# 2023 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

The 2023 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 8–11, 2023, at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. First-round and quarterfinal games of the tournament were televised on ESPN+ while the semifinal and championship games were aired on CBS Sports Network. The winner of the tournament, Florida Atlantic, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

Teams were seeded by conference record. The top five teams received byes to the quarterfinals.
| Seed | School | Conference record | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | Florida Atlantic | 18–2 | |
| 2 | North Texas | 16–4 | |
| 3 | UAB | 14–6 | |
| 4 | Middle Tennessee | 11–9 | |
| 5 | Charlotte | 9–11 | |
| 6 | Rice | 8–12 | 3–1 vs. FIU/Western Kentucky |
| 7 | FIU | 8–12 | 2–2 vs. Rice/Western Kentucky |
| 8 | Western Kentucky | 8–12 | 1–3 vs. Rice/FIU |
| 9 | UTEP | 7–13 | 1–1 vs. Middle Tennessee |
| 10 | Louisiana Tech | 7–13 | 0–2 vs. Middle Tennessee |
| 11 | UTSA | 4–16 | |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| First round – March 8, 2023 ||||||
| 1 | 5:30 pm | (8) Western Kentucky vs. (9) UTEP | 73–67 | ESPN+ | 1,041 |
| 2 | 8:00 pm | (7) FIU vs. (10) Louisiana Tech | 76–81$^{OT}$ | ESPN+ | 1,232 |
| 3 | 8:30 pm | (6) Rice vs. (11) UTSA | 72–71 | ESPN+ | 1,232 |
| Quarterfinals – March 9, 2023 ||||||
| 4 | 5:30 pm | (1) Florida Atlantic vs. (8) Western Kentucky | 75–51 | ESPN+ | 1,773 |
| 5 | 6:00 pm | (4) Middle Tennessee vs. (5) Charlotte | 66–65 | ESPN+ | 1,773 |
| 6 | 8:00 pm | (2) North Texas vs. (10) Louisiana Tech | 74–46 | ESPN+ | 2,765 |
| 7 | 8:30 pm | (3) UAB vs. (6) Rice | 87–60 | ESPN+ | 2,765 |
| Semifinals – March 10, 2023 ||||||
| 8 | 11:30 am | (1) Florida Atlantic vs. (4) Middle Tennessee | 68–65 | CBSSN | 2,005 |
| 9 | 2:00 pm | (2) North Texas vs. (3) UAB | 69–76 | CBSSN | 2,005 |
| Championship – March 11, 2023 ||||||
| 10 | 7:30 pm | (1) Florida Atlantic vs. (3) UAB | 78–56 | CBSSN | 1,681 |
| *Game times in CT.-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||

## Bracket

| First round Wednesday, March 8 | First round Wednesday, March 8 | First round Wednesday, March 8 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Semifinals Friday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 11 | Championship Saturday, March 11 |
| | | | 1 | Florida Atlantic | 75 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Western Kentucky | 73 | 8 | Western Kentucky | 51 | | | | | | |
| 9 | UTEP | 67 | | | | 1 | Florida Atlantic | 68 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Middle Tennessee | 65 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Middle Tennessee | 66 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Charlotte | 65 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Florida Atlantic | 78 |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | UAB | 56 |
| | | | 2 | North Texas | 74 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Florida International | 76 | 10 | Louisiana Tech | 46 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Louisiana Tech | 81* | | | | 2 | North Texas | 69 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | UAB | 76 | | | |
| | | | 3 | UAB | 87 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Rice | 72 | 6 | Rice | 60 | | | | | | |
| 11 | UTSA | 71 | | | | | | | | | |
* – Denotes overtime period

