# UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament

The UAAP Season 84 men's basketball tournament is the basketball event of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines for its 2021–22 school year. This was the first tournament since 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Philippines. The women's, boys' and girls' basketball tournaments were not held this season, also due to the pandemic.

## Tournament format

The usual UAAP tournament format for tournaments having all eight teams was followed:
* Double round eliminations; top four teams advance to the playoffs
** If there is a tie for second or fourth, a one-game playoff will be held
* If a team wins all elimination round games:
** #1 seed advance to the finals outright
** #2 seed advance to the second round of the stepladder semifinals with the twice-to-beat advantage; winner advances to the finals
** #3 and #4 seeds advance to the first round of the stepladder semifinals in a one-game playoff; winner advances to the second round
* If no team wins all elimination round games:
** #1 seed with the twice-to-beat advantage vs #4 seed in the semifinals
** #2 seed with the twice-to-beat advantage vs #3 seed in the semifinals
* The finals is a best-of-three series.

## Teams

All eight universities are participating.
| Team | University | Men's coach |
| Adamson Soaring Falcons | Adamson University (AdU) | Nash Racela |
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) | Tab Baldwin |
| De La Salle Green Archers | De La Salle University (DLSU) | Derrick Pumaren |
| FEU Tamaraws | Far Eastern University (FEU) | Olsen Racela |
| NU Bulldogs | National University (NU) | Jeff Napa |
| UE Red Warriors | University of the East (UE) | Jack Santiago |
| UP Fighting Maroons | University of the Philippines Diliman (UP) | Goldwin Monteverde |
| UST Growling Tigers | University of Santo Tomas (UST) | Jino Manansala |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date | Replaced by | Date |
| NU Bulldogs | Jamike Jarin | Resignation | October 30, 2019 | Goldwin Monteverde | May 2020 |
| UE Red Warriors | Bong Tan | Death | November 11, 2019 | Jack Santiago | January 20, 2020 |
| De La Salle Green Archers | Gian Nazario | End of interim term | January 1, 2020 | Derrick Pumaren | January 1, 2020 |
| NU Bulldogs | Goldwin Monteverde | Resignation | August 17, 2020 | Jeff Napa | October 9, 2020 |
| UST Growling Tigers | Aldin Ayo | Resignation | September 5, 2020 | Jino Manansala | October 8, 2020 |
| Adamson Soaring Falcons | Franz Pumaren | Resignation | February 16, 2021 | Nash Racela | December 1, 2021 |
| UP Fighting Maroons | Bo Perasol | Resignation | July 14, 2021 | Goldwin Monteverde | August 13, 2021 |

## Venue

The SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay hosted the opening ceremonies and all the games. All games were held behind closed doors in a full bubble setup during the first four playing dates of the first round, meaning no fans were allowed inside the playing venue. However, on April 5, 2022, which was the fifth playing date of the basketball tournament, the UAAP allowed fans in a limited capacity to watch live at the Mall of Asia Arena.

## Squads

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, teams were permitted to have 20 players in their rosters instead of the previous 16. The four additional players can be tapped only for COVID-related reasons.

### Imports

Each UAAP team can have one foreigner player, or an import, termed as "foreign student-athletes (FSA)" by the UAAP in the 16-man lineup, but can have as many in their reserve list.
With Ange Kouame's then impending naturalization, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said that they are not planning to get another FSA to replace Koaume's FSA slot on the roster.
| Team | Import | Nationality |
| Adamson Soaring Falcons | Lenda Douanga | Congo |
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | Ange Kouame | Ivory Coast |
| De La Salle Green Archers | Bright Nwankwo | Nigeria |
| FEU Tamaraws | Emman Ojuola | Nigeria |
| NU Bulldogs | Issa Gaye | Senegal |
| UE Red Warriors | none | none |
| UP Fighting Maroons | Malick Diouf | Senegal |
| UST Growling Tigers | none | none |
* ↑ Kouame was naturalized as a Filipino citizen on 2021.

## Elimination round
### Team standings

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Ateneo Blue Eagles | 13 | 1 | .929 | — | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 2 | UP Fighting Maroons | 12 | 2 | .857 | 1 | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 3 | De La Salle Green Archers (H) | 9 | 5 | .643 | 4 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 4 | FEU Tamaraws | 7 | 7 | .500 | 6 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 5 | Adamson Soaring Falcons | 6 | 8 | .429 | 7 | |
| 6 | NU Bulldogs | 6 | 8 | .429 | 7 | |
| 7 | UST Growling Tigers | 3 | 11 | .214 | 10 | |
| 8 | UE Red Warriors | 0 | 14 | .000 | 13 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Adamson 1–1 NU (Adamson +5)

### Match-up results

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Team ╲ Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Adamson | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Ateneo | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| La Salle | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| FEU | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| NU | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UP | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| UST | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Scores

Results on top and to the right of the grey cells are for first-round games; those to the bottom and to the left of it are second-round games.
| Teams | AdU | AdMU | DLSU | FEU | NU | UE | UP | UST |
| Adamson Soaring Falcons | | 47–78 | 58–61 | 65–66 | 69–71 | 82–66 | 71–73 | 72–79 |
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | 91–57 | | 74–57 | 79–70 | 74–64 | 94–72 | 90–81 | 91–80 |
| De La Salle Green Archers | 64–51 | 68–75 | | 75–65 | 59–55 | 71–66 | 59–61 | 75–66 |
| FEU Tamaraws | 63–64 | 53–70 | 67–62 | | 68–73 | 88–74 | 76–83 | 76–51 |
| NU Bulldogs | 55–62 | 75–89 | 65–76 | 57–59 | | 77–61 | 70–80 | 81–52 |
| UE Red Warriors | 53–65 | 63–76 | 82–85* | 61–91 | 81–100 | | 66–81 | 62–74 |
| UP Fighting Maroons | 58–66 | 84–83 | 72–69 | 73–70 | 84–76 | 81–68 | | 98–82 |
| UST Growling Tigers | 69–80 | 51–101 | 83–112 | 65–109 | 60–73 | 72–61 | 67–96 | |

