2016 Conference USA Basketball Tournaments

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The 2016 Conference USA Basketball Tournaments were held at the BJCC's Legacy Arena and UAB's Bartow Arena on March 8-12, 2016 to determine the Conference champions in men's and women's basketball. Birmingham hosted the tournament for the second year in a row. The winner of the men's tournament was awarded the conference's sole automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Men's tournament

Thirteen of Conference USA's fourteen teams participated in the single-elimination tournament, with Southern Mississippi staying home as part of self-imposed sanctions for previously-revealed recruiting violations. The host UAB Blazers came into the weekend as the top seed, with a 26-5 overall record (16-2 in CUSA). The top four seeds, including Middle Tennessee (21-9, 13-5), Marshall (16-15, 12-6) and Louisiana Tech (23-8, 12-6), were given first-round byes.

In the Tuesday evening opening round, 12th seed Florida Atlantic defeated 13th seed Texas-San Antonio 82-58 at Bartow Arena for the right to face off against 5th seed Old Dominion the next day. In the four second-round games at Legacy Arena on Wednesday, 8th seed Western Kentucky beat 9th seed North Texas 84-76 to advance to the quarterfinals against top-seeded UAB. Old Dominion eliminated Florida Atlantic 72-46 to match up with 4th seed Louisiana Tech. 7th seed North Carolina-Charlotte beat 10th seed Rice 79-69 to advance against 2nd seed Middle Tennessee State, and 6th seed Texas-El Paso defeated 11th seed Florida International 85-77 for the right to play 3rd seed Marshall in the quarterfinal round.

On Thursday, the Blazers fell in the first game to Western Kentucky, 88-77, losing their chance for an NCAA bid. Old Dominion upset Louisiana Tech 68-52, Middle Tennessee cruised by Charlotte 79-61 and Marshall eliminated Texas-El Paso in a close finish, 87-85.

In Friday's semifinal games, shown on the CBS College Sports network, Western Kentucky faced Old Dominion and Middle Tennessee matched up with Marshall.

FOX Sports 1 aired the championship game on Saturday.

Women's tournament

All 14 conference teams participated in the women's tournament. The first three rounds were played at Bartow Arena with the semi-finals and finals at Legacy Arena. UAB's Lady Blazers entered the bracket as an 8th seed, playing 9th seed Southern Miss on Wednesday morning for the right to take on top-seed Texas-El Paso in the quarterfinal round.

Tuesday's first round games were both close matches, with North Texas getting by Florida Atlantic 79-74 and Florida International outlasting Texas-El Paso 61-56 to advance. In Wednesday's second round, UAB crushed Southern Miss 64-46, Old Dominion eliminated North Texas 62-55, Rice emerged from an overtime against Louisiana Tech 72-67, and Marshall demolished Florida International 76-44. In the quarterfinals, UAB's last second shot in overtime was waived off allowing 1st seed Texas-El Paso to advance with a 62-59 final score, 5th seed Old Dominion upset 4th seed Charlotte 57-54, 2nd seed Middle Tennessee cruised by 10 seed Rice 74-54, and 6th seed Marshall dropped 3rd seeded Western Kentucky 66-63.

The semifinals and finals were televised on the CBS Sports Network.

References

External links

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