The 2020–21 Northern Iowa Panthers men's basketball team represented the University of Northern Iowa during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by 15th-year head coach Ben Jacobson, played their home games at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa as members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Panthers finished the season 10–15, 7–11 in MVC play, to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 7 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Illinois State in the first round before being forced to forfeit their quarterfinal game against Drake due to positive COVID-19 tests.
Previous season The Panthers finished the 2019–20 season 25–6, 14–4 in MVC play, to win the MVC regular-season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Drake. As a regular-season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they were set to receive an automatic bid to NIT. However, all postseason tournaments were thereafter canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Offseason Departures Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure Logan Wolf 10 G 6'4" 220 Freshman Cedar Falls, IA Walk-on and dual-sport athlete (football); left basketball program to focus on football. Lincoln Conrey 12 F 6'5" 203 Senior Waterloo, IA Graduated Justin Dahl 15 C 7'0" 261 RS Senior Carver, MN Graduated Shandon Goldman 20 F 6'10" 220 Senior Evansville, AR Graduated Isaiah Brown 24 G 6'7" 180 Senior Flower Mound, TX Graduated Spencer Haldeman 30 G 6'1" 175 RS Senior Peosta, IA Graduated Luke McDonnell 34 F 6'9" 212 RS Senior Dubuque, IA Graduated
2020 recruiting class
2021 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season
!colspan=12 style=| MVC tournament
Source:
Notes
References