2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament

The 2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament was the conference postseason tournament for the ASUN Conference. The tournament was the 42nd year the league has conducted a postseason tournament. The tournament was held March 4–7, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. Quarterfinals were played at both Swisher Gymnasium and UNF Arena, while the semifinals and finals were held solely at UNF Arena. The eligible winner received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[1]

2021 ASUN men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2020–21
Teams8
SiteUNF Arena &
Swisher Gymnasium
Jacksonville, FL
ChampionsLiberty (3rd title)
Winning coachRitchie McKay (3rd title)
MVPDarius McGhee (Liberty)
TelevisionESPN, ESPN+
← 2020
2022 →
2020–21 ASUN men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Liberty 11 2   .846 23 6   .793
Bellarmine * 10 3   .769 14 8   .636
Lipscomb 9 6   .600 15 12   .556
North Florida 6 6   .500 8 15   .348
North Alabama * 7 8   .467 13 11   .542
Florida Gulf Coast 4 5   .444 10 8   .556
Stetson 7 9   .438 12 15   .444
Jacksonville 5 9   .357 11 13   .458
Kennesaw State 2 13   .133 5 19   .208
* ineligible for the 2021 NCAA tournament due to transition period
Jacksonville suspended their season on February 26, 2021
2021 ASUN Tournament winner

When No. 5 seeded North Alabama defeated No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast in the second semifinal game, Liberty was awarded the ASUN automatic bid to the NCAA tournament since North Alabama is ineligible as a team transitioning to Division I.

Seeds

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All of the teams, except for Jacksonville, in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. Jacksonville cancelled their season after going 11–13, so they did not compete in the conference tournament. The teams were seeded by their record in conference play, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.

The two tiebreakers used by the ASUN are: 1) head-to-head record of teams with identical record and 2) NCAA NET Rankings available on day following the conclusion of ASUN regular season play.[2]

Seed School Conference Tiebreaker
1 Liberty 11–2
2 Bellarmine 10–3
3 Lipscomb 9–5
4 North Florida 6–6
5 North Alabama 7–8
6 Florida Gulf Coast 4–5
7 Stetson 7–9
8 Kennesaw State 2–13

Schedule

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Game Time [3] Matchup Score Television Attendance
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 4
1 2:00 pm No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 8 Kennesaw State 69–59 ESPN+
2 2:00 pm No. 4 North Florida vs. No. 5 North Alabama 60–68
3 7:00 pm No. 3 Lipscomb vs. No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast 60–72
4 7:00 pm No. 2 Bellarmine vs. No. 7 Stetson 70–73
Semifinals – Friday, March 5
5 2:00 pm No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 7 Stetson 77–64 ESPN+
6 7:00 pm No. 5 North Alabama vs No. 6 Florida Gulf Coast 96–81
Championship – Sunday, March 7
7 2:00 pm No. 1 Liberty vs. No. 5 North Alabama 79–75 ESPN
Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

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Teams are reseeded after the quarterfinals

Quarterfinals
March 4
ESPN+
Semifinals
March 5
ESPN+
Championship
March 7
ESPN
         
1 Liberty 69
8 Kennesaw State 59
1 Liberty 77
7 Stetson 64
2 Bellarmine 70
7 Stetson 73
1 Liberty 79
5 North Alabama 75
4 North Florida 60
5 North Alabama 68
5 North Alabama 96
6 Florida Gulf Coast 81
3 Lipscomb 60
6 Florida Gulf Coast 72

References

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  1. ^ "2021 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship". ASUN Conference. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "2020 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship".
  3. ^ "2021 ASUN Men's Basketball Championship" (PDF). ASUN Conference. Retrieved February 27, 2021.