# 2022–23 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team

The 2022–23 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team represented East Tennessee State University in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by second-year head coach Desmond Oliver, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center in Johnson City, Tennessee, as members of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 12–20, 8–10 in SoCon play to finish in a tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the SoCon Tournament, they lost to Western Carolina in the quarterfinals
On March 10, 2023, the school fired head coach Desmond Oliver. On March 21, the school named former ETSU and Wake Forest assistant coach Brooks Savage the team's new head coach.

## Previous season

The Buccaneers finished the 2021–22 season 15–17, 7–11 in SoCon play to finish in eighth place. They lost to The Citadel in the first round of the SoCon Tournament.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 4, 2022* 6:00 pm | | Limestone | W 71–56 | – | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,478) Johnson City, TN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 7, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Emory & Henry | W 88–66 | 1–0 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,516) Johnson City, TN |
| November 11, 2022* 8:30 pm, ESPN+ | | vs. Elon Asheville Championship semifinals | W 77–64 | 2–0 | Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville, NC |
| November 13, 2022* 4:30 pm, ESPNU | | vs. Louisiana Asheville Championship final | L 77–81 | 2–1 | Harrah's Cherokee Center (1,221) Asheville, NC |
| November 17, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Little Rock | W 84–76 | 3–1 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,814) Johnson City, TN |
| November 20, 2022* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Tennessee Tech | L 62–69 | 3–2 | Eblen Center (787) Cookeville, TN |
| November 23, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Appalachian State | L 70–74 | 3–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,825) Johnson City, TN |
| November 27, 2022* 1:00 pm, SECN | | at Georgia | L 47–62 | 3–4 | Stegeman Coliseum (7,202) Athens, GA |
| November 30, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mars Hill | W 84–56 | 4–4 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,671) Johnson City, TN |
| December 3, 2022* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State | L 61–63 | 4–5 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,205) Johnson City, TN |
| December 11, 2022* 2:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Morehead State | L 57–61 | 4–6 | Ellis Johnson Arena (1,565) Morehead, KY |
| December 14, 2022* 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Queens | L 75–78 | 4–7 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,240) Johnson City, TN |
| December 17, 2022* 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Asheville | L 73–74 | 4–8 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,007) Johnson City, TN |
| December 22, 2022* 8:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at LSU | L 68–72 | 4–9 | Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,059) Baton Rouge, LA |
| SoCon Regular season ||||||
| December 29, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Wofford | W 73–71 | 5–9 (1–0) | Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (1,225) Spartanburg, SC |
| December 31, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at VMI | W 64–50 | 6–9 (2–0) | Cameron Hall (750) Lexington, VA |
| January 4, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Western Carolina | L 60–71 | 6–10 (2–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,104) Johnson City, TN |
| January 7, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Furman | L 56–70 | 6-11 (2-2) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,136) Johnson City, TN |
| January 11, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at The Citadel | W 96–74 | 7–11 (3–2) | McAlister Field House (1,073) Charleston, SC |
| January 14, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Mercer | L 55–68 | 7-12 (3-3) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,026) Johnson City, TN |
| January 18, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Samford | L 59–69 | 7-13 (3-4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,894) Johnson City, TN |
| January 21, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Chattanooga | W 78–62 | 8-13 (4-4) | McKenzie Arena (3,751) Chattanooga, TN |
| January 25, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Mercer | L 67–71 $^{OT}$ | 8-14 (4-5) | Hawkins Arena (1,727) Macon, GA |
| January 28, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Chattanooga | L 64–73 | 8-15 (4-6) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,914) Johnson City, TN |
| February 1, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | Wofford | W 77–52 | 9-15 (5-6) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,469) Johnson City, TN |
| February 4, 2023 3:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Samford | L 62–73 | 9–16 (5–7) | Pete Hanna Center (2,836) Homewood, AL |
| February 8, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UNC Greensboro | L 65–91 | 9–17 (5–8) | Greensboro Coliseum (1,476) Greensboro, NC |
| February 10, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | VMI | W 69–65 | 10–17 (6–8) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,063) Johnson City, TN |
| February 15, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | at Western Carolina | L 66–68 | 10–18 (6–9) | Ramsey Center (1,634) Cullowhee, NC |
| February 18, 2023 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Furman | L 79–83 | 10–19 (6–10) | Timmons Arena (2,129) Greenville, SC |
| February 22, 2023 7:00 pm, ESPN+ | | The Citadel | W 78–70 | 11–19 (7–10) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,478) Johnson City, TN |
| February 25, 2023 4:00 pm, ESPN+ | | UNC Greensboro | W 63–62 | 12–19 (8–10) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,652) Johnson City, TN |
| SoCon Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2023 2:30 pm, ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Western Carolina Quarterfinals | L 57–69 | 12–20 | Harrah's Cherokee Center (4,851) Asheville, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||
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