# 2020–21 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represented the University of Missouri in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season and was led by head coach Cuonzo Martin, who was in his fourth year at Missouri. The team played its home games at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri as a ninth-year members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 16-10, 8-8 in SEC Play to finish in 7th place. They defeated Georgia in the Second Round of the SEC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Arkansas. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost in the First Round to Oklahoma.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2019–20 season 15–16, 7–11 in SEC play to finish in a tie for 10th place with Arkansas. Missouri never got a chance to play in the 2020 SEC men's basketball tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Reed Nikko | 14 | F | 6'10" | 240 | Senior | Maple Grove, MN | Graduated |
| Mario McKinney Jr. | 11 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Freshman | St. Louis, MO | Transferring to John A. Logan College |
| LaTrayvion Jackson | 2 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Sophomore | Ypsilanti, MI | Transferring to Seton Hall |
| Axel Okongo | 15 | C | 7'0" | 250 | Senior | Saâcy-sur-Marne, France | Transferring to Eastern Michigan |
Assistant Coach Michael Porter Sr.'s contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

### 2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jordan Wilmore C | Fredericksburg, Virginia | The Skill Factory Prep School | 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) | 242 lb (110 kg) | Nov 13, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| 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: ||||||

### Incoming Transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Ed Chang | 11 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Junior | Papillion, NE | Transfer from Salt Lake City Community College |
| Drew Buggs | 2 | G | 6'3" | 195 | RS Senior | Long Beach, CA | Graduate Transfer from Hawaii |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 6:00 pm, SECN+ | | Oral Roberts | W 91–64 | 1–0 | 18 – Ma. Smith | 12 – Tilmon | 6 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (0) Columbia, MO |
| December 2, 2020* 8:00 pm, FS1 | | vs. No. 21 Oregon | W 83–75 | 2–0 | 22 – Pinson | 9 – Tilmon | 4 – D. Smith | CHI Health Center (89) Omaha, NE |
| December 6, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Wichita State | W 72–62 | 3–0 | 19 – Ma. Smith | 7 – Brown | 6 – Pinson | Charles Koch Arena (100) Wichita, KS |
| December 9, 2020* 7:15 pm, SECN | | Liberty | W 69–60 | 4–0 | 17 – Ma. Smith | 9 – Tilmon | 5 – Buggs | Mizzou Arena (0) Columbia, MO |
| December 12, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 6 Illinois Braggin' Rights | W 81–78 | 5–0 | 17 – Tied | 8 – Brown | 5 – Pinson | Mizzou Arena (578) Columbia, MO |
| December 18, 2020* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | No. 16 | Prairie View A&M | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Prairie View A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Prairie View A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Prairie View A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Prairie View A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Prairie View A&M. | Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO |
| December 22, 2020* 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 14 | Bradley | W 54–53 | 6–0 | 15 – Pinson | 10 – Tilmon | 3 – Pickett | Mizzou Arena (2,956) Columbia, MO |
| December 30, 2020 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 12 | No. 7 Tennessee | L 53–73 | 6–1 (0–1) | 11 – Pinson | 6 – Mi. Smith | 2 – Tied | Mizzou Arena (3,164) Columbia, MO |
| January 2, 2021 11:00 am, CBS | No. 12 | at Arkansas | W 81–68 | 7–1 (1–1) | 25 – Tilmon | 11 – Tilmon | 4 – Tied | Bud Walton Arena (4,400) Fayetteville, AR |
| January 5, 2021 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 13 | at Mississippi State | L 63–78 | 7–2 (1–2) | 16 – Tilmon | 6 – Tilmon | 8 – Pinson | Humphrey Coliseum (1,000) Starkville, MS |
