2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 15
AP	No. 7
Record	21–10 (12–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Chris Holtmann (4th season);
Assistant coaches	Ryan Pedon (4th season); Terry Johnson (4th season); Jake Diebler (2nd season);
Home arena	Value City Arena
	Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 Big Ten Conference
men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 Michigan	14	–	3	.824	23	–	5	.821
No. 2 Illinois †	16	–	4	.800	24	–	7	.774
No. 8 Iowa	14	–	6	.700	22	–	9	.710
No. 20 Purdue	13	–	6	.684	18	–	10	.643
No. 7 Ohio State	12	–	8	.600	21	–	10	.677
Wisconsin	10	–	10	.500	18	–	13	.581
Rutgers	10	–	10	.500	16	–	12	.571
Maryland	9	–	11	.450	17	–	14	.548
Michigan State	9	–	11	.450	15	–	13	.536
Indiana	7	–	12	.368	12	–	15	.444
Penn State	7	–	12	.368	11	–	14	.440
Northwestern	6	–	13	.316	9	–	15	.375
Minnesota	6	–	14	.300	14	–	15	.483
Nebraska	3	–	16	.158	7	–	20	.259

† Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach was Chris Holtmann, in his fourth season with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes played their home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio as members of the Big Ten Conference.

They finished the season 21–10, 12–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Minnesota, Purdue, and Michigan before losing to Illinois in overtime in the championship game of the Big Ten tournament. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the South region. However, they were upset in the First Round by No. 15-seeded Oral Roberts.

Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place.^[1] The 2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament and 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Alonzo Gaffney	0	F	6'9"	198	Freshman	Cleveland, OH	Transferred to Northwest Florida (JUCO)
Luther Muhammad	1	G	6'3"	185	Sophomore	Jersey City, NJ	Transferred to Arizona State
D. J. Carton	3	G	6'1"	190	Freshman	Bettendorf, IA	Transferred to Marquette
Andre Wesson	24	F	6'6"	220	Senior	Westerville, OH	Graduated
Kaleb Wesson	34	F	6'9"	270	Junior	Westerville, OH	Declared for 2020 NBA draft
Daniel Hummer	40	G	6'0"	175	RS Senior	Upper Arlington, OH	Walk-on; graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Jimmy Sotos	1	G	6'3"	200	Senior	Elk Grove Village, IL	Transferred from Bucknell. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.
Seth Towns	31	F	6'8"	230	Graduate Student	Columbus, OH	Transferred from Harvard. Will have two years of remaining eligibility.

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Meechie Johnson Jr. PG	Cleveland, OH	Garfield Heights (OH)	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Aug 13, 2019
Meechie Johnson Jr. PG	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
Eugene Brown III SG	Conyers, GA	Southwest DeKalb (GA)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Sep 16, 2019
Eugene Brown III SG	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
Zed Key PF	Bay Shore, NY	Long Island Lutheran (NY)	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Sep 22, 2019
Zed Key PF	Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80
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.

2021 Recruiting class

College recruiting information (2021)
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Malaki Branham #4 SG	Akron, OH	St. Vincent-St. Mary	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Jul 22, 2020
Malaki Branham #4 SG	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
Kalen Etzler #21 PF	Convoy, OH	Crestview	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	May 12, 2019
Kalen Etzler #21 PF	Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN:
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: "2021 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

Roster

2020–21 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Meechie Johnson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	172 lb (78 kg)	Fr	Garfield Heights HS	Cleveland, Ohio
G	1	Jimmy Sotos	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Sr	Bucknell	Elk Grove Village, Illinois
G	2	Musa Jallow	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	RS Jr	Bloomington HS North	Bloomington, Indiana
G	3	Eugene Brown III	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Southwest DeKalb HS	Conyers, Georgia
G	4	Duane Washington Jr.	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Sierra Canyon School	Grand Rapids, Michigan
F	10	Justin Ahrens	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Versailles HS	Versailles, Ohio
G	13	CJ Walker	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	RS Sr	Florida State	Indianapolis, Indiana
F	14	Justice Sueing	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	RS Jr	California	Honolulu, Hawaii
C	15	Ibrahima Diallo	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	220 lb (100 kg)	So	Prolific Prep	Saly, Senegal
F	23	Zed Key	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Fr	Long Island Lutheran HS	Bay Shore, New York
F	25	Kyle Young	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Sr	Jackson HS	Canton, Ohio
F	31	Seth Towns	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	GS	Harvard	Columbus, Ohio
F	32	E. J. Liddell	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	So	Belleville HS	Belleville, Illinois
G	40	Jansen Davidson Jr. (W)	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Fairmont HS	Kettering, Ohio
F	42	Harrison Hookfin (W)	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Jr	Lebanon HS	Cincinnati, Ohio

