# 2021 Horizon League men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Horizon League men's basketball tournament was the final event of the 2020–21 men's basketball season for the Horizon League. It began on February 25, 2021, and ended on March 9; first-round and quarterfinal games were played at the home courts of the higher seed, with all remaining games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis. The winner received the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

## Seeds

All of the teams participated in the tournament with the top-four teams receiving byes to the quarterfinals. Due to the unbalanced nature of the conference schedule because of COVID-19, teams were seeded by an unpublished formula generated by the league that took into account the following:
* League winning percentage
* Strength of schedule
* Weighting road wins vs. home wins
* Number of league games played
| Seed | School | Winning pct | Road Wins / Home Wins | League games played |
| 1 | Cleveland State | .800 | 8 / 8 | 20 |
| 2 | Wright State | .800 | 8 / 8 | 20 |
| 3 | Oakland | .500 | 6 / 4 | 20 |
| 4 | Northern Kentucky | .611 | 5 / 6 | 18 |
| 5 | Detroit | .625 | 4 / 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Youngstown State | .450 | 4 / 5 | 20 |
| 7 | Green Bay | .400 | 2 / 6 | 20 |
| 8 | Milwaukee | .412 | 4 / 3 | 17 |
| 9 | IUPUI | .438 | 4 / 3 | 16 |
| 10 | Purdue Fort Wayne | .300 | 2 / 4 | 20 |
| 11 | UIC | .375 | 1 / 5 | 16 |
| 12 | Robert Morris | .200 | 1 / 2 | 15 |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
| First Round – Thursday, February 25 |||||
| 1 | 7:00 pm | No. 12 Robert Morris at No. 5 Detroit Mercy | 73–83 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 8:00 pm | No. 11 UIC at No. 6 Youngstown State | 58–74 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 8:00 pm | No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne at No. 7 Green Bay | 89–84 $^{2OT}$ | ESPN+ |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 9 IUPUI at No. 8 Milwaukee | 72–84 | ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 2 |||||
| 5 | 7:00 pm | No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne at No. 1 Cleveland State | 104–108 $^{3OT}$ | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 5 Detroit Mercy at No. 4 Northern Kentucky | 69–70 | ESPN+ |
| 7 | 7:00 pm | No. 8 Milwaukee at No. 2 Wright State | 94–92 $^{OT}$ | ESPN+ |
| 8 | 7:30 pm | No. 6 Youngstown State at No. 3 Oakland | 83–87 $^{OT}$ | ESPN+ |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 8 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN |||||
| 9 | 6:30 pm | No. 8 Milwaukee vs. No. 1 Cleveland State | 65–71 | ESPNU |
| 10 | 9:30 pm | No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 3 Oakland | 58–69 | ESPN2 |
| Championship – Tuesday, March 9 at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis, IN |||||
| 11 | 7:00 pm | No. 1 Cleveland State vs. No. 3 Oakland | 80–69 | ESPN |
| All game times Eastern. Rankings denote tournament seed |||||

## Bracket

| First round Thursday, February 25 | First round Thursday, February 25 | First round Thursday, February 25 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 2 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 2 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 2 | Semifinals Monday, March 8 | Semifinals Monday, March 8 | Semifinals Monday, March 8 | Championship Tuesday, March 9 | Championship Tuesday, March 9 | Championship Tuesday, March 9 |
| | | | 1 | Cleveland State | 108*** | | | | | | |
| 5 | Detroit Mercy | 83 | 10 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 104 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Robert Morris | 73 | | | | 1 | Cleveland State | 71 | | | |
| | | | | | | 8 | Milwaukee | 65 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Wright State | 92 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Youngstown State | 74 | 8 | Milwaukee | 94* | | | | | | |
| 11 | UIC | 58 | | | | | | | 1 | Cleveland State | 80 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Oakland | 69 |
| | | | 3 | Oakland | 87* | | | | | | |
| 7 | Green Bay | 84 | 6 | Youngstown State | 83 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 89** | | | | 3 | Oakland | 69 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Northern Kentucky | 58 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Northern Kentucky | 70 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Milwaukee | 84 | 5 | Detroit Mercy | 69 | | | | | | |
| 9 | IUPUI | 72 | | | | | | | | | |
* denotes overtime period

