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.

2023 ASUN men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2022–23
Teams	10
Site	Campus sites
Champions	Kennesaw State (1st title)
Winning coach	Amir Abdur-Rahim (1st title)
MVP	Terrell Burden (Kennesaw State)
Attendance	22,217
Television	ESPN+, ESPN2
ASUN men's basketball tournaments ← 2022 2024 →

2022–23 ASUN men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Kennesaw State †	15	–	3		.833			26	–	9		.743
Liberty	15	–	3		.833			27	–	9		.750
Eastern Kentucky	12	–	6		.667			23	–	14		.622
Stetson	12	–	6		.667			17	–	14		.548
Lipscomb	11	–	7		.611			20	–	13		.606
North Alabama	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
North Florida	9	–	9		.500			14	–	17		.452
Bellarmine*	9	–	9		.500			15	–	18		.455
Queens*	7	–	11		.389			18	–	15		.545
Florida Gulf Coast	7	–	11		.389			17	–	15		.531
Jacksonville	6	–	12		.333			13	–	16		.448
Jacksonville State	6	–	12		.333			13	–	18		.419
Central Arkansas	4	–	14		.222			9	–	22		.290
Austin Peay	3	–	15		.167			9	–	22		.290
* ineligible for the 2023 NCAA tournament due to transition from Division II
† 2023 ASUN Tournament winner

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

ESPN+

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)

KSU Convocation Center Kennesaw, GA Attendance: 123

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)

Liberty Arena Lynchburg, VA Attendance: 135

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)

Edmunds Center DeLand, FL Attendance: 671

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)

Baptist Health Arena Richmond, KY Attendance: 4,574

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

ESPN2

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. . 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.