# 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.

## 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.
The two tiebreakers used by the ASUN were 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.
| Seed | School | Conference | Head-to-Head | NET ranking (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 | Matchup | 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 | ESPN+ |
| 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 | ESPN+ |
| 5 | 6:00 pm | No. 8 Bellarmine at No. 2 Liberty | 56–76 | ESPN+ |
| 6 | 6:00 pm | No. 6 North Alabama at No. 3 Eastern Kentucky | 48–73 | ESPN+ |
| 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 | ESPN+ |
| 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 | First round Monday, February 27 | First round Monday, February 27 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, February 28 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, February 28 | Quarterfinals Tuesday, February 28 | Semifinals Thursday, March 2 | Semifinals Thursday, March 2 | Semifinals Thursday, March 2 | Championship Sunday, March 5 | Championship Sunday, March 5 | 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