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.[1] The winner of the tournament, Florida Atlantic, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA tournament.

2023 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2022–23
Teams11
SiteFord Center at The Star
Frisco, Texas
ChampionsFlorida Atlantic (1st title)
Winning coachDusty May (1st title)
MVPAlijah Martin (Florida Atlantic)
TelevisionESPN+, CBSSN
← 2022
2024 →
2022–23 Conference USA men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 25 Florida Atlantic 18 2   .900 35 4   .897
North Texas 16 4   .800 31 7   .816
UAB 14 6   .700 29 10   .744
Middle Tennessee 11 9   .550 19 14   .576
Charlotte 9 11   .450 22 14   .611
Rice 8 12   .400 19 16   .543
FIU 8 12   .400 14 18   .438
Western Kentucky 8 12   .400 17 16   .515
UTEP 7 13   .350 14 18   .438
Louisiana Tech 7 13   .350 15 18   .455
UTSA 4 16   .200 10 22   .313
2023 C-USA tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Seeds

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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

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[2]

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 76–81OT 1,232
3 8:30 pm (6) Rice vs. (11) UTSA 72–71
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
6 8:00 pm (2) North Texas vs. (10) Louisiana Tech 74–46 2,765
7 8:30 pm (3) UAB vs. (6) Rice 87–60
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
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

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[3]

First round
Wednesday, March 8
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 9
Semifinals
Friday, March 10
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

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First round

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ESPN+
March 8, 2023
5:30 pm
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
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
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

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ESPN+
March 9, 2023
5:30 pm
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
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
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
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

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CBSSN
March 10, 2023
11:30 am
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
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

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CBSSN
March 11, 2023
7:30 pm
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

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2022-23 Championship Schedule". Conference USA.
  2. ^ "Basketball Championships Schedule" (PDF). Conference USA.
  3. ^ "Men's Basketball Championship Bracket" (PDF). Conference USA.
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