2020–21_Metro_Atlantic_Athletic_Conference_men's_basketball_season

2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season

2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball season

Sports season

The 2020–21 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) men's basketball season began with practices in October 2020, followed by the start of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 25. Conference play started in December and concluded in March 2021. This season was the 40th season of MAAC basketball.

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More information Conf, Overall ...

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the MAAC revised their scheduling policy for conference games as follows:[3]

  • A 20-game double round robin conference schedule with five home series and five away series for each team.
  • A Friday/Saturday playing schedule at the same venue for both games, with 24 hours of spacing between the two contests. The men’s and women’s schedules will mirror each other so that the women’s program may be playing a team for a 2-game home series, with the men’s program playing the same opponent on the road - and vice versa in subsequent weeks.
  • Make up week retained for the second to last week of the season.
  • The use of the same officiating crew for both games of a series, when possible.
  • When teams are traveling, only institutional staff and student-athletes that are designated as Tier 1, along with Tier 2 Presidents, Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and key conference staff members are permitted entrance to a team’s facility.
  • Retained a ban on fan attendance at venues through December.
  • Approved the threshold for the minimum number of players available for the game to be contested as 8 counter (scholarship) players and at least one coach.

The 2021 MAAC tournament was held from March 8 through March 13 at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the second year in a row. For this season, since it was official that not all MAAC teams would reach the originally scheduled 20 conference game mark, team seeding in the tournament was based on overall conference regular season wins – not including any third games scheduled between teams in lieu of non-conference opponents. A tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records was also used.[4]

Head Coaches

Coaching changes

On March 13, 2020, Tim Cluess stepped down as head coach of the Iona Gaels due to health concerns.[5] A day later, the school named former Louisville coach Rick Pitino the Gaels' new head coach.[6]

Coaches

More information Team, Head coach ...

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Year at school includes 2020–21 season.
  • Overall and MAAC records are from time at current school and are before the beginning of the 2020–21 season.
  • Previous jobs are head coaching jobs unless otherwise noted.

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

More information Rank, Team ...

( ) first place votes

Preseason All-MAAC teams

More information First Team, Second Team ...

† denotes unanimous selection

Preseason Player of the Year

More information Recipient, School ...

MAAC Regular Season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the final head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

More information Canisius, Fairfield ...

Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference offices named player(s) of the week and rookie(s) of the week.[8]

More information Week, Player of the week ...

Records against other conferences

Records against non-conference foes for the 2020–21 season. Records shown for regular season only.

More information Power 7 Conferences, Record ...

Postseason

MAAC Tournament

Main article: 2021 MAAC men's basketball tournament
First Round
Monday/Tuesday, March 8/9 		Quarterfinals
Wednesday/Thursday, March 10/11 		Semifinals
Friday, March 12 		Championship
Saturday, March 13
            
1 Siena 52
9 Iona 55
8 Quinnipiac 48
9 Iona 72
9 Iona 70
5 Niagara 64
4 Marist 62
5 Niagara 67
9 Iona 60
7 Fairfield 51
2 Monmouth 60
7 Fairfield 79
7 Fairfield 59*
10 Manhattan 58
7 Fairfield 52
3 Saint Peter's 47
3 Saint Peter's 75
11 Rider 58
6 Canisius 76
11 Rider 78

* denotes number of overtimes

NCAA Tournament

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
More information Seed, Region ...

Game summary

March 20, 2021
4:00 pm
No. 15 Iona 55, No. 2 #5 Alabama 68
Scoring by half: 32–33, 23–35
Pts: Ross – 19
Rebs: Jr. Joseph – 6
Asts: 3 tied – 2
JeanLouis – 6 pts, 4 blk; Jr. Joseph – 6 pts, 3 blk		 Pts: H. Jones – 20
Rebs: Petty, Jr. – 7
Asts: Ellis – 3
Quinerly – 11 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast
NCAA tournament first round
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN
Attendance:  
Referees: Bo Boroski, Bill Covington, Todd Austin

Honors and awards

MAAC Awards

More information Award, Recipient(s) ...
More information First Team, Second Team ...

