| The Basketball Tournament | |
| Year: | 2020 |
| Location: | Nationwide Arena Columbus, Ohio |
| Start Date: | July 4 |
| End Date: | July 14, 2020 |
| Tournament Format: | Single elimination |
| Participants: | 24 |
| Stat1 Label: | Games played |
| Stat1: | 22 (plus one walkover) |
| Purse: | Championship: US$1,000,000 winner-take-all |
| Champions: | Golden Eagles |
| Runner-Up1: | Sideline Cancer |
| Mvp: | Darius Johnson-Odom |
| Top Scorer: | Marcus Keene (86 pts)[1] |
| Previous: | 2019 |
| Next: | 2021 |
The Basketball Tournament 2020 was the seventh edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament. The tournament, involving 24 teams, started on July 4 and continued through the championship game on July 14, with all games held at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The winner of the final, Golden Eagles, received a $1 million prize.
Initial plans for TBT 2020 called for a field of 64 teams, organized into eight regions of 8 teams, all of which would be seeded. Each regional in the 2019 edition was hosted by a competing team, with the winner of each regional received a prize equal to 25% of that region's ticket proceeds,[2] although it was unclear whether this procedure was slated to continue in 2020. The open entry period was set as March 15 to June 15.[3]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced on June 11 that the start of the event would be moved up to July 4 in a modified form, with the entire tournament taking place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and downsized to 24 teams with a $1,000,000 purse. It marked the first televised basketball event held in the United States since the onset of the pandemic and the suspension of all U.S. professional sports in mid-March, as the NBA did not plan to resume its 2019–20 season until July 31 (with all games hosted by the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida).[4] TBT 2020 organizers put extensive quarantine and testing protocols in place, including the immediate disqualification of any team that had a player test positive. Games were broadcast via ESPN networks (with ESPN having also announced a renewal of its media rights to the tournament), and closed to the public. State governor Mike DeWine considered the event "another step forward in our state's efforts to responsibly restart Ohio".[5]
As with previous years, all tournament games operated with the "Elam Ending", a format of ending the game without the use of a game clock. Under the Elam Ending, the clock is turned off at the first dead-ball whistle with under four minutes to play in the game. At that time, a target score, equal to the score of the leading team plus eight, is set, and the first team to reach this target score is declared the winner of the game.[6] Thus, all games end on a made basket (field goal or free throw) and there is no overtime.
Multiple teams in the tournament were expected to be comprised mostly or exclusively of alumni of a particular school, program, or a group of closely related schools. As early as October 2019, Florida State had announced plans to enter a team, and St. Bonaventure and Virginia Tech had also announced the same by the end of 2019. [7] In January 2020, Purdue also announced plans to enter a team.[8] By the end of February 2020, Alabama, Illinois, Marshall, Maryland, Oklahoma State, and Virginia had also announced plans to enter TBT 2020.[9] The status of defending champion Carmen's Crew (Ohio State) was initially uncertain; the team did officially enter by early March.[10] Other alumni teams confirmed included Syracuse,[11] West Virginia,[12] and Wichita State.[13] Additionally, Luke Hancock announced that he was exploring entering a Louisville alumni team.[7]
Ultimately, alumni teams from Clemson, Dayton, Illinois, Marquette, Marshall, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Syracuse, and West Virginia were entered, along with teams representing the Big Ten and Mid-American (MAC) conferences. The remaining fifteen teams were not associated with a specific school or conference. The teams representing West Virginia and the MAC would later withdraw, due to each having a player test positive for COVID-19.