Head coach

Chris Holtmann (Taylor)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Ohio State canceled its game against Alabama A&M due to COVID-19 issues at Alabama A&M.^[2] They also postponed their game against Penn State,^[3] rescheduling the game to January 27, 2021.^[4]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN	No. 23	Illinois State	W 94–67	1–0	19 – Sueing	8 – Tied	6 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
November 29* 12:00 pm, BTN	No. 23	UMass Lowell	W 74–64	2–0	21 – Washington Jr.	8 – Tied	5 – Walker	Covelli Center (0) Columbus, OH
December 2* 5:00 pm, BTN	No. 23	Morehead State	W 77–44	3–0	16 – Liddell	9 – Young	4 – Tied	Covelli Center (0) Columbus, OH
December 5* Canceled	No. 23	Alabama A&M	Canceled due to COVID-19 issues at Alabama A&M^[2]					Value City Arena Columbus, OH
December 8* 7:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 22	at Notre Dame ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 90–85	4–0	19 – Liddell	12 – Liddell	4 – Tied	Edmund P. Joyce Center (156) Notre Dame, IN
December 13* 4:00 pm, BTN	No. 22	Cleveland State	W 67–61	5–0	17 – Washington Jr.	10 – Key	3 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
December 16 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 20	at Purdue	L 60–67	5–1 (0–1)	14 – Sueing	8 – Young	7 – Walker	Mackey Arena (250) West Lafayette, IN
December 19* 4:15 pm, CBS	No. 20	vs. UCLA CBS Sports Classic	W 77–70	6–1	14 – Washington Jr.	6 – Key	4 – Walker	Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (0) Cleveland, OH
December 23 4:30 pm, BTN	No. 23	No. 11 Rutgers	W 80–68	7–1 (1–1)	22 – Washington Jr.	12 – Young	5 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
December 26 2:00 pm, FS1	No. 23	at Northwestern	L 70–71	7–2 (1–2)	15 – Liddell	8 – Tied	5 – Walker	Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL
December 30 6:30 pm, BTN	No. 25	Nebraska	W 90–54	8–2 (2–2)	18 – Ahrens	6 – Tied	3 – Tied	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 3, 2021 5:30 pm, BTN	No. 25	at No. 21 Minnesota	L 60–77	8–3 (2–3)	21 – Washington Jr.	7 – Tied	3 – Sueing	Williams Arena (0) Minneapolis, MN
January 9 12:00 pm, BTN		at No. 15 Rutgers	W 79–68	9–3 (3–3)	17 – Washington Jr.	10 – Sueing	5 – Sueing	Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ
January 13 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 21	Northwestern	W 81–71	10–3 (4–3)	23 – Washington Jr.	10 – Liddell	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 16 12:00 pm, FOX	No. 21	at No. 14 Illinois	W 87–81	11–3 (5–3)	26 – Liddell	7 – Tied	4 – Sueing	State Farm Center (175) Champaign, IL
January 19 6:30 pm, BTN	No. 15	Purdue	L 65–67	11–4 (5–4)	21 – Washington Jr.	7 – Liddell	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 23 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 15	at No. 10 Wisconsin	W 74–62	12–4 (6–4)	20 – Liddell	7 – Liddell	4 – Washington Jr.	Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI
January 27 7:00 pm, BTN	No. 13	Penn State	W 83–79	13–4 (7–4)	22 – Liddell	10 – Sueing	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
January 31 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 13	Michigan State	W 79–62	14–4 (8–4)	20 – Liddell	8 – Liddell	3 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 4 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 7	at No. 8 Iowa	W 89–85	15–4 (9–4)	16 – Tied	11 – Sueing	9 – Walker	Carver–Hawkeye Arena (503) Iowa City, IA
February 8 9:00 pm, FS1	No. 4	at Maryland	W 73–65	16–4 (10–4)	18 – Tied	6 – Liddell	4 – Washington Jr.	Xfinity Center (0) College Park, MD
February 13 12:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	Indiana	W 78–59	17–4 (11–4)	19 – Liddell	10 – Sueing	4 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 18 8:00 pm, BTN	No. 4	at Penn State	W 92–82	18–4 (12–4)	23 – Liddell	6 – Sueing	7 – Walker	Bryce Jordan Center (244) University Park, PA
February 21 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 4	No. 3 Michigan Rivalry	L 87–92	18–5 (12–5)	30 – Washington Jr.	10 – Liddell	3 – Tied	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
February 25 9:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at Michigan State	L 67–71	18–6 (12–6)	18 – Liddell	8 – Liddell	5 – Walker	Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI
February 28 4:00 pm, CBS	No. 4	No. 9 Iowa	L 57–73	18–7 (12–7)	15 – Liddell	5 – Tied	4 – Walker	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
March 6 4:00 pm, ESPN	No. 7	No. 4 Illinois	L 68–73	18–8 (12–8)	19 – Liddell	8 – Sueing	6 – Washington Jr.	Value City Arena (0) Columbus, OH
Big Ten tournament
March 11, 2021 2:00 pm, BTN	(5) No. 9	vs. (13) Minnesota Second Round	W 79–75	19–8	16 – Tied	7 – Sueing	6 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (6,206) Indianapolis, IN
March 12, 2021 2:00 pm, BTN	(5) No. 9	vs. (4) No. 20 Purdue Quarterfinals	W 87–78 ^OT	20–8	20 – Washington Jr.	10 – Sueing	7 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (7,634) Indianapolis, IN
March 13, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS	(5) No. 9	vs. (1) No. 4 Michigan Semifinals/Rivalry	W 68–67	21–8	24 – Washington Jr.	6 – Washington Jr.	4 – Tied	Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN
March 14, 2021 3:30 pm, CBS	(5) No. 9	vs. (2) No. 3 Illinois Championship	L 88–91 ^OT	21–9	32 – Washington Jr.	8 – Washington Jr.	4 – Walker	Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2021 3:00 pm, CBS	(2 S) No. 7	vs. (15 S) Oral Roberts First Round	L 72–75 ^OT	21–10	23 – Liddell	12 – Liddell	5 – Liddell	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source^[5]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	23	23	22	20	23	25	RV	21	15	13	7	4	4	4	7	9	7	Not released
Coaches	24	24^	20	19	20	20т	RV	RV	18	15	9	5	4	5	10	10	7	15

