2023 ASUN men's basketball tournament

The 2023 ASUN men's basketball tournament was the conference postseason tournament for the ASUN Conference. The tournament was the 44th year the league has conducted a postseason tournament. The tournament was held February 27–March 5 at campus sites of the higher seeds. The winner, Kennesaw State, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

2022–23 ASUN men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
Kennesaw State †15–3 .83326–9  .743
Liberty15–3 .83327–9  .750
Eastern Kentucky12–6 .66723–14  .622
Stetson12–6 .66717–14  .548
Lipscomb11–7 .61120–13  .606
North Alabama10–8 .55618–15  .545
North Florida9–9 .50014–17  .452
Bellarmine*9–9 .50015–18  .455
Queens*7–11 .38918–15  .545
Florida Gulf Coast7–11 .38917–15  .531
Jacksonville6–12 .33313–16  .448
Jacksonville State6–12 .33313–18  .419
Central Arkansas4–14 .2229–22  .290
Austin Peay3–15 .1679–22  .290
* ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
† 2023 ASUN Tournament winner

2023 ASUN men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2022–23
Teams10
SiteCampus sites
ChampionsKennesaw State (1st title)
Winning coachAmir Abdur-Rahim (1st title)
MVPTerrell Burden (Kennesaw State)
Attendance22,217
TelevisionESPN+, ESPN2

Seeds

Ten teams contested the bracket. The tournament had a new format in 2023, as all rounds were reseeded instead of a traditional set bracket. To that end, the 9 and 10 seeds played each other in round 1, and the 7 and 8 seed did as well, rather than the traditional 7/10 and 8/9 matchup.[1]

The two tiebreakers were used by the ASUN are: 1) head-to-head record of teams with identical records and 2) NCAA NET Rankings available on day following the conclusion of ASUN regular season play.

If a team that is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament wins the ASUN Tournament, the conference's automatic bid goes to the regular-season champion. In the case of a tie for first place, the automatic bid goes to the tied team that advances furthest in the conference tournament. If all tied teams are eliminated in the same round of the tournament, the automatic bid goes to the highest seeded team in accordance with the conference's tiebreaking procedures.[2]

Seed School Conference Head-to-Head NET ranking[3]
(February 25, 2023)
1 Kennesaw State 15–3 1–0 vs. Liberty 121
2 Liberty 15–3 0–1 vs. KSU 42
3 Eastern Kentucky 12–6 1–0 vs. Stetson 181
4 Stetson 12–6 0–1 vs. EKU 152
5 Lipscomb 11–7 161
6 North Alabama 10–8 229
7 North Florida 9–9 1–0 vs. Bell. 226
8 Bellarmine 9–9 0–1 vs. UNF 266
9 Queens 7–11 1–0 vs. FGCU 210
10 Florida Gulf Coast 7–11 0–1 vs. Queens 174
DNQ Jacksonville 6–12 2–0 vs. Jvl. St. 237
DNQ Jacksonville State 6–12 0–2 vs. Jax. 239
DNQ Central Arkansas 4–14 335
DNQ Austin Peay 3–15 328

Schedule
Game Time [4] Matchup[5] Score Television
First round – Monday, February 27 – KSU Convocation Center & Liberty Arena
1 6:00 pm No. 10 Florida Gulf Coast vs. No. 9 Queens 55–61 ESPN+
2 6:00 pm No. 8 Bellarmine vs. No. 7 North Florida 76–74
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, February 28 – Campus Sites
3 6:00 pm No. 9 Queens at No. 1 Kennesaw State 66–67 ESPN+
4 6:00 pm No. 5 Lipscomb at No. 4 Stetson 83–70
5 6:00 pm No. 8 Bellarmine at No. 2 Liberty 56–76
6 6:00 pm No. 6 North Alabama at No. 3 Eastern Kentucky 48–73
Semifinals – Thursday, March 2 – Campus Sites
7 6:00 pm No. 5 Lipscomb at No. 1 Kennesaw State 71–80 ESPN+
8 6:00 pm No. 3 Eastern Kentucky at No. 2 Liberty 73–79
Championship – Sunday, March 5 – Campus Site
9 2:00 pm No. 2 Liberty at No. 1 Kennesaw State 66–67 ESPN2
Game times in CT. Rankings denote tournament seed