## Game summaries
### First round

* ESPN+
* March 8, 2023 5:30 pm
* Report
No. 8 Western Kentucky 73, No. 9 UTEP 67 :
| Scoring by half: 28–34, 33–45 |||
| Pts: Sharp (16) Rebs: Sharp (8) Asts: McKnight (7) | Pts: Solomon (18) Rebs: Onyema (9) Asts: Givance (8) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,041 Referees: Amy Bonner Gary Maxwell Shane Staggs
* ESPN+
* March 8, 2023 8:00 pm
* Report
No. 7 Florida International 76, No. 10 Louisiana Tech 81 (OT) :
| Scoring by half: 24–36, 45–33 Overtime: 7–12 |||
| Pts: Jones (25) Rebs: Dean (6) Asts: Dean (7) | Pts: Willis (23) Rebs: Mangum (11) Asts: Crawford/Willis (3) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,232 Referees: Rick Crawford John St. Clair Antinio Petty
* ESPN+
* March 8, 2023 8:30 pm
* Report
No. 6 Rice 72, No. 11 UTSA 71 :
| Scoring by half: 42–33, 30–38 |||
| Pts: Olivari (18) Rebs: Olivari (8) Asts: Fiedler (6) | Pts: Medor (20) Rebs: Richards (7) Asts: Medor (6) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,232 Referees: Darron George Chris Merlo Chris Pacsi

### Quarterfinals

* ESPN+
* March 9, 2023 5:30 pm
* Report
No. 1 Florida Atlantic 75, No. 9 Western Kentucky 51 :
| Scoring by half: 30–20, 45–31 |||
| Pts: Davis (14) Rebs: Greenlee (8) Asts: Davis (4) | Pts: McKnight (18) Rebs: Sharp (11) Asts: McKnight (2) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,773 Referees: Kelly Self Craig Murley Kevin Mathis
* ESPN+
* March 9, 2023 6:00 pm
* Report
No. 4 Middle Tennessee 66, No. 5 Charlotte 65 :
| Scoring by half: 26–28, 40–37 |||
| Pts: Weston (22) Rebs: Dishman (9) Asts: Dishman/Weston/Lenard Jr./Bufford/Millin (1) | Pts: Khalifa/Patterson (14) Rebs: Khalifa (7) Asts: Khalifa (4) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,773 Referees: Rick Crawford Antinio Petty Chris Hudson
* ESPN+
* March 9, 2023 8:00 pm
* Report
No. 2 North Texas 74, No. 10 Louisiana Tech 46 :
| Scoring by half: 35–19, 39–27 |||
| Pts: Scott (19) Rebs: Ousmane (9) Asts: Huntsberry (4) | Pts: J. Crawford (10) Rebs: Hunter (5) Asts: I. Crawford/J. Crawford (1) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 2,765 Referees: Darron George Tyler Kumpf James Duke
* ESPN+
* March 9, 2023 8:30 pm
* Report
No. 3 UAB 87, No. 6 Rice 60 :
| Scoring by half: 40–30, 47–30 |||
| Pts: Walker (27) Rebs: Jemison (10) Asts: Gaines (6) | Pts: Evee (20) Rebs: Sheffield (6) Asts: Fiedler (5) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 2,765 Referees: Stephen Divine Rodrick Dixon Gary Maxwell

### Semifinals

* CBSSN
* March 10, 2023 11:30 am
* Report
No. 1 Florida Atlantic 68, No. 4 Middle Tennessee 65 :
| Scoring by half: 37–25, 31–40 |||
| Pts: Davis (18) Rebs: Martin (6) Asts: Greenlee (3) | Pts: Dishman (17) Rebs: Dishman (11) Asts: Weston (6) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Referees: Darron George Tyler Kumpf Gary Maxwell
* CBSSN
* March 10, 2023 2:00 pm
* Report
No. 2 North Texas 69, No. 3 UAB 76 :
| Scoring by half: 28–35, 41–41 |||
| Pts: Perry (17) Rebs: Scott (13) Asts: Huntsberry (4) | Pts: Walker (32) Rebs: Buffen (7) Asts: Walker (6) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 2,005 Referees: Rick Crawford Jeb Hartness Antinio Petty

### Championship game

* CBSSN
* March 11, 2023 7:30 pm
* Report
No. 1 Florida Atlantic 78, No. 3 UAB 56 :
| Scoring by half: 46–27, 32–29 |||
| Pts: Martin (30) Rebs: Martin (11) Asts: Rosado/Boyd/Gaffney (2) | Pts: Walker (18) Rebs: Jemison (8) Asts: Gaines (2) |
* Ford Center at The Star Frisco, Texas Attendance: 1,681 Referees: Jeb Hartness, Antinio Petty, Gary Maxwell
*Game times: CT