2020–21 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team

2020–21 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	9–18 (6–14 OVC)
Head coach	Jay Spoonhour (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Justin Brown Matt Bringman Mark Bernsen
Home arena	Lantz Arena

2020–21 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Belmont	18	–	2		.900			26	–	4		.867
Morehead State †	17	–	3		.850			23	–	8		.742
Eastern Kentucky	15	–	5		.750			22	–	7		.759
Jacksonville State	13	–	6		.684			18	–	9		.667
Austin Peay	10	–	10		.500			14	–	13		.519
Murray State	10	–	10		.500			13	–	13		.500
Southeast Missouri State	9	–	11		.450			11	–	16		.407
SIU Edwardsville	7	–	12		.368			9	–	17		.346
Eastern Illinois	6	–	14		.300			9	–	18		.333
UT Martin	6	–	14		.300			8	–	16		.333
Tennessee Tech	5	–	15		.250			5	–	22		.185
Tennessee State	3	–	17		.150			4	–	19		.174
† 2021 OVC tournament winner

The 2020–21 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team represented Eastern Illinois University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Panthers, led by ninth-year head coach Jay Spoonhour, played their home games at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Illinois as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). They finished the season 9–18, 6–14 in OVC play, to finish in a tie for ninth place. They failed to qualify for the OVC tournament.

On March 4, 2021, the school announced that they would not renew head coach Jay Spoonhour's contract.[1] Nearly a month later, the school named Clemson assistant and former Evansville head coach Marty Simmons the team's new head coach.[2]

Previous season

The Panthers finished the 2019–20 season 17–15, 9–9 in OVC play, to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Jacksonville State in the first round of the OVC tournament,[3] before losing in the quarterfinals to Austin Peay.[4]

Roster

2020–21 Eastern Illinois Panthers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 1 Kashawn Charles 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Labette CC Wyandanch, NY F 2 Jordan Skipper-Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr McLennan CC Killeen, TX G 3 Mack Smith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Warren Central HS Indianapolis, IN G 4 Marvin Johnson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Coffeyville CC Ardmore, OK G 5 Junior Farquhar 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr South Plains College Mono, ON G 10 Ryan Leonard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Santa Fe College Kerry, Ireland F 11 Barlow IV Alleruzzo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Des Moines Area CC Chicago, IL G 12 Micah Schnyders 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Yorkville Christian HS Yorkville, IL G 13 Henry Abraham 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Cambridge-Isanti HS Cambridge, MN G 14 Isaac Miller 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Charleston HS Charleston, IL F 20 Sammy IV Friday 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) GS Siena Jersey City, NJ F 21 Madani Diarra 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) So Saint Louis Bamako, Mali G 22 Josiah Wallace 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Olney Central College Marshall, IL G 25 Deang Deang 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Highland CC Madison, WI G 35 George Dixon 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr Vincennes Milwaukee, WI	Head coach Jay Spoonhour (Pittsburg State) Assistant coach(es) Justin Brown (Southwest Baptist) Matt Bringman (Palm Beach Atlantic) Mark Bernsen (Missouri–St. Louis) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 16, 2021

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 25, 2020* 9:00 p.m., BTN		at No. 7 Wisconsin	L 67–77	0–1	Kohl Center  Madison, WI
November 27, 2020* 6:30 p.m., FS1		at Marquette	L 50–75	0–2	Fiserv Forum  Milwaukee, WI
November 29, 2020* 5:30 p.m., FS1		at Butler	Postponed due to COVID-19		Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
December 1, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Dayton	L 63–66	0–3	UD Arena  Dayton, OH
December 3, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Chicago State	W 78–56	1–3	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
December 5, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ESPN3		at Green Bay	W 93–91 ^2OT	2–3	Kress Events Center  Green Bay, WI
December 9, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Evansville	L 65–68	2–4	Ford Center  Evansville, IN
December 12, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Western Illinois	W 92–88	3–4	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
Ohio Valley regular season
December 30, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Eastern Kentucky	L 61–69	3–5 (0–1)	McBrayer Arena (704) Richmond, KY
January 2, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tennessee Tech	W 87–81	4–5 (1–1)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 7, 2021 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Murray State	W 74–68	5–5 (2–1)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 9, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Austin Peay	L 71–74	5–6 (2–2)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 14, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPNU		Morehead State	L 61–87	5–7 (2–3)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 16, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Kentucky	L 85–93 ^OT	5–8 (2–4)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Belmont	L 66–79	5–9 (2–5)	Curb Event Center (247) Nashville, TN
January 23, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tennessee State	L 54–65	5–10 (2–6)	Gentry Complex (338) Nashville, TN
January 26, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		SIU Edwardsville	L 74–87	5–11 (2–7)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 28, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UT Martin	L 41–51	5–12 (2–8)	Skyhawk Arena (360) Martin, TN
January 30, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	L 44–75	5–13 (2–9)	Show Me Center (842) Cape Girardeau, MO
February 2, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville	W 70–61	6–13 (3–9)	First Community Arena  Edwardsville, IL
February 4, 2021 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Belmont	L 61–89	6–14 (3–10)	Lantz Arena (12) Charleston, IL
February 6, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tennessee State	W 86–72	7–14 (4–10)	Lantz Arena (19) Charleston, IL
February 11, 2021 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	L 64–76	7–15 (4–11)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (421) Jacksonville, AL
February 13, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	L 67–80	7–16 (4–12)	Eblen Center (550) Cookeville, TN
February 18, 2021 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Murray State	W 68–59	8–16 (5–12)	CFSB Center (1,260) Murray, KY
February 20, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Austin Peay	W 76–69	9–16 (6–12)	Dunn Center (747) Clarksville, TN
February 25, 2021 7:30 p.m., ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	L 88–94	9–17 (6–13)	Lantz Arena (29) Charleston, IL
February 27, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Martin	L 68–73	9–18 (6–14)	Lantz Arena (50) Charleston, IL
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

Source:[5]

References

1. "Eastern Illinois announces it's not renewing men's basketball coach Jay Spoonhour's contract". JG-TC.com. March 4, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
2. Hancock, Aaron (April 2, 2021). "Marty Simmons hired as new head basketball coach at Eastern Illinois". 14news.com. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
3. "2020 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - First Round". Ohio Valley Conference. March 4, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
4. "Men's Basketball Drops OVC Quarterfinal Game". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. March 5, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
5. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Eastern Illinois University Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2021.