The 2020–21 Ohio University Bobcats men's basketball team represented

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

for the

2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 25, 2020, and concluded on March 14, 2021. The 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament culminated the season and began on March 18 and concluded on April 5. Season ...

. The Bobcats were led by second-year head coach Jeff Boals, who was a 1995 graduate of Ohio University. The team played their home games at the Convocation Center in

Athens, Ohio Athens is a city in Athens County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 23,849 at the 2020 United States census. Located along the Hocking River within Appalachian Ohio about southeast of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Athe ...

as a member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

. In a season limited due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, they finished the season 17–8, 9–5 in MAC play to finish in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the MAC tournament, they defeated Kent State, Toledo, and Buffalo to win the tournament championship. A a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the West region. There they upset No. 4-seeded

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in the First Round before falling to No. 5-seeded Creighton in the Second Round.

Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 8–10 in MAC play to finish in last place in the East division. As the No. 8 seed in the MAC tournament, they defeated

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, Lower Peninsula of the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said t ...

in the first round before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Coaching Staff Changes

Coaching Departures

Coaching Additions

Departures

Incoming transfers

Recruiting class

Roster

Support Staff

; text-align:center" , 2020-21 Ohio Bobcats Support Staff , - , style="text-align: left; font-size: 95%;" valign="top" , * Jake Ness - Director of Basketball Operations

Preseason

Prior to the season Ohio was picked second in the

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

preseason poll."Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll & All-MAC Teams Announced"
''getsomemaction.com''. Retrieved 2020-01-24. Jason Preston was named to the preseason first team all-conference while Ben Vander Plas was on the second team.

Preseason rankings

MAC Tournament Champions: Bowling Green (4), Akron (2), Ball State (1), Buffalo (1), Eastern Michigan (1), Kent State (1), Miami (1), Toledo (1) Source

Preseason All-MAC

Source

Schedule and results

Ohio had to cancel their games against Mississippi Valley State,

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, and Kent State due to COVID-19. They also postponed games against Miami (OH), Ball State,

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

, and

. , - !colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, MAC regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, MAC Tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA tournament Source

Statistics

Team statistics

:''Final 2020–21 statistics'' Source

Player statistics

Source

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

Final awards watchlists

All-MAC Awards

Source

National Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team Ohio Bobcats men's basketball seasons

Ohio Bobcats men's basketball The Ohio Bobcats men's basketball team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Ohio University. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference competing in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( ...