## Bracket

| Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) |
| 1 | Ateneo | Ateneo | 85 | | | | | |
| 4 | FEU | FEU | 72 | |
| 4 | FEU | FEU | 72 | 1 | Ateneo | 74 | 69 | 69 |
| | | | | 2 | UP | 81* | 66 | 72* |
| 2 | UP | 80 | 78 | 2 | UP | 81* | 66 | 72* |
| 3 | La Salle | 83 | 74 | |
*Overtime

## Semifinals

UP and Ateneo have the twice-to-beat advantage. They only have to win once, while their opponents, twice, to progress.

### (1) Ateneo vs. (4) FEU

This is the first meeting between Ateneo and FEU in the semifinals since 2018 and seventh overall. Ateneo kept its #1 seed from the last three tournaments, while FEU is on its eighth consecutive playoff appearance.
* TV5
* May 4 6:00 p.m.
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | FEU Tamaraws |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–16, 33–17, 16–15, 20–24 |||
| Pts: BJ Andrade 16 Rebs: Angelo Kouame 18 Asts: Angelo Kouame 8 | Pts: RJ Abarrientos 16 Rebs: Emmanuel Ojuola 14 Asts: L-Jay Gonzales 4 |
| Ateneo wins series in one game |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay

### (2) UP vs. (3) La Salle

This is the first meeting between UP and La Salle in the semifinals (and playoffs stages) in UAAP men's basketball history. UP is on its third straight playoffs appearance, and its second consecutive tournament with the twice-to-beat advantage. La Salle returned to the semifinals for the first time since 2017 after missing out in the past two tournaments.
* One Sports
* May 4 2:00 p.m.
| UP Fighting Maroons | 80–83 | De La Salle Green Archers |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–24, 21–24, 18–18, 25–17 |||
| Pts: Diouf, Rivero 18 each Rebs: Malick Diouf 20 Asts: Joel Cagulangan 6 | | Pts: Evan Nelle 26 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 18 Asts: Evan Nelle 7 |
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay
* TV5
* May 6 6:00 p.m.
| UP Fighting Maroons | De La Salle Green Archers |
| Scoring by quarter: 15–22, 24–22, 12–20, 27–10 |||
| Pts: Carl Tamayo 19 Rebs: Malick Diouf 17 Asts: 3 players, 3 each | Pts: Deschon Winston 26 Rebs: Michael Phillips 17 Asts: Justine Baltazar 4 |
| UP wins series in two games |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay

## Finals

The finals is a best-of-three series. This is the fifth consecutive finals for Ateneo, and since 2018, the second appearance for UP in the Final Four era, and the second Battle of Katipunan finals, named after Katipunan Avenue that runs between the two campuses.
* TV5
* May 8 4:00 p.m.
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | 74–81 (OT) | UP Fighting Maroons |
| Scoring by quarter: 19–17, 12–15, 23–17, 16–21, Overtime: 4–11 |||
| Pts: Angelo Kouame 18 Rebs: Angelo Kouame 11 Asts: Ildefenso, Kouame 4 each | | Pts: Ricci Rivero 19 Rebs: Malick Diouf 15 Asts: Malick Diouf 4 |
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 11,582
* TV5
* May 11 6:00 p.m.
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | 69–66 | UP Fighting Maroons |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 20–12, 12–17, 20–21 |||
| Pts: Kouame, Tio 14 each Rebs: Angelo Kouame 14 Asts: Dave Ildefonso 4 | | Pts: Carl Tamayo 18 Rebs: Malick Diouf 13 Asts: Joel Cagulangan 5 |
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 13,521
* TV5
* May 13 6:00 p.m.
| Ateneo Blue Eagles | UP Fighting Maroons |
| Scoring by quarter: 11–17, 16–14, 20–15, 12–13, Overtime: 10–13 |||
| Pts: SJ Belangel 27 Rebs: Angelo Kouame 14 Asts: Belangel, Kouame 4 each | Pts: Malick Diouf 17 Rebs: Malick Diouf 9 Asts: Carl Tamayo 5 |
| UP wins series 2–1 |||
* SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Attendance: 15,132
* Finals Most Valuable Player: Malick Diouf (UP Fighting Maroons)

## Awards

* UAAP Season 84 men's basketball champions
* UP Fighting Maroons Third title
* Most Valuable Player: Angelo Kouame (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
* Rookie of the Year: Carl Tamayo (UP Fighting Maroons)
* Mythical Team:
** Ange Kouame (Ateneo Blue Eagles)
** Justine Baltazar (De La Salle Green Archers)
** Michael Phillips (De La Salle Green Archers)
** Zavier Lucero (UP Fighting Maroons)
** Carl Tamayo (UP Fighting Maroons)
* PSBankable Player of the Season: Zavier Lucero (UP Fighting Maroons)

## Statistical leaders
### Season player highs

These were for games played during the elimination round.
| Statistic | Player | Team | Average |
| Points | Jerom Lastimosa | Adamson Soaring Falcons | 14.71 |
| Rebounds | Emman Ojuola | FEU Tamaraws | 11.5 |
| Assists | JD Cagulangan | UP Fighting Maroons | 5.29 |
| Steals | Clint Escamis | UE Red Warriors | 2.14 |
| Blocks | Ange Kouame | Ateneo Blue Eagles | 2.07 |