2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team American college basketball season
The 2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented Loyola University Chicago during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season . The Ramblers, led by 10th-year head coach Porter Moser , played their home games at the Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference . They finished the season 26–5, 16–2 in MVC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Southern Illinois , Illinois State , and Drake to win the MVC tournament championship.[ 1] As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed in the Midwest region.[ 2] There they defeated No. 9-seeded Georgia Tech [ 3] and upset No. 1-seeded Illinois to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.[ 4] In the Sweet Sixteen, they lost to Oregon State .[ 5]
On April 3, 2021, Moser left Loyola to accept the head coaching position at Oklahoma .[ 6] A few days later, the school announced that assistant coach Drew Valentine would take over as the Ramblers' head coach.[ 7]
Previous season
The Ramblers finished the 2019–20 season 21–11, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament to Valparaiso . All postseason play was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic .[ 8]
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
Name
Number
Pos.
Height
Weight
Year
Hometown
Previous School
Damezi Anderson
35
F
6'7"
225
Junior
South Bend, IN
Transferred from Indiana .
2020 recruiting class
Roster
2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team
Players
Coaches
Pos.
#
Name
Height
Weight
Year
Previous school
Hometown
G
0
Paxson Wojcik
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
185 lb (84 kg)
So
La Lumiere
Charleston, SC
G
1
Lucas Williamson
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Sr
Whitney Young
Chicago, IL
G
2
Jake Baughman (W)
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
RS Sr
Central Catholic
Bloomington, IL
G
4
Braden Norris
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
RS So
Hilliard Bradley Oakland
Hilliard, OH
G
5
Keith Clemons
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
180 lb (82 kg)
Sr
Wesley ChristianVincennes
Norcross, GA
F
10
Tom Welch
6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
So
Naperville North
Naperville, IL
G
12
Marquise Kennedy
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
175 lb (79 kg)
So
Brother Rice
Chicago, IL
G
13
Baylor Hebb
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
170 lb (77 kg)
Fr
Heritage
Colleyville, TX
C
22
Jacob Hutson
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
240 lb (109 kg)
Fr
Edina
Edina, MN
G
23
Cooper Kaifes
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
RS So
Mill Valley
Shawnee, KS
G/F
24
Tate Hall
6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
RS Sr
Greenfield-Central Indianapolis
Greenfield, IN
C
25
Cameron Krutwig
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
255 lb (116 kg)
Sr
Jacobs
Algonquin, IL
F
30
Aher Uguak
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
RS Sr
Harry Ainlay New Mexico
Edmonton, AB
G
31
Sami Ismail (W)
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
182 lb (83 kg)
Jr
Carl Sandburg
Orland Park, IL
F
33
Franklin Agunanne
6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
245 lb (111 kg)
Jr
La Lumiere
Abuja, Nigeria
F
35
Damezi Anderson
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
Jr
Riley Indiana
South Bend, IN
F
45
Will Alcock (W)
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
Jr
Zionsville Community
Zionsville, IN
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
Roster
Schedule and results
Date time, TV
Rank#
Opponent#
Result
Record
Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
December 5, 2020 *2:00 pm, ESPN3
Lewis
W 76–48
1–0
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
December 9, 2020 *2:00 pm, ESPN+
Chicago State
W 88–51
2–0
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
December 13, 2020 *1:00 pm, ESPN+
at UIC
W 77–66
3–0
Credit Union 1 Arena Chicago, IL
December 15, 2020 *7:00 pm, BTN
at No. 12 Wisconsin
L 63–77
3–1
Kohl Center Madison, WI
December 18, 2020 *5:00 pm, ESPN+
vs. Richmond
L 73–75
3–2
Indiana Convention Center Indianapolis, IN
December 22, 2020 *12:00 pm, ESPN+
St. Francis (IL)
W 92–55
4–2
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
December 27, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+
Illinois State
W 90–60
5–2 (1–0)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
December 28, 2020 7:00 pm, CBSSN
Illinois State
W 86–55
6–2 (2–0)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
January 2, 2021 *6:30 pm, ESPN+
North Texas
W 57–49
7–2
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