## Game summaries
### First round

* ESPN+
* February 25, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST
No. 12 Robert Morris Colonials 73, No. 5 Detroit Mercy Titans 83 :
| Scoring by half: 24–36, 49–47 |||
| Pts: K. Spear – 22 Rebs: 2 tied – 5 Asts: J. Williams – 9 | Pts: A. Davis – 46 Rebs: C. Brandon – 13 Asts: M. Fraser – 6 |
* Calihan Hall – Detroit, Michigan Referees: Chad Barlow, Josh White, Ed Phillips
* ESPN+
* February 25, 2021 8:00 p.m. EST
No. 11 UIC Flames 58, No. 6 Youngstown State Penguins 74 :
| Scoring by half: 25–35, 33–39 |||
| Pts: T. Kirk – 13 Rebs: 2 tied – 7 Asts: T. Kirk – 4 | Pts: M. Akuchie – 16 Rebs: M. Akuchie – 10 Asts: N. Bohannon – 6 |
* Beeghly Center – Youngstown, Ohio Referees: Ron Tyburski, Jon Campbell, Scott Siville
* ESPN+
* February 25, 2021 8:00 p.m. EST
No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons 89, No. 7 Green Bay Phoenix 84 (2OT) :
| Scoring by half: 38–35, 31–34 Overtime: 9–9, 11–6 |||
| Pts: J. Pipkins – 21 Rebs: J. Godfrey – 7 Asts: J. Godfrey – 5 | Pts: P. Pipes – 27 Rebs: E. Ansong – 7 Asts: L. Stieber – 5 |
* Resch Center – Green Bay, Wisconsin Referees: Bobby Daw, Matt Morales, Chris Pasci
* ESPN+
* February 25, 2021 8:00 p.m. EST
No. 9 IUPUI Jaguars 72, No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers 84 :
| Scoring by half: 34–47, 38–37 |||
| Pts: J. Minnett – 13 Rebs: E. Goss – 17 Asts: M. Burk – 3 | Pts: T. Lucas – 22 Rebs: A. Allen – 10 Asts: T. Lucas – 5 |
* UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena – Milwaukee, Wisconsin Referees: Steve Honacki, Brian Shore, Tariq Lucas

### Quarterfinals

* ESPN+
* March 2, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST
No. 10 Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons 104, No. 1 Cleveland State Vikings 108 (3OT) :
| Scoring by half: 28–27, 39–40 Overtime: 9–9, 13–13, 15–19 |||
| Pts: J. Godfrey – 23 Rebs: R. Kpedi – 9 Asts: J. Godfrey – 12 | Pts: T. Patton – 30 Rebs: 2 tied – 13 Asts: T. Gomillion – 6 |
* Wolstein Center – Cleveland, Ohio
* ESPN+
* March 2, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST
No. 8 Milwaukee Panthers 94, No. 2 Wright State Raiders 92 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 26–44, 55–37 Overtime: 13–11 |||
| Pts: D. Gholston – 31 Rebs: D. Gholston – 9 Asts: T. Lucas – 5 | Pts: G. Basile – 35 Rebs: G. Basile – 14 Asts: T. Holden – 3 |
* Nutter Center – Fairborn, Ohio
* ESPN+
* March 2, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST
No. 5 Detroit Mercy Titans 69, No. 4 Northern Kentucky Norse 70 :
| Scoring by half: 37–40, 32–30 |||
| Pts: B. Kuol – 20 Rebs: 2 tied – 5 Asts: A. Davis – 5 | Pts: M. Warrick – 20 Rebs: T. Faulkner – 9 Asts: B. Langdon – 6 |
* BB&T Arena – Highland Heights, Kentucky
* ESPN+
* March 2, 2021 7:30 p.m. EST
No. 6 Youngstown State Penguins 83, No. 3 Oakland Golden Grizzlies 87 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 36–37, 37–36 Overtime: 10–14 |||
| Pts: G. Covington – 30 Rebs: N. Bohannon – 13 Asts: N. Bohannon – 11 | Pts: R. Williams – 22 Rebs: D. Oladapo – 10 Asts: J. Moore – 11 |
* Athletics Center O'rena – Auburn Hills, Michigan

### Semifinals

* ESPNU
* March 8, 2021 6:30 p.m. EST
* Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana
* ESPN2
* March 8, 2021 9:30 p.m. EST
* Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana

### Championship

* ESPN
* March 9, 2021 7:00 p.m. EST
* Indiana Farmers Coliseum – Indianapolis, Indiana