Bracket
First round
Monday, February 27 		Quarterfinals
Tuesday, February 28 		Semifinals
Thursday, March 2 		Championship
Sunday, March 5
1 Kennesaw State 67
9 Queens 61 9 Queens 66
10 Florida Gulf Coast 55 1 Kennesaw State 80
5 Lipscomb 71
4 Stetson 70
5 Lipscomb 83
1 Kennesaw State 67
2 Liberty 66
2 Liberty 76
7 North Florida 74 8 Bellarmine 56
8 Bellarmine 76 2 Liberty 79
3 Eastern Kentucky 73
3 Eastern Kentucky 73
6 North Alabama 48

Game summaries

First round
February 27
6:00 p.m.
No. 10 Florida Gulf Coast 55, No. 9 Queens 61
Scoring by half: 33–35, 22–26
Pts: C. Johnston (24)
Rebs: Z. Anderson (6)
Asts: C. Catto (6)		 Pts: Tied (12)
Rebs: J. Turner (18)
Asts: Tied (3)
ESPN+
February 27
6:00 p.m.
No. 8 Bellarmine 76, No. 7 North Florida 74
Scoring by half: 37–38, 39–36
Pts: B. Johnson (26)
Rebs: L. Hatton (8)
Asts: P. Suder (5)		 Pts: J. Hicklen (25)
Rebs: C. Lanier (5)
Asts: J. Placer (7)

Quarterfinals
ESPN+
February 28
6:00 p.m.
No. 9 Queens 66, No. 1 Kennesaw State 67
Scoring by half: 29–26, 37–41
Pts: Tied (13)
Rebs: J. Turner (9)
Asts: Tied (3)		 Pts: D. Robinson (22)
Rebs: C. Youngblood (7)
Asts: S. Rodgers (5)
KSU Convocation Center
Kennesaw, GA
Attendance: 2,322
ESPN+
February 28
6:00 p.m.
No. 5 Lipscomb 83, No. 4 Stetson 70
Scoring by half: 35–33, 48–37
Pts: J. Ognacevic (22)
Rebs: Tied (7)
Asts: Q. Clark (9)		 Pts: J. Blackmon (33)
Rebs: J. Smith (10)
Asts: S. Swenson (4)
ESPN+
February 28
6:00 p.m.
No. 8 Bellarmine 56, No. 2 Liberty 76
Scoring by half: 31–48, 25–28
Pts: A. Pfriem (13)
Rebs: J. Betz (6)
Asts: P. Suder (3)		 Pts: D. McGhee (29)
Rebs: Z. Cleveland (8)
Asts: D. McGhee (6)
Liberty Arena
Lynchburg, VA
Attendance: 3,407
ESPN+
February 28
6:00 p.m.
No. 6 North Alabama 48, No. 3 Eastern Kentucky 73
Scoring by half: 19–37, 29–36
Pts: D. Ortiz (22)
Rebs: D. Ortiz (5)
Asts: J. Lane (2)		 Pts: D. Blanton (15)
Rebs: J. Ukomadu (9)
Asts: L. Walker (7)

Semifinals
ESPN+
March 2
6:00 p.m.
No. 5 Lipscomb 71, No. 1 Kennesaw State 80
Scoring by half: 28–38, 43–42
Pts: J. Ognacevic (26)
Rebs: W. Pruitt (9)
Asts: Q. Clark (4)		 Pts: T. Burden (20)
Rebs: B. Stroud (9)
Asts: T Burden (7)
KSU Convocation Center
Kennesaw, GA
Attendance: 3,137
ESPN+
March 2
6:00 p.m.
No. 3 Eastern Kentucky 73, No. 2 Liberty 79
Scoring by half: 36–34, 37–45
Pts: D. Blanton (23)
Rebs: D. Blanton (9)
Asts: T. Comer (4)		 Pts: D. McGhee (29)
Rebs: J. Venzant (7)
Asts: D. McGhee (4)
Liberty Arena
Lynchburg, VA
Attendance: 4,043

Final
March 5
2:00 p.m.
No. 2 Liberty 66, No. 1 Kennesaw State 67
Scoring by half: 29–27, 37–40
Pts: K. Rode (23)
Rebs: Z. Cleveland (7)
Asts: C. Porter (4)		 Pts: T. Burden (19)
Rebs: D. Robinson (11)
Asts: T. Burden (3)
KSU Convocation Center
Kennesaw, GA
Attendance: 3,805

References
  1. https://asunsports.org/sports/mbkb/championship/2022-23/MBB_Bracket_-_2023.pdf
  2. "2023 ASUN Tournament". Hoops HD. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  3. "NCAA Men's Basketball NET Rankings Through Games Feb. 24 2023". National Collegiate Athletic Association. February 25, 2023. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  4. "2023 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship".
  5. "ASUN Conference" (PDF). ASUN Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.