# 2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University–New Brunswick during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Scarlet Knights were led by fifth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and played their home games at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey as seventh-year members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 16–12, 10–10 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Indiana in the second round before losing to Illinois in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1991. As the No.10 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Clemson in the first round before losing to Houston in the second round.

## Previous season

The Knights finished the 2019–20 season 20–11 and 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a four-way tie for fifth place. Following the regular season, the Big Ten tournament and all subsequent postseason tournaments were canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effectively ending the Knights' season. In January 2020, Rutgers was nationally ranked for the first time since 1979.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Akwasi Yeboah | 1 | G/F | 6'6" | 235 | RS Senior | Chigwell, England | Graduated, signed with Saint-Quentin of the LNB Pro B. |
| Joey Downes | 10 | G | 5'11" | 175 | Senior | East Sandwich, MA | Walk-on, graduated |
| Shaq Carter | 13 | F | 6'9" | 250 | Senior | Hollywood, FL | Graduated |
| Peter Kiss | 32 | G | 6'5" | 200 | RS Junior | New York, NY | Graduate transferred to Bryant |

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Clifford Omoruyi #10 C | Benin City, Nigeria | Roselle Catholic | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Mar 29, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Mawot Mag #42 PF | Melbourne, Australia | Prolific Prep | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Nov 20, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Dean Reiber #78 PF | Greensboro, NC | Northwest Guilford | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Aug 31, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Oskar Palmquist #75 PF | Kinna, Sweden | Marks Gymnasieskola | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Nov 8, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ||||||
| Jaden Jones SG / SF | Dallas, TX | St. Louis Christian Academy (MO) | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Mar 4, 2020 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| 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: "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved September 8, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | No. 24 | Sacred Heart | W 86–63 | 1–0 | 16 – Harper Jr. | 11 – Omoruyi | 8 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 27, 2020* 7:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 96–75 | 2–0 | 30 – Harper Jr. | 8 – Mulcahy | 7 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| November 29, 2020* 4:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Hofstra | W 70–56 | 3–0 | 17 – Young | 9 – Tied | 7 – Mulcahy | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 8, 2020* 9:30 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 21 | Syracuse ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 79–69 | 4–0 | 26 – Harper Jr. | 12 – Johnson | 10 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| December 14, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 19 | at Maryland | W 74–60 | 5–0 (1–0) | 27 – Harper Jr. | 16 – Johnson | 4 – Tied | Xfinity Center (0) College Park, MD |
| December 20, 2020 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 19 | No. 13 Illinois | W 91–88 | 6–0 (2–0) | 28 – Harper Jr. | 9 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Baker | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 23, 2020 4:30 p.m., BTN | No. 11 | at No. 23 Ohio State | L 68–80 | 6–1 (2–1) | 20 – Harper Jr. | 6 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Mulcahy | Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH |
| December 29, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 14 | Purdue | W 81–76 | 7–1 (3–1) | 25 – Mathis | 8 – Johnson | 4 – Tied | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 2, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 14 | No. 10 Iowa | L 75–77 | 7–2 (3–2) | 17 – Young | 10 – Johnson | 5 – Tied | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 5, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 15 | at No. 23 Michigan State | L 45–68 | 7–3 (3–3) | 13 – Harper Jr. | 7 – Johnson | 4 – Mulcahy | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| January 9, 2021 12:00 p.m., BTN | No. 15 | Ohio State | L 68–79 | 7–4 (3–4) | 19 – Young | 8 – Johnson | 3 – McConnell | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 15, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | No. 9 Wisconsin | L 54–60 | 7–5 (3–5) | 19 – Young | 12 – Johnson | 3 – Young | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Penn State | L 67–75 | 7–6 (3–6) | 18 – Harper Jr. | 7 – Johnson | 5 – Mulcahy | Bryce Jordan Center (209) University Park, PA |
| January 24, 2021 12:00 p.m., BTN | | at Indiana | W 74–70 | 8–6 (4–6) | 19 – Baker | 12 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Baker | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN |
| January 28, 2021 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Michigan State | W 67–37 | 9–6 (5–6) | 13 – Johnson | 14 – Johnson | 5 – Baker | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| January 31, 2021 7:30 p.m., BTN | | at Northwestern | W 64–56 | 10–6 (6–6) | 19 – Young | 6 – Johnson | 5 – Mulcahy | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| February 4, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | Minnesota | W 76–72 | 11–6 (7–6) | 16 – Baker | 12 – Johnson | 4 – Mulcahy | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 10, 2021 7:30 p.m., BTN | No. 25 | at No. 15 Iowa | L 66–79 | 11–7 (7–7) | 11 – Baker | 7 – McConnell | 5 – Baker | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (560) Iowa City, IA |
| February 13, 2021 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 25 | Northwestern | W 64–50 | 12–7 (8–7) | 15 – Young | 14 – Johnson | 3 – McConnell | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 18, 2021 9:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 3 Michigan | L 64–71 | 12–8 (8–8) | 16 – Young | 7 – McConnell | 2 – Tied | Crisler Center (43) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 21, 2021 3:00 p.m., BTN | | Maryland | L 59–68 | 12–9 (8–9) | 19 – Young | 8 – Tied | 3 – McConnell | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 24, 2021 8:00 p.m., BTN | | Indiana | W 74–63 | 13–9 (9–9) | 20 – Tied | 10 – Johnson | 10 – Baker | Rutgers Athletic Center (64) Piscataway, NJ |
| March 1, 2021 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Nebraska | L 51–72 | 13–10 (9–10) | 12 – Young | 8 – Omoruyi | 2 – Tied | Pinnacle Bank Arena (0) Lincoln, NE |
| March 6, 2021 12:00 p.m., FOX | | at Minnesota | W 77–70 $^{OT}$ | 14–10 (10–10) | 23 – Young | 15 – Johnson | 7 – Young | Williams Arena (52) Minneapolis, MN |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2021 6:30 p.m., BTN | (7) | vs. (10) Indiana Second Round | W 61–50 | 15–10 | 13 – Tied | 13 – Johnson | 7 – Baker | Lucas Oil Stadium (6,769) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 12, 2021 6:30 p.m., BTN | (7) | vs. (2) No. 3 Illinois Quarterfinals | L 68–90 | 15–11 | 21 – Harper Jr. | 5 – Johnson | 2 – Jones | Lucas Oil Stadium (7,735) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2021 9:20 pm, TBS | (10 MW) | vs. (7 MW) Clemson First Round | W 60–56 | 16–11 | 13 – Tied | 10 – Tied | 4 – Mulcahy | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,430) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 21, 2021 7:10 pm, TBS | (10 MW) | vs. (2 MW) No. 6 Houston Second Round | L 60–63 | 16–12 | 14 – Baker | 5 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Lucas Oil Stadium (7,186) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern 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 | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | 24 | 24^ | 24 | 21 | 19 | 11 | 14 | 15 | RV | — | — | RV | 25 | RV | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | 23 | 23^ | 23^ | 22 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 14 | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | RV |
^AP and Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll, and Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.