December 18, 2020* 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Bethesda | W 98–64 | 6–1 | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| December 21, 2020* 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Bethesda | W 96–57 | 7–1 | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| January 7, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho | W 85–80 | 8–1 (3–0) | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| January 9, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Idaho | W 83–67 | 9–1 (4–0) | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| January 14, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Eastern Washington | L 63–75 | 9–2 (4–1) | Reese Court Cheney, WA |
| January 16, 2021 1:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Eastern Washington | W 99–94 | 10–2 (5–1) | Reese Court Cheney, WA |
| January 21, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Weber State | L 67–91 | 10–3 (5–2) | Dee Events Center Ogden, UT |
| January 23, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Weber State | W 77–72 | 11–3 (6–2) | America First Event Center (689) Cedar City, UT |
| February 4, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Colorado | Canceled | Canceled | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| February 6, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Colorado | Canceled | Canceled | America First Event Center Cedar City, UT |
| February 6, 2021* 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Benedictine Mesa | W 110–58 | 12–3 | America First Event Center (456) Cedar City, UT |
| February 9, 2021* 2:00 pm, Pluto TV | | San Diego Christian | W 109–50 | 13–3 | America First Event Center (200) Cedar City, UT |
| February 18, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Sacramento State | W 88–69 | 14–3 (7–2) | America First Event Center (946) Cedar City, UT |
| February 20, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Sacramento State | W 77–57 | 15–3 (8–2) | America First Event Center (665) Cedar City, UT |
| February 24, 2021 7:00 pm, Pluto TV | | Northern Arizona | W 85–80 | 16–3 (9–2) | America First Event Center (944) Cedar City, UT |
| February 26, 2021 12:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Northern Arizona | W 92–62 | 17–3 (10–2) | Rolle Activity Center (0) Flagstaff, AZ |
| March 4, 2021 8:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Portland State | W 68–58 | 18–3 (11–2) | Viking Pavilion (0) Portland, OR |
| March 6, 2021 1:00 pm, Pluto TV | | at Portland State | W 73–54 | 19–3 (12–2) | Viking Pavilion (0) Portland, OR |
| Big Sky tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2021 11:00 am, Eleven | (1) | vs. (8) Northern Colorado Quarterfinals | W 91–83 | 20–3 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| March 12, 2021 5:00 pm, Eleven | (1) | vs. (5) Montana State Semifinals | L 77–80 | 20–4 | Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain. ||||||
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