The Holy Cross men's basketball team will begin the 2020-21 campaign with a pair of games against Boston University. The Crusaders and the Terriers will meet in Worcester on Monday, Jan. 4, at 2:00 p.m., and then play in Boston on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at 2:00 p.m. Both contests will be shown live by the Patriot League on ESPN+.

The Crusaders are entering their second year under new head coach Brett Nelson, and have a new-look roster featuring five returnees and eight incoming players. Even though only five players are back, three of those individuals are returning starters who accounted for 38.5 percent of the Crusaders' offensive production last season, and have combined for 147 career games started. Senior guard Austin Butler looks to lead the way after averaging 11.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists a year ago. Senior forward Matt Faw added 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and a Patriot League-best 1.4 blocked shots per game in 2019-20, while sophomore guard Ryan Wade chipped in with 5.7 points and 1.9 boards per contest.

Boston University is coming off a 2019-20 season in which it went 21-13 overall and 12-6 in the conference, while winning the Patriot League Tournament title. The Terriers will be led by junior forward Walter Whyte, who averaged 13.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game last season while earning second team All-Patriot League honors. Senior guard Javante McCoy (12.2 points, 3.4 assists per game), junior guard Jonas Harper (7.2 points, 2.2 rebounds per game) and senior center Sukhmail Mathon (4.6 points, 4.7 rebounds per game) also return to Boston University's starting lineup. 

After the series with Boston University, Holy Cross will play a pair of games against Army West Point on Saturday, Jan. 9 (home) and Sunday, Jan. 10 (away).