2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament

Last updated

2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament
Classification Division I
Season 201415
Teams8
Sitecampus sites
Finals site UNF Arena
Jacksonville, Florida
Champions North Florida (1st title)
Winning coach Matthew Driscoll (1st title)
MVP Demarcus Daniels (North Florida)
  2014
2016  
2014–15 Atlantic Sun men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
North Florida122 .8572312  .657
Florida Gulf Coast 113 .7862211  .667
USC Upstate 86 .5712412  .667
Lipscomb 77 .5001417  .452
Northern Kentucky*77 .5001317  .433
Jacksonville 410 .2861022  .313
Kennesaw State 410 .2861022  .313
Stetson 311 .214922  .290
*NKU was eligible for A-Sun Tourney, but not for postseason play due to Div. I transition
2015 Atlantic Sun Tournament winner

The 2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament was the 37th edition of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. It took place from March 3 through March 8, 2015 on campus sites with the higher-seeded school hosting each game throughout the championship. The North Florida Ospreys won their first Atlantic Sun Tournament championship, earning an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Contents

Format

The A-Sun Championship was a six-day single-elimination tournament. Eight teams competed in the championship. [1] On July 22, 2014, the A-Sun announced Northern Kentucky will be eligible for all conference postseason championships for which their teams qualify starting with the upcoming 2014-15 academic year, as part of their transition to Division I from Division II. The Norse must still complete the four-year reclassification period before becoming eligible for NCAA Championships. The change in A-Sun policy arose after NCAA clarification that a conference may set specific criteria allowing its highest ranked finisher to be the AQ recipient if a non-eligible team were to participate and win the conference postseason tournament. Prior policy had determined that the conference would lose its AQ if an ineligible team won the tournament. [2] However, that potential scenario did not happen, as the Norse lost their first-round game to Lipscomb by a score of 76-73. This proved to be Northern Kentucky's only A-Sun tournament game ever, as the school would move to the Horizon League effective with the 2015–16 school year.

East Tennessee State, along with defending champion Mercer, did not participate in the tournament after moving to the Southern Conference.

With ETSU and Mercer no longer in the A-Sun and FGCU eliminated in the semifinals, the tournament winner of the championship game between USC Upstate and North Florida was assured of making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. North Florida would represent the A-Sun with a 63–57 win.

Seeds

SeedSchoolConferenceOverallTiebreaker
1 North Florida 12–220–11
2 Florida Gulf Coast 11–321–9
3 USC Upstate 8–621–10
4 Northern Kentucky 7–713–161–1 vs. Lipscomb, 0–2 vs. UNF, 0–2 vs. FGCU, 2–0 vs. USC Upstate
5 Lipscomb 7–713–161–1 vs. NKU, 0–2 vs. UNF, 0–2 vs. FGCU, 1–1 vs. USC Upstate
6 Kennesaw State 4–1010–212–0 vs. Jacksonville
7 Jacksonville 4–1010–210–2 vs. Kennesaw State
8 Stetson 3–119–21
Overall records are as of the end of the regular season.

Schedule

TimeMatchupFinal scoreTelevision
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 3
7:30 pm#8 Stetson @ #1 North Florida67–81 ESPN3
7 pm#5 Lipscomb @ #4 Northern Kentucky76–73(OT)ESPN3
7 pm#6 Kennesaw State @ #3 USC Upstate54–90ESPN3
7 pm#7 Jacksonville @ #2 Florida Gulf Coast63–81ESPN3
Semifinals – Thursday, March 5
7 pm#5 Lipscomb @ #1 North Florida57–71ESPN3
7 pm#3 USC Upstate @ #2 Florida Gulf Coast63–62ESPN3
Final – Sunday, March 8
2:30 pm#3 USC Upstate @ #1 North Florida57–63 ESPN2
All times ET
#-Tournament seed

Bracket

Quarterfinals
March 3
ESPN3
Semifinals
March 5
ESPN3
Championship
March 8
ESPN2
         
1 North Florida 81
8 Stetson 67
1 North Florida71
5 Lipscomb 57
4 Northern Kentucky 73
5 Lipscomb 76OT
1 North Florida63
3 USC Upstate 57
2 Florida Gulf Coast 81
7 Jacksonville 63
2 Florida Gulf Coast 62
3 USC Upstate63
3 USC Upstate 90
6 Kennesaw State 54

See also

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References

  1. "Championship Format". Atlantic Sun. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  2. "NKU Eligible for A-Sun Championships in 2014-15 Season". Atlantic Sun. Retrieved December 20, 2014.