2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament
The 2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament was the conference postseason tournament for the ASUN Conference. The tournament was the 42nd year the league has conducted a postseason tournament. The tournament was held March 4–7, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. Quarterfinals were played at both Swisher Gymnasium and UNF Arena, while the semifinals and finals were held solely at UNF Arena. The eligible winner received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1]
| 2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2020–21 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | UNF Arena & Swisher Gymnasium Jacksonville, FL |
| Champions | Liberty (3rd title) |
| Winning coach | Ritchie McKay (3rd title) |
| MVP | Darius McGhee (Liberty) |
| Television | ESPN, ESPN+ |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liberty † | 11 | – | 2 | .846 | 23 | – | 6 | .793 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bellarmine * | 10 | – | 3 | .769 | 14 | – | 8 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lipscomb | 9 | – | 6 | .600 | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Florida | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 8 | – | 15 | .348 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Alabama * | 7 | – | 8 | .467 | 13 | – | 11 | .542 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Gulf Coast | 4 | – | 5 | .444 | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stetson | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jacksonville | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 11 | – | 13 | .458 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kennesaw State | 2 | – | 13 | .133 | 5 | – | 19 | .208 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period Jacksonville suspended their season on February 26, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2021 ASUN Tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When No. 5 seeded North Alabama defeated No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast in the second semifinal game, Liberty was awarded the ASUN automatic bid to the NCAA tournament since North Alabama is ineligible as a team transitioning to Division I.
Seeds
All of the teams, except for Jacksonville, in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. Jacksonville cancelled their season after going 11–13, so they did not compete in the conference tournament. The teams were seeded by their record in conference play, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
The two tiebreakers used by the ASUN are: 1) head-to-head record of teams with identical record and 2) NCAA NET Rankings available on day following the conclusion of ASUN regular season play.[2]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liberty | 11–2 | |
| 2 | Bellarmine | 10–3 | |
| 3 | Lipscomb | 9–5 | |
| 4 | North Florida | 6–6 | |
| 5 | North Alabama | 7–8 | |
| 6 | Florida Gulf Coast | 4–5 | |
| 7 | Stetson | 7–9 | |
| 8 | Kennesaw State | 2–13 |
Schedule
| Game | Time [3] | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 4 | |||||
| 1 | 2:00 pm | No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 8 Kennesaw State | 69–59 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 2:00 pm | No. 4 North Florida vs. No. 5 North Alabama | 60–68 | ||
| 3 | 7:00 pm | No. 3 Lipscomb vs. No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast | 60–72 | ||
| 4 | 7:00 pm | No. 2 Bellarmine vs. No. 7 Stetson | 70–73 | ||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 5 | |||||
| 5 | 2:00 pm | No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 7 Stetson | 77–64 | ESPN+ | |
| 6 | 7:00 pm | No. 5 North Alabama vs No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast | 96–81 | ||
| Championship – Sunday, March 7 | |||||
| 7 | 2:00 pm | No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 5 North Alabama | 79–75 | ESPN | |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||
Bracket
Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals
| Quarterfinals March 4 ESPN+ | Semifinals March 5 ESPN+ | Championship March 7 ESPN | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Liberty | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Kennesaw State | 59 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Liberty | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Stetson | 64 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Bellarmine | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Stetson | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Liberty | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | North Alabama | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | North Florida | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | North Alabama | 68 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | North Alabama | 96 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Florida Gulf Coast | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Lipscomb | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Florida Gulf Coast | 72 | ||||||||||||
References
- "2021 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship". ASUN Conference. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- "2020 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship".
- "2021 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship" (PDF). ASUN Conference. Retrieved February 27, 2021.