The 2021 Summit League men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Summit League for the 2020–21 season. All tournament games were played at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from March 6–9, 2021.[1]
| 2021 Summit League men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2020–21 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Sanford Pentagon Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Champions | Oral Roberts (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Paul Mills (1st title) |
| MVP | Max Abmas (Oral Roberts) |
| Television | MidcoSN/MidcoSN2/ESPN+/ESPN2 |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota State | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | 16 | – | 7 | .696 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota | 11 | – | 4 | .733 | 14 | – | 11 | .560 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota State | 11 | – | 5 | .688 | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oral Roberts † | 10 | – | 5 | .667 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 9 | – | 17 | .346 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 11 | – | 13 | .458 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Illinois | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 7 | – | 15 | .318 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Omaha | 3 | – | 11 | .214 | 5 | – | 20 | .200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denver | 1 | – | 13 | .071 | 2 | – | 19 | .095 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2021 Summit League Tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fourth-seeded Oral Roberts defeated third-seeded North Dakota State, 75-72, to claim their fourth Summit League title and earn the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Seeds
The top eight teams by conference record in the Summit League competed in the conference tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tiebreakers operate in the following order:
- Head-to-head record.
- Record against the top-seeded team not involved in the tie, going down through the standings until the tie is broken.
| Seed | School | Conf. record | Tiebreaker(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota State | 9–3 | |
| 2 | South Dakota | 11–4 | |
| 3 | North Dakota State | 11–5 | |
| 4 | Oral Roberts | 10–5 | |
| 5 | North Dakota | 8–8 | 2–0 vs. South Dakota |
| 6 | Kansas City | 7–7 | 0–2 vs. South Dakota |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 5–9 | |
| 8 | Omaha | 3–11 |
Schedule and results
| Game | Time [2] | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Saturday, March 6 | ||||
| 1 | 5:45 pm | No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 8 Omaha | 84–71 | MidcoSN/ESPN+ |
| 2 | 8:45 pm | No. 2 South Dakota vs. No. 7 Western Illinois | 86–69 | |
| Quarterfinals – Sunday, March 7 | ||||
| 3 | 5:45 pm | No. 4 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 North Dakota | 76–65 | MidcoSN/ESPN+ |
| 4 | 8:45 pm | No. 3 North Dakota State vs. No. 6 Kansas City | 69–65 | |
| Semifinals – Monday, March 8 | ||||
| 5 | 5:45 pm | No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 4 Oral Roberts | 88–90 | MidcoSN/ESPN+ |
| 6 | 8:45 pm | No. 2 South Dakota vs. No. 3 North Dakota State | 75–79 | |
| Final – Tuesday, March 9 | ||||
| 7 | 8:00 pm | No. 4 Oral Roberts vs. No. 3 North Dakota State | 75–72 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in CST. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||
Bracket
| Quarterfinals March 6 & 7 TV: MidcoSN | Semifinals March 8 TV: MidcoSN | Championship March 9 TV: ESPN2 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | South Dakota State | 84 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Omaha | 71 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | South Dakota State | 88 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Oral Roberts | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Oral Roberts | 76 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | North Dakota | 65 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Oral Roberts | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | North Dakota State | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | South Dakota | 86 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Western Illinois | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | South Dakota | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | North Dakota State | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | North Dakota State | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Kansas City | 65 | ||||||||||||
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team:[3]
| Player | School |
|---|---|
| Max Abmas (MVP) | Oral Roberts |
| Kevin Obanor | Oral Roberts |
| Tyree Eady | North Dakota State |
| Rocky Kreuser | North Dakota State |
| Stanley Umude | South Dakoka |