2021 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament

Winning coachBen McCollum (3rd title)MOPRyan Hawkins (NW Missouri State)

NCAA Division II men's tournaments
«2020	2022»

The 2021 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States. The championship games were held March 24–27, 2021 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, without fans.^[1]

Defending champions Northwest Missouri State defeated West Texas A&M in the championship game, 80–54, to claim the Bearcats' second consecutive and third overall Division II national title.

Biola, Flagler, Fresno Pacific, Lee, Malone, Northwest Nazarene, Nyack, Oklahoma Baptist, and Southern Arkansas qualified for the Division II tournament for the first time.

Qualification

A total of 48 bids were available for the tournament: 16 automatic (awarded to the champions of the sixteen Division II conferences that crowned a basketball champion after the end of the regular season) and 32 at-large.

The field size was temporarily reduced for just the 2021 championship to account for teams and conferences that chose to not compete during the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Teams from four conferences (CCAA, CIAA, Northeast-10, and Sunshine State) did not participate in the regular season or the tournament.

The remaining bids were allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West). Some conferences, however, were shifted from their traditional region to ensure an even distribution of teams across all eight regions.^[2] Each region consisted of two automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and at-large bids.

Bracket

Atlantic Regional

• Site: West Liberty, West Virginia (West Liberty)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	Hillsdale	67
	4	Mercyhurst	62			4	Mercyhurst	48
	5	Fairmont State	58								1	Hillsdale	61
											3	West Liberty	78
						2	Charleston (WV)	63
	3	West Liberty	94			3	West Liberty	82
	6	Malone	89

Central Regional

• Site: Aberdeen, South Dakota (Northern State)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	Northern State	77
	4	Wayne State (NE)	72			5	MSU Moorhead	65
	5	MSU Moorhead	84								1	Northern State	86
											2	NW Missouri State	91*
						2	NW Missouri State	85
	3	Washburn	72			3	Washburn	44
	6	Missouri Western	46

East Regional

• Site: Albany, New York (Saint Rose)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	St. Thomas Aquinas	95
	4	Dominican (NY)	62			5	Caldwell	72
	5	Caldwell	65								1	St. Thomas Aquinas	70
											2	Daemen	71
						2	Daemen	81
	3	Bloomfield	71			3	Bloomfield	69
	6	Nyack	58

Midwest Regional

• Site: Evansville, Indiana (Southern Indiana)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	Truman	82
	4	Wayne State (MI)	61			5	Ashland	63
	5	Ashland	76								1	Truman	65
											2	Michigan Tech	62
						2	Michigan Tech	81
	3	Southern Indiana	62			3	Southern Indiana	69
	6	Lewis	60

South Regional

• Site: Valdosta, Georgia (Valdosta State)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	Flagler	69
	4	Valdosta State	75			5	West Georgia	53
	5	West Georgia	79								1	Flagler	89
											2	Alabama Huntsville	75
						2	Alabama Huntsville	73
	3	Lee	72			3	Lee	66
	6	Georgia Southwestern	69

Southeast Regional

• Site: Harrogate, Tennessee (Lincoln Memorial)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	Belmont Abbey	53
	4	Emmanuel	80			4	Emmanuel	76
	5	Queens (NC)	78								4	Emmanuel	67
											2	Lincoln Memorial	103
						2	Lincoln Memorial	80
	3	Carson-Newman	63			6	Tusculum	66
	6	Tusculum	65*

South Central Regional

• Site: Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock Christian)

	First round March 13, 2021					Regional semifinals March 14, 2021					Regional Finals March 16, 2021
						1	West Texas A&M	82
	4	Southern Arkansas	61			5	Dallas Baptist	65
	5	Dallas Baptist	83								1	West Texas A&M	101
											2	Lubbock Christian	92
						2	Lubbock Christian	79
	3	Arkansas–Monticello	57			6	Oklahoma Baptist	55
	6	Oklahoma Baptist	76

West Regional

• Site: Golden, Colorado (Colorado Mines)

	First round March 12, 2021					Regional semifinals March 13, 2021					Regional Finals March 15, 2021
						1	Colorado Mesa	54
	4	Point Loma	73			5	Northwest Nazarene	74
	5	Northwest Nazarene	85								5	Northwest Nazarene	52
											2	Colorado Mines	84
						2	Colorado Mines	83
	3	Biola	76			3	Biola	52
	6	Fresno Pacific	74

Elite Eight

• Site: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana

	Elite Eight March 24, 2021					Final Four March 25, 2021					National championship March 27, 2021
	1	West Texas A&M	97
	8	Daemen	83
						1	West Texas A&M	87
						4	Lincoln Memorial	86
	5	Colorado Mines	76
	4	Lincoln Memorial	90
											1	West Texas A&M	54
											2	NW Missouri State	80
	3	Flagler	70
	6	Truman	69
						2	NW Missouri State	77
						3	Flagler	46
	7	West Liberty	77
	2	NW Missouri State	98

See also

• 2021 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament
• 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 2021 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament

References