# 2015–16 East Tennessee State Buccaneers men's basketball team

The 2015–16 East Tennessee State Buccaneers basketball team represented East Tennessee State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Buccaneers, led by first year head coach Steve Forbes, played their home games at the Freedom Hall Civic Center and were of the Southern Conference. They finished the season 24–12, 14–4 in SoCon play to finish in to second place. They defeated Mercer and Furman to advance to the championship game of the SoCon tournament where they lost to Chattanooga. They were invited to the inaugural Vegas 16, which only had eight teams, where they defeated Louisiana Tech in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Oakland.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/05/2015* 7:00 pm | | Tusculum | W 109–77 | | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,550) Johnson City, TN |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/14/2015* 4:00 pm | | Averett | W 107–59 | 1–0 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,167) Johnson City, TN |
| 11/17/2015* 6:00 am, ESPN | | Green Bay NIT Season Tip-Off | W 103–90 | 2–0 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,992) Johnson City, TN |
| 11/20/2015* 7:00 pm, FS2 | | at No. 11 Villanova NIT Season Tip-Off | L 51–86 | 2–1 | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, PA |
| 11/22/2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Georgia Tech NIT Season Tip-Off | W 69–68 | 3–1 | Hank McCamish Pavilion (4,665) Atlanta, GA |
| 11/24/2015* 7:30 pm | | at Charleston Southern NIT Season Tip-Off | L 76–77 | 3–2 | CSU Field House (905) North Charleston, SC |
| 11/28/2015* 4:00 pm | | UNC Wilmington | L 73–94 | 3–3 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,557) Johnson City, TN |
| 12/02/2015* 6:00 pm | | at Tennessee Tech | L 61–63 | 3–4 | Eblen Center (1,011) Cookeville, TN |
| 12/10/2015* 7:00 pm | | Milligan | W 98–47 | 4–4 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,458) Johnson City, TN |
| 12/15/2015* 7:00 pm | | at UNC Asheville | L 64–84 | 4–5 | Kimmel Arena (1,327) Asheville, NC |
| 12/18/2015* 7:00 pm | | Eastern Kentucky | W 87–81 | 5–5 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,453) Johnson City, TN |
| 12/22/2015* 7:00 pm | | at Tennessee | L 67–76 | 5–6 | Thompson–Boling Arena (14,684) Knoxville, TN |
| 12/30/2015* 7:00 pm | | Morehead State | W 75–72 | 6–6 | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,650) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/02/2016 2:00 pm | | at Western Carolina | W 82–66 | 7–6 (1–0) | Ramsey Center (956) Cullowhee, NC |
| 01/04/2016* 8:00 pm | | at North Carolina Central | W 72–68 | 8–6 | McLendon–McDougald Gymnasium (881) Durham, NC |
| 01/09/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | UNC Greensboro | W 86–83 | 9–6 (2–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,078) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/11/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | VMI | W 88–51 | 10–6 (3–0) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,416) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/14/2016 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Samford | W 81–77 | 11–6 (4–0) | Pete Hanna Center (1,066) Homewood, AL |
| 01/16/2016 5:00 pm | | at Chattanooga | L 84–94 | 11–7 (4–1) | McKenzie Arena (5,003) Chattanooga, TN |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Mercer | W 65–63 $^{OT}$ | 12–7 (5–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,003) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/23/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | The Citadel | W 101–92 $^{OT}$ | 13–7 (6–1) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,789) Johnson City, TN |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm | | at Wofford | L 73–87 | 13–8 (6–2) | Benjamin Johnson Arena (1,412) Spartanburg, SC |
| 01/30/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Furman | L 70–74 | 13–9 (6–3) | Timmons Arena (2,004) Greenville, SC |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at VMI | W 71–60 | 14–9 (7–3) | Cameron Hall (1,178) Lexington, VA |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | | at UNC Greensboro | W 68–65 | 15–9 (8–3) | Fleming Gymnasium (1,902) Greensboro, NC |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Samford | W 94–90 $^{OT}$ | 16–9 (9–3) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,945) Johnson City, TN |
| 02/13/2016 4:00 pm, FS South/ESPN3 | | Chattanooga | L 68–76 | 16–10 (9–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (5,601) Johnson City, TN |
| 02/15/2016 7:00 pm | | Western Carolina | W 83–77 | 17–10 (10–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (2,752) Johnson City, TN |
| 02/18/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at The Citadel | W 67–51 | 18–10 (11–4) | McAlister Field House (1,389) Charleston, SC |
| 02/20/2016 4:30 pm, ESPN3 | | at Mercer | W 77–74 | 19–10 (12–4) | Hawkins Arena (3,874) Macon, GA |
| 02/25/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Furman | W 80–75 | 20–10 (13–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (3,016) Johnson City, TN |
| 02/27/2016 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Wofford | W 71–66 | 21–10 (14–4) | Freedom Hall Civic Center (4,104) Johnson City, TN |
| SoCon tournament ||||||
| 03/05/2016 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (7) Mercer Quarterfinals | W 81–65 | 22–10 | U.S. Cellular Center Asheville, NC |
| 03/06/2016 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (2) | vs. (3) Furman Semifinals | W 84–76 | 23–10 | U.S. Cellular Center (6,019) Asheville, NC |
| 03/07/2016 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | (2) | vs. (1) Chattanooga Championship game | L 67–73 | 23–11 | U.S. Cellular Center (3,058) Asheville, NC |
| Vegas 16 ||||||
| 03/28/2016* 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Louisiana Tech Quarterfinals | W 88–83 | 24–11 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Paradise, NV |
| 03/29/2016* 11:30 pm, CBSSN | | vs. Oakland Semifinals | L 81–104 | 24–12 | Mandalay Bay Events Center Paradise, NV |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||