2020–21 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team represented Southern Illinois University Carbondale during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Salukis were led by second-year head coach Bryan Mullins and played their home games at the Banterra Center (formerly SIU Arena) in Carbondale, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. In as season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Salukis finished the season 12–14, 5–13 in MVC play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Bradley in the first round of the MVC tournament before losing to Loyola in the quarterfinals.

2020–21 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	12–14 (5–13 MVC)
Head coach	Bryan Mullins (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Brendan Mullins Pat Monaghan Jevon Mamon
Home arena	Banterra Center

2020–21 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 Loyola Chicago †	16	–	2		.889			26	–	5		.839
Drake	15	–	3		.833			26	–	5		.839
Missouri State	12	–	6		.667			17	–	7		.708
Indiana State	11	–	7		.611			15	–	10		.600
Evansville	7	–	11		.389			9	–	16		.360
Valparaiso	7	–	11		.389			10	–	18		.357
Northern Iowa	7	–	11		.389			10	–	15		.400
Bradley	6	–	12		.333			12	–	16		.429
Southern Illinois	5	–	13		.278			12	–	14		.462
Illinois State	4	–	14		.222			7	–	18		.280
† 2021 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Salukis finished the 2019–20 season 16–16, 10–8 in MVC play, finishing in fifth place. In the MVC tournament, the Salukis were eliminated by No. 4-seeded Bradley in the quarterfinals.

Roster

2020–21 Southern Illinois Salukis men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Eric Butler 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Orlando Christian Prep Orlando, FL F 1 Marcus Domask  6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Waupun High School Waupun, WI G 3 Dalton Banks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr North High School Eau Clair, WI G 5 Lance Jones 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Evanston Township Evanston, IL G 10 Ben Harvey 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS So Eastern Illinois Jonesboro, AR F 11 J.D. Muila 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Indian Hills Community College Ottawa, ON F 12 Sekou Dembele 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Central Park Christian School Bamako, Mali C 14 Kyler Filewich 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Fr Orangeview Prep Winnipeg, MB F 21 Will Keller 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Sr John A. Logan Marion, IL G 22 Steven Verplancken Jr. 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Glenville State San Pedro, DR G 24 Trent Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Pinnacle High School Scottsdale, AZ G 25 Jakolby Long 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 210 lb (95 kg) RS Sr Southern Utah Oklahoma City, OK G 32 Chris Cross 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Fr Urbana High School Urbana, IL F 33 Anthony D’Avanzo 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) RS Sr Lewis University Notre Dame College Prep Harwood Heights, IL	Head coach Bryan Mullins (Southern Illinois) Assistant coach(es) Brendan Mullins (Saint Michael's) Pat Monaghan (Lewis) Jevon Marmon (Barat College) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference regular season
Dec 2, 2020* 6:30 pm, ESPN+		Southeast Missouri State	W 87–79 OT	1–0	Show Me Center  Cape Girardeau, MO
Dec 6, 2020* 4:00 pm, ESPN3		Quincy University	W 102–61	2–0	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
December 11, 2020* 6:30 pm, ESPN3		Murray State Charles Helleny Tip-off Classic	W 70–66	3–0	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Dec 17, 2020* 1:00 pm, ESPN3		North Dakota	W 85–64	4–0	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Dec 18, 2020* 3:00 pm, ESPN3		North Dakota	W 62–50	5–0	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Dec 21, 2020* 6:30 pm, FS1		Butler	W 76–73	6–0	Hinkle Fieldhouse  Indianapolis, IN
Missouri Valley regular season
Dec 27, 2020 3:00 pm, ESPN+		Evansville	W 63–57	7–0 (1–0)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Dec 28, 2020 5:00 pm, ESPN+		Evansville	L 72–84	7–1 (1–1)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Jan 3, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at Drake	L 55–73	7–2 (1–2)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, IA
Jan 4, 2021 6:00 pm, CBSSN		at Drake	L 55–86	7–3 (1–3)	Knapp Center  Des Moines, IA
Jan 25, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		at Indiana State	L 66–69	7–4 (1–4)	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, IN
Jan 26, 2021 4:00 pm, ESPN+		at Indiana State	L 59–71	7–5 (1–5)	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, IN
Jan 30, 2021 3:00 pm, FSMW		Northern Iowa	L 62–74	7–6 (1–6)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Jan 31, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2		Northern Iowa	W 71–68	8–6 (2–6)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 6, 2021 3:00 pm, FSMW		at Bradley	L 66–74	8–7 (2–7)	Carver Arena  Peoria, IL
Feb 7, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3		at Bradley	W 69–68	9–7 (3–7)	Carver Arena  Peoria, IL
Feb 10, 2021 7:00 pm, FSMW		at Missouri State	L 53–65	9–8 (3–8)	JQH Arena  Springfield, MO
Feb 13, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Illinois State	L 55–80	9–9 (3–9)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 14, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN3		Illinois State	W 59–49	10–9 (4–9)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 17, 2021 8:15 pm, Marquee/ESPN3		Missouri State	L 53–68	10–10 (4–10)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 21, 2021 4:00 pm, Marquee/ESPN3		Valparaiso	L 65–66	10–11 (4–11)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 22, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN+		Valparaiso	W 67–64	11–11 (5–11)	Banterra Center  Carbondale, IL
Feb 26, 2021 8:00 pm, CBSSN		at No. 21 Loyola	L 52–60	11–12 (5–12)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena  Chicago, IL
Feb 27, 2021 5:00 pm, ESPN2		at No. 21 Loyola	L 58–65 OT	11–13 (5–13)	Joseph J. Gentile Arena  Chicago, IL
MVC tournament
Mar 4, 2021 5:00 pm, FSMW	(9)	vs. (8) Bradley First Round	W 73–63	12–13	Enterprise Center (771) St. Louis, MO
Mar 5, 2021 11:00 am, FSMW	(9)	vs. (1) No. 20 Loyola Quarterfinals	L 49–73	12–14	Enterprise Center  St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time.