The tournament bracket was released on June 16, 2020.[14]
Key:
| Seed | Team | School/program | Origins of name | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 1 | Carmen's Crew | Ohio State Buckeyes | School song "Carmen Ohio" | |
| align=center | 2 | Overseas Elite | "a collection of stars who play hoops at basketball outposts around the world"[15] | ||
| align=center | 3 | Boeheim's Army | Syracuse Orange | Current Syracuse men's basketball head coach Jim Boeheim | |
| align=center | 4 | Golden Eagles | Marquette Golden Eagles | School nickname | |
| align=center | 5 | Eberlein Drive | Street in Fraser, Michigan that co-GM Jacob Hirschmann grew up on | ||
| align=center | 6 | Team Challenge ALS | Supporting measures to help in cure of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease | ||
| align=center | 7 | The Money Team | Nickname of American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., who is supporting the team | ||
| align=center | 8 | Red Scare | Dayton Flyers | Name given to the Dayton student section at home basketball games | |
| align=center | 9 | Big X | Big Ten Conference, in which most of the team's players played | ||
| align=center | 10 | Peoria All-Stars | City of Peoria, Illinois | ||
| align=center | 11 | Team Hines | American basketball players Tyler and Kyle Hines, who are the team's head coach and booster, respectively | ||
| align=center | 12 | Brotherly Love | City of Philadelphia, known as the "City of Brotherly Love" | ||
| align=center | 13 | Team CP3 | American basketball player Chris Paul, who is serving as the team's GM | ||
| align=center | 14 | HEARTFIRE | Arizona nonprofit HeartFire Missions, a mission trip provider | ||
| align=center | 15 | Armored Athlete | |||
| align=center | 16 | House of 'Paign | Illinois Fighting Illini | Champaign, Illinois—the Illinois campus is divided between that city and neighboring Urbana | |
| align=center | 17 | War Tampa | Variation of Auburn's battle cry, "War Eagle" (players are from Auburn and the state of Florida) | ||
| align=center | 18 | Power of the Paw | Clemson Tigers | Reference to school's nickname, the Tigers, and main athletic mark, a tiger paw | |
| align=center | 19 | Men of Mackey | Purdue Boilermakers | Mackey Arena, Purdue's home basketball arena | |
| align=center | 20 | PrimeTime Players | |||
| align=center | 21 | Stillwater Stars | Oklahoma State Cowboys | Stillwater, Oklahoma, the location of Oklahoma State University | |
| align=center | 22 | Sideline Cancer | Supporting measures to help in cure of cancer | ||
| align=center | 23 | Herd That | Marshall Thundering Herd | Short version of school nickname | |
| align=center | 24 | D2 | NCAA Division II, the division in which the schools attended by the players compete |
Tournament organizers announced that any team that had a player test positive for COVID-19 would be immediately disqualified and removed from the tournament.[16] Five teams had positive tests; all five were removed before playing in the tournament. Four of the teams were replaced, with the final removal, that of Eberlein Drive, resulting in another team being awarded a walkover.
See main article: The Basketball Tournament 2020 squads.
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round of 24 | ||||||
| Saturday, July 4 | 1 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 9 Big X vs. No. 24 D2 | ESPN | 79–74 | |
| 2 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 12 Brotherly Love vs. No. 21 Stillwater Stars | 87–71 | |||
| 3 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 16 House of 'Paign vs. No. 17 War Tampa | 76–53 | |||
| 4 | 10:00 p.m. | No. 13 Team CP3 vs. No. 20 PrimeTime Players | 76–74 | |||
| Sunday, July 5 | 5 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 10 Peoria All-Stars vs. No. 23 Herd That | 65–80 | ||
| 6 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 11 Team Hines vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer | 91–93 | |||
| 7 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 14 HEARTFIRE vs. No. 19 Men of Mackey | ESPN2 | 79–85 | ||
| 8 | 9:00 p.m. | No. 15 Armored Athlete vs. No. 18 Power of the Paw | 98–91 | |||
| Round of 16 | ||||||
| Monday, July 6 | 9 | No. 5 Eberlein Drive vs. No. 12 Brotherly Love | ESPN | w/o | ||
