2020–21 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team represented Eastern Kentucky University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Colonels, led by third-year head coach A. W. Hamilton, played their home games at McBrayer Arena within Alumni Coliseum in Richmond, Kentucky in their 73rd and final season as members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). Eastern Kentucky joined the ASUN Conference on July 1, 2021.^[1]

2020–21 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball
Conference	Ohio Valley Conference
Record	22–7 (15–5 OVC)
Head coach	A. W. Hamilton (3rd season)
Assistant coaches	Steve Lepore Mike Allen Patrick Blake
Home arena	McBrayer Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

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

Previous season

The Colonels finished the 2019–20 season 16–17, 12–6 in OVC play, to finish in fourth place. They defeated Tennessee State in the quarterfinals,^[2] before losing to Belmont in the semifinals.^[3]

Roster

2020–21 Eastern Kentucky Colonels men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Russhard Cruickshank 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Garden City CC Milwaukee, WI G 1 JacQuess Hobbs 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Waggener HS Louisville, KY F 2 Tre King 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Hargrave Military Academy Lexington, KY G 3 Peyton Broughton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) RS Jr North Laurel HS London, KY G 4 Curt Lewis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 220 lb (100 kg) RS Fr Aspire Academy Louisville, KY G 5 Cooper Robb 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr UNC Charlotte Georgetown, KY G 10 Brandon Knapper 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr West Virginia Ontario, CA G 11 Jomaru Brown 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Southern Durham HS Raleigh, NC G 12 Wendell Green Jr. 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr La Lumiere School Detroit, MI F 13 Tariq Balogun 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Miller School of Albemarle London, England G/F 14 Devontae Blanton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr St. Edward HS Macedonia, OH G 15 Isaiah Minter 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 170 lb (77 kg) RS So Union College Richmond, KY G 20 Caleb Mitchell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Fr South Warren HS Louisville, KY G 22 Matt Cromer 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr North Laurel HS London, KY G 23 Cameron Carmical 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Harlan County HS Harlan, KY F 24 Michael Moreno 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Scott County HS Georgetown, KY G 30 Jordan Reeves-Young 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Uncommon Charter HS Brooklyn, NY G/F 34 Cheikh Faye 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Chipola College Fatick, Senegal F 35 Rabby Kamona 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Fr Paul Laurence Dunbar HS Kinshasa, DR Congo	Head coach A. W. Hamilton (Marshall) Assistant coach(es) Steve Lepore (Wake Forest) Mike Allen (Ohio) Patrick Blake (Louisville) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: December 18, 2020

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020* 5:30 p.m.		vs. North Florida Mako Medical Wolfpack Invitational	W 80–67	1–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
November 27, 2020* 2:00 p.m.		vs. Charleston Southern Mako Medical Wolfpack Invitational	W 60–50	2–0	Reynolds Coliseum  Raleigh, NC
November 30, 2020* 7:00 p.m., FS1		at Xavier	L 96–99 OT	2–1	Cintas Center (300) Cincinnati, OH
December 2, 2020* 5:30 p.m., ESPN+		at USC Upstate	W 95–78	3–1	G. B. Hodge Center (142) Spartanburg, SC
December 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Morehead State	W 71–68	4–1 (1–0)	McBrayer Arena (643) Richmond, KY
December 12, 2020* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Transylvania	W 81–60	5–1	McBrayer Arena (609) Richmond, KY
December 14, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Morehead State	L 62–75	5–2 (1–1)	Ellis Johnson Arena (565) Morehead, KY
December 17, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Campbellsville–Harrodsburg	W 118–54	6–2	McBrayer Arena (500) Richmond, KY
December 22, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		High Point	W 86–67	7–2	McBrayer Arena (723) Richmond, KY
December 30, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Illinois	W 69–61	8–2 (2–1)	McBrayer Arena (704) Richmond, KY
January 2, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Austin Peay	W 80–75	9–2 (3–1)	Dunn Center (452) Clarksville, TN
January 7, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Jacksonville State	W 69–66 OT	10–2 (4–1)	McBrayer Arena (672) Richmond, KY
January 9, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tennessee Tech	W 90–80	11–2 (5–1)	McBrayer Arena (733) Richmond, KY
January 16, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Eastern Illinois	W 93–85 OT	12–2 (6–1)	Lantz Arena  Charleston, IL
January 21, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		UT Martin	W 113–73	13–2 (7–1)	McBrayer Arena (759) Richmond, KY
February 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Jacksonville State	W 86–82 OT	14–2 (8–1)	Pete Mathews Coliseum (402) Jacksonville, AL
February 4, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Austin Peay	L 79–94	14–3 (8–2)	McBrayer Arena (902) Richmond, KY
February 6, 2021 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		Murray State	L 64–76	14–4 (8–3)	McBrayer Arena (887) Richmond, KY
February 8, 2021 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at SIU Edwardsville	W 78–74	15–4 (9–3)	First Community Arena (22) Edwardsville, IL
February 11, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Belmont	L 74–92	15–5 (9–4)	Curb Event Center (241) Nashville, TN
February 13, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tennessee State	W 93–73	16–5 (10–4)	Gentry Complex (255) Nashville, TN
February 15, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Tennessee Tech	W 83–72	17–5 (11–4)	Eblen Center (238) Cookeville, TN
February 18, 2021 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at UT Martin	W 89–72	18–5 (12–4)	Skyhawk Arena (173) Martin, TN
February 20, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	L 72–94	18–6 (12–5)	Show Me Center (753) Cape Girardeau, MO
February 22, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Southeast Missouri State	W 87–65	19–6 (13–5)	Show Me Center (289) Cape Girardeau, MO
February 25, 2021 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		Belmont	W 81–67	20–6 (14–5)	McBrayer Arena (957) Richmond, KY
February 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Tennessee State	W 89–84	21–6 (15–5)	McBrayer Arena (971) Richmond, KY
Ohio Valley tournament
March 4, 2021 10:30 p.m., ESPN+	(3)	vs. (6) Austin Peay First round	W 70–67	22–6	Ford Center (645) Evansville, IN
March 5, 2021 10:30 p.m., ESPNU	(3)	vs. (2) Morehead State Semifinals	L 64–67	22–7	Ford Center (627) Evansville, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Source:^[4]

References

1. "ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport" (Press release). ASUN Conference. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
2. "Freshman Michael Moreno Fuels EKU's Second Half Comeback, Colonels Advance To OVC Tournament semifinals". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. March 5, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
3. "2020 OVC Men's Basketball Championship - Semifinals". Ohio Valley Conference. March 6, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
4. "2020-21 Men's Basketball Schedule". Eastern Kentucky University Athletics. Retrieved December 18, 2020.