January 10, 2021 5:30 pm, ESPN2
at Indiana State
L 71–76
7–3 (2–1)
Hulman Center (80)Terre Haute, IN
January 11, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Indiana State
W 58–48
8–3 (3–1)
Hulman Center (90)Terre Haute, IN
January 16, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2
Northern Iowa
W 72–57
9–3 (4–1)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
January 17, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN
Northern Iowa
W 88–46
10–3 (5–1)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
January 20, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Valparaiso
W 75–39
11–3 (6–1)
Athletics–Recreation Center (95)Valparaiso, IN
January 24, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Bradley
W 69–56
12–3 (7–1)
Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 25, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN
at Bradley
W 65–58
13–3 (8–1)
Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 31, 2021 2:00 pm, CBSSN
at Missouri State
W 72–46
14–3 (9–1)
JQH Arena (1,505)Springfield, MO
February 1, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Missouri State
W 70–50
15–3 (10–1)
JQH Arena (1,122)Springfield, MO
February 6, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+
Evansville
W 68–55
16–3 (11–1)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
February 7, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN+
Evansville
W 69–58
17–3 (12–1)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
February 13, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN2
No. 22
at Drake
W 81–54
18–3 (13–1)
Knapp Center (864)Des Moines, IA
February 14, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 22
at Drake
L 50–51 OT
18–4 (13–2)
Knapp Center (921)Des Moines, IA
February 17, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN+
No. 22
Valparaiso
W 54–52
19–4 (14–2)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
February 26, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN
No. 21
Southern Illinois
W 60–52
20–4 (15–2)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
February 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 21
Southern Illinois
W 65–58 OT
21–4 (16–2)
Joseph J. Gentile Arena Chicago, IL
MVC tournament
March 5, 2021 11:00 am, ESPN+
(1) No. 20
vs. (9) Southern Illinois Quarterfinals
W 73–49
22–4
Enterprise Center (830)St. Louis, MO
March 6, 2021 12:00 pm, CBSSN
(1) No. 20
vs. (4) Indiana State Semifinals
W 65–49
23–4
Enterprise Center (938)St. Louis, MO
March 7, 2021 1:00 pm, CBS
(1) No. 20
vs. (2) Drake Championship
W 75–65
24–4
Enterprise Center (1,265)St. Louis, MO
NCAA tournament
March 19, 2021 3:00 pm, TBS
(8 MW) No. 17
vs. (9 MW) Georgia Tech First Round
W 71–60
25–4
Hinkle Fieldhouse (1,072)Indianapolis, IN
March 21, 2021 11:10 am, CBS
(8 MW) No. 17
vs. (1 MW) No. 2 Illinois Second Round
W 71–58
26–4
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,670)Indianapolis, IN
March 27, 2021 1:40 pm, CBS
(8 MW) No. 17
vs. (12 MW) Oregon State Sweet Sixteen
L 58–65
26–5
Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,639)Indianapolis, IN
*Non-conference game.
# Rankings from
AP Poll . (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in
Central Time .
Rankings
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Final AP — — — — — — — — — — — RV 22 22 21 20 18 17 Not released Coaches — —^ — — — — — — — — RV RV 23 23 22 22 18 16 12
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.
References
^ "Drake falls to No. 20 Loyola in MVC Championship" . Radio Iowa . March 7, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ Hefferman, Todd. "MVC Basketball | Drake slotted in First Four, Loyola receives 8 seed" . The Southern . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ "Georgia Tech vs. Loyola Chicago - Game Recap - March 19, 2021 - ESPN" . ESPN.com . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ Lauren M. Johnson and Homero De la Fuente. "No. 8 Loyola Chicago stuns No. 1 seed Illinois to advance to the Sweet 16" . CNN . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ "Oregon State vs. Loyola Chicago - Game Recap - March 27, 2021 - ESPN" . ESPN.com . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ "Oklahoma hires Loyola Chicago's Porter Moser to replace Lon Kruger as Sooners coach" . CBSSports.com . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ "Drew Valentine Hired as Loyola-Chicago's Head Coach, Replacing Porter Moser" . NBC Chicago . Retrieved April 7, 2021 .
^ "NCAA cancels March Madness tournaments, all other winter and spring championships" . NBC News . Retrieved December 6, 2020 .
Venues Culture & lore People Seasons NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics
Information related to 2020–21 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team