| 10 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 Golden Eagles vs. No. 13 Team CP3 | 76–67 | |||
| Tuesday, July 7 | 11 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 6 Team Challenge ALS vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer | 66–76 | ||
| 12 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 3 Boeheim's Army vs. No. 19 Men of Mackey | 76–69 | |||
| Wednesday, July 8 | 13 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 8 Red Scare vs. No. 9 Big X | 77–68 | ||
| 14 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 1 Carmen's Crew vs. No. 16 House of 'Paign | 68–76 | |||
| Thursday, July 9 | 15 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 7 The Money Team vs. No. 23 Herd That | 99–102 | ||
| 16 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 2 Overseas Elite vs. No. 15 Armored Athlete | 76–70 | |||
| Quarterfinals | ||||||
| Friday, July 10 | 17 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 4 Golden Eagles vs. No. 12 Brotherly Love | ESPN | 83–76 | |
| 18 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 8 Red Scare vs. No. 16 House of 'Paign | 83–76 | |||
| Saturday, July 11 | 19 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 2 Overseas Elite vs. No. 23 Herd That | 93–76 | ||
| 20 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 3 Boeheim's Army vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer | 48–65 | |||
| Semifinals | ||||||
| Sunday, July 12 | 21 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 4 Golden Eagles vs. No. 8 Red Scare | ESPN | 79–70 | |
| 22 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 2 Overseas Elite vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer | 65–67 | |||
| Championship Game | ||||||
| Tuesday, July 14 | 23 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 Golden Eagles vs. No. 22 Sideline Cancer | ESPN | 78–73 | |
Statistics for the title game are below.[21] [22] The championship basket (reaching the Elam Ending target score) was made by Travis Diener.[23]
| No | Uniform number | ||
| Starting lineup | |||
| Pos | Position | ||
| bgcolor=lightgrey | led team in category |
| Pts | Points scored | |
| Reb | Rebounds | |
| Ast | Assists | |
| Min | Minutes played |
Coach: Joe Chapman
| No. | Pos | Player | Pts | Reb | Ast | Min | College | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0* | SF | bgcolor=lightgrey | 16 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 5 | 0 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 29 | Marquette | |
| 1 | PG | 15 | 0 | 3 | 21 | Marquette | ||||
| 3* | SG | 15 | 3 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 5 | 26 | Marquette | |||
| 4* | PG | 6 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 5 | 3 | 18 | Marquette | |||
| 5* | SF | 15 | 4 | 1 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 29 | Oregon | |||
| 11 | SF | Jarvis Williams | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | Minnesota State | |||
| 12* | PG | Derrick Wilson | 1 | 4 | 1 | 14 | Marquette | |||
| 22 | SF | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | Nevada | ||||
| 24 | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Marquette | ||||
| 34 | SG | 3 | 1 | 3 | 19 | Marquette |
Coach: Charles Parker
Asst: Jordan Griffith
| No. | Pos | Player | Pts | Reb | Ast | Min ! | College | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1* | SG | bgcolor=lightgrey | 20 | 4 | 0 | 34 | George Washington | ||
| 2* | SF | 17 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 6 | 2 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 35 | Pittsburgh | |
| 3* | PG | 6 | 5 | bgcolor=lightgrey | 4 | 32 | Central Michigan | ||
| 4 | SG | Four McGlynn | 4 | 3 | 1 | 9 | Towson | ||
| 5* | C | 7 | 4 | 2 | 30 | Pacific | |||
| 10 | SG | Remy Abell | 14 | 3 | 3 | 30 | Xavier | ||
| 12 | SF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | East Stroudsburg | |||
| 23* | SF | Dion Wright | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | St. Bonaventure |
| Pos | Player | Team | PPG--> | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG | bgcolor=yellow | Darius Johnson-Odom (MVP) | Golden Eagles | |
| SF | Golden Eagles | |||
| PG | Sideline Cancer | |||
| SF | Overseas Elite | |||
| SG | Red Scare | |||
| bgcolor=lightgray | GM | Sideline Cancer | ||
| bgcolor=lightgray | Coach | Joe Chapman | Golden Eagles |