| January 12, 2021 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 17 | Vanderbilt | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Vanderbilt. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Vanderbilt. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Vanderbilt. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Vanderbilt. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Vanderbilt. | Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO |
| January 16, 2021 12:00 pm, SECN | No. 17 | at Texas A&M | W 68–52 | 8–2 (2–2) | 15 – D. Smith | 10 – Tilmon | 6 – D. Smith | Reed Arena (1,548) College Station, TX |
| January 19, 2021 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 19 | South Carolina | W 81–70 | 9–2 (3–2) | 19 – Tilmon | 10 – Tilmon | 4 – Buggs | Mizzou Arena (0) Columbia, MO |
| January 23, 2021 7:30 pm, SECN | No. 19 | at No. 6 Tennessee | W 73–64 | 10–2 (4–2) | 27 – Pinson | 7 – Brown | 3 – Buggs | Thompson-Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN |
| January 26, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | at Auburn | L 82–88 | 10–3 (4–3) | 21 – Tied | 10 – Tilmon | 4 – Pinson | Auburn Arena (1,824) Auburn, AL |
| January 30, 2021* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 12 | TCU Big 12/SEC Challenge | W 102–98 $^{OT}$ | 11–3 | 36 – Pinson | 13 – Brown | 5 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (3,063) Columbia, MO |
| February 3, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 18 | Kentucky | W 75–70 | 12–3 (5–3) | 26 – D. Smith | 12 – Mi. Smith | 5 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (3,033) Columbia, MO |
| February 6, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN | No. 18 | No. 10 Alabama | W 68–65 | 13–3 (6–3) | 16 – D. Smith | 9 – Brown | 4 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (3,113) Columbia, MO |
| February 10, 2021 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 10 | at Ole Miss | L 59–80 | 13–4 (6–4) | 17 – D. Smith | 6 – Tilmon | 3 – Tied | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (895) Oxford, MS |
| February 13, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 10 | Arkansas | L 81–86 $^{OT}$ | 13–5 (6–5) | 23 – Pinson | 9 – Brown | 7 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (3,111) Columbia, MO |
| February 16, 2021 6:00 pm, SECN | No. 20 | at Georgia | L 70–80 | 13–6 (6–6) | 21 – Brown | 7 – Ma. Smith | 4 – Pinson | Stegeman Coliseum (1,638) Athens, GA |
| February 20, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 20 | at South Carolina | W 93–78 | 14–6 (7–6) | 17 – Tied | 6 – Brown | 7 – D. Smith | Colonial Life Arena (3,176) Columbia, SC |
| February 23, 2021 8:00 pm, SECN | No. 24 | Ole Miss | L 53–60 | 14–7 (7–7) | 12 – Brown | 10 – Tilmon | 6 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (2,995) Columbia, MO |
| February 27, 2021 5:00 pm, SECN | No. 24 | Texas A&M | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Texas A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Texas A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Texas A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Texas A&M. | Cancelled due to COVID-19 issues within Texas A&M. | Mizzou Arena Columbia, MO |
| March 3, 2021 5:30 pm, SECN | | at Florida | W 72–70 | 15–7 (8–7) | 17 – D. Smith | 6 – Mi. Smith | 9 – D. Smith | O'Connell Center (2,306) Gainesville, FL |
| March 6, 2021 2:00 pm, SECN | | LSU | L 80–86 | 15–8 (8–8) | 17 – D. Smith | 10 – Brown | 4 – D. Smith | Mizzou Arena (3,112) Columbia, MO |
| SEC Tournament |||||||||
| March 11, 2021 6:00 pm, SECN | (7) | vs. (10) Georgia Second round | W 73–70 | 16–8 | 17 – Pinson | 8 – D. Smith | 4 – Brown | Bridgestone Arena (1,809) Nashville, TN |
| March 12, 2021 6:00 pm, SECN | (7) | vs. (2) No. 8 Arkansas Quarterfinals | L 64–70 | 16–9 | 14 – Pinson | 11 – Brown | 5 – D. Smith | Bridgestone Arena (2,155) Nashville, TN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 20, 2021 6:25 pm, TNT | (9 W) | vs. (8 W) Oklahoma First Round | L 68–72 | 16–10 | 22 – D. Smith | 12 – Tilmon | 5 – Pinson | Lucas Oil Stadium Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central 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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | — | RV | 16 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 12 | 18 | 10 | 20 | 24 | RV | — | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —* | — | 18 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 17 | 10 | 19 | RV | RV | — | RV | — |
*Coaches did not release a week 1 poll.