# 2020–21 Northern State Wolves men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Northern State Wolves men's basketball team represented Northern State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division II men's basketball season. The Wolves were led by second-year head coach Saul Phillips and played their home games at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, South Dakota. They competed as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, their season was greatly shortened.

## Previous season

Following the departure of Paul Sather to North Dakota, Saul Phillips was hired as the head coach of the Wolves. During his first year, the Wolves went 26–6 (18–4 NSIC) and won both the NSIC regular-season championship and the NSIC tournament championship, the latter of which gave them the #4 seed in the 2020 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament, which was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| January 2, 2021* 3:30 p.m. | at Wayne State | W 66–62 | 1–0 | Rice Auditorium (125) Wayne, NE |
| January 3, 2021* 1:30 p.m. | at Wayne State | W 64–51 | 2–0 | Rice Auditorium (129) Wayne, NE |
| NSIC regular season ||||||
| January 8, 2021 6:00 p.m. | Bemidji State | W 71–57 | 3–0 (1–0) | BSU Gymnasium (69) Bemidji, MN |
| January 9, 2021 3:30 p.m. | Bemidji State | W 100–63 | 4–0 (2–0) | BSU Gymnasium (69) Bemidji, MN |
| January 15, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Minnesota Crookston | W 86–67 | 5–0 (3–0) | Wachs Arena (804) Aberdeen, SD |
| January 16, 2021 4:00 p.m. | Minnesota Crookston | W 88–64 | 6–0 (4–0) | Wachs Arena (689) Aberdeen, SD |
| January 22, 2021 6:00 p.m. | St. Cloud State | W 79–74 | 7–0 (5–0) | Halenbeck Hall (98) St. Cloud, MN |
| January 23, 2021 4:00 p.m. | St. Cloud State | W 81–72 | 8–0 (6–0) | Halenbeck Hall (99) St. Cloud, MN |
| January 29, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Minnesota Duluth | W 83–72 | 9–0 (7–0) | Wachs Arena (1141) Aberdeen, SD |
| January 30, 2021 4:00 p.m. | Minnesota Duluth | W 64–58 | 10–0 (8–0) | Wachs Arena (1362) Aberdeen, SD |
| February 5, 2021 6:00 p.m. | Mary | W 83–76 | 11–0 (9–0) | McDowell Activity Center (250) Bismarck, ND |
| February 6, 2021 6:00 p.m. | Mary | W 70–59 | 12–0 (10–0) | McDowell Activity Center (250) Bismarck, ND |
| February 12, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Minot State | W 87–77 | 13–0 (11–0) | Wachs Arena (1311) Aberdeen, SD |
| February 13, 2021 4:00 p.m. | Minot State | W 75–64 | 14–0 (12–0) | Wachs Arena (1205) Aberdeen, SD |
| February 19, 2021 7:00 p.m. | MSU-Moorhead | W 90–83 | 15–0 (13–0) | Wachs Arena (1492) Aberdeen, SD |
| February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m. | MSU-Moorhead | L 86–93 | 15–1 (13–1) | Wachs Arena (1408) Aberdeen, SD |
| NSIC Tournament ||||||
| February 25, 2021 4:00 p.m. | Augustana | W 87–84 | 16–1 | Sanford Pentagon (73) Sioux Falls, SD |
| February 27, 2021 4:00 p.m. | Minot State | W 72–63 | 17–1 | Sanford Pentagon (73) Sioux Falls, SD |
| February 28, 2021 4:00 p.m. | MSU-Moorhead | W 78–57 | 18–1 | Sanford Pentagon (88) Sioux Falls, SD |
| NCAA DII tournament ||||||
| March 14, 2021 5:00 p.m. | MSU-Moorhead | W 77–65 | 19–1 | Wachs Arena (1700) Aberdeen, SD |
| March 16, 2021 7:00 p.m. | Northwest Missouri State | L 86–91 | 19–2 | Wachs Arena (1750) Aberdeen, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central. ||||||
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