† denotes unanimous selection

All-MAAC tournament team

2021 MAAC Men's Basketball All-Championship Team[15]
  • Raheem Solomon, Niagara
  • KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's
  • Jake Wojcik, Fairfield
  • Taj Benning, Fairfield
  • Berrick Jeanlouis, Iona
  • Isaiah Ross, Iona
  • MVP Asante Gist, Iona

2020–21 Season statistic leaders

Completed for 2020–21 season [16][17]

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Individual statistic NCAA Top 100 leaders

Scoring

  • Isaiah Ross, Iona (18.4/game): 57th

Rebounding

  • Manny Camper, Siena (9.7/game): 22nd

Field Goal Percentage (minimum avg 5 made per game)

  • KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's (127–252 .504): 82nd

Assists per game

  • Jalen Pickett, Siena (4.8/game): 57th

Blocks per game

  • KC Ndefo, Saint Peter's (3.64/game): 1st (3rd in total blocks)
  • Seth Pinkney, Quinnipiac (2.32/game): 22nd
  • Jordan Jones, Marist (1.90/game): 39th
  • Nelly Jr. Joseph, Iona (1.61/game): 65th
  • Warren Williams, Manhattan (1.60/game): 68th

Free Throw Percentage (minimum avg 2.5 made per game)

  • Asante Gist, Iona (74–83 .891): 16th
  • Dwight Murray, Jr., Rider (67–78 .859): 49th
  • Jacob Rigoni, Quinnipiac (65–76 .855): 53rd
  • Jake Wojcik, Fairfield (76–89 .853): 57th
  • Taj Benning, Fairfield (74–88 .840): 80th

Steals per game

  • Berrick JeanLouis, Iona (2.22/game): 18th
  • Miles Ruth, Monmouth (1.80/game): 66th
  • Elijah Buchanan, Manhattan (1.74/game): 76th

Three-point percentage (minimum 1.5 made per game)

  • Isaiah Ross, Iona (46–120 .383): 55th

Team statistic NCAA rankings

of 340 Division I teams [18]

More information Canisius, Fairfield ...

References

  1. [1]
    "2020-21 Basketball Tiebreakers" (PDF). MAAC Sports. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  2. [2]
    "2020-21 Men's Basketball Standings". MAAC Sports. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  3. [3]
    "MAAC Council of Presidents Revises 2020-21 Basketball Scheduling Policy for COVID-19 Impacted Season". MAAC Sports. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
  4. [4]
    "MAAC Men's Basketball Schedule Update". MAAC Sports. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  5. [5]
    "Iona's Cluess steps down to focus on health". ESPN.com. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  6. [6]
    "Rick Pitino returns to college hoops as Iona coach". ESPN.com. March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  7. [7]
    "Siena Selected as Unanimous Men's Basketball Preseason Favorite; Jalen Pickett Named Unanimous Preseason Player of the Year". MAAC Sports. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Athlete Awards". MAAC Sports. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  9. [9]
    Connors, Kevin (January 6, 2022). "Loyola Chicago Ramblers lead Kevin Connors' weekly Mid-Major Top 10". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Iona, Rick Pitino back in NCAA Tournament as 15-seed, will play SEC champion Alabama". lohud.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  11. [11]
    "Siena's Manny Camper Named Player of the Year, Saint Peter's Ndefo, Canisius' Green and Iona's Joseph Take Home Awards". MAAC Sports. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  12. [12]
    "King Rice Named "The Rock" MAAC Coach of the Year". MAAC Sports. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  13. [13]
    "MAAC Announces 2020-21 Men's Basketball All-MAAC Teams". MAAC Sports. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  14. [14]
    "MAAC Announces 2020-21 Men's Basketball All-Rookie Team". MAAC Sports. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Iona Wins the 2021 MAAC Men's Basketball Championship". MAAC Sports. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  16. [16]
    "2020-2021 Men's Basketball - Overall Statistics". MAAC Sports. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  17. [17]
    "Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Statistics". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
  18. [18]
    "NCAA College Men's Basketball DI Stats". ncaa.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
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