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.

References

^ "Ohio State Buckeyes Stats 2019–20". ESPN. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Jardy, Adam. "Ohio State's basketball game against Alabama A&M has been canceled". BuckeyeExtra.
^ Harrison, Phil. "Ohio State basketball game against Penn State postponed". Buckeyes Wire.
^ Hass-Hill, Colin. "Ohio State Basketball will host Penn State on Wednesday in rescheduled game". Eleven Warriors.
^ "Ohio State Buckeyes Men's Basketball Schedule". Ohio State Athletics.

[1] "Ohio State Buckeyes Stats 2019–20". ESPN. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[Ohio_State_vs._Alabama_A&M_canceled-2] Jardy, Adam. "Ohio State's basketball game against Alabama A&M has been canceled". BuckeyeExtra.

[Ohio_State_vs._Penn_State_postponed-3] Harrison, Phil. "Ohio State basketball game against Penn State postponed". Buckeyes Wire.

[Ohio_State_vs._Penn_State_rescheduled-4] Hass-Hill, Colin. "Ohio State Basketball will host Penn State on Wednesday in rescheduled game". Eleven Warriors.

[5] "Ohio State Buckeyes Men's Basketball Schedule". Ohio State Athletics.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball
Venues	The Armory (1897–1918) Fairgrounds Coliseum (1918–1956) St. John Arena (1956–1998) Value City Arena (1998–present)
Rivalries	Michigan
Culture & lore	Brutus Buckeye Buckeye Nuthouse WBNS WBNS-FM Ohio State Sports Network
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics