The 2015 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place March 11–14 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA tournament. Two programs in their second year of the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word, were ineligible for the tournament. Three programs were ineligible for the tournament for failure to meet enhanced NCAA Academic Performance Rating (APR) requirements. Those teams were Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, and Lamar. The three teams are part of a group of nine NCAA teams ineligible for 2015 post season basketball play. With the departure of Oral Roberts to the Summit League, only eight conference teams remain eligible for the tournament.
Seeds Only the top eight teams advanced to the Southland Conference tournament. If a team ineligible for the NCAA Tournament should finish in the top eight, its seed will fall to the next eligible team. Teams were seeded based on conference record and then a tie breaker system was used. The top two seeds received a double bye, and the third and fourth seeds received a single bye.
SeedSchoolConferenceOverallTiebreaker1Stephen F. Austin‡* 17–1 27–4 2Sam Houston State*15–3 24–7 3Texas A&M CC#13–5 18–12 Played one game against Northwestern State.1–1 vs. Stephen F. Austin4Northwestern St#13–5 18–11 Played one game against Texas A&M–Corpus Christi.0–2 vs. Stephen F. Austin5McNeese St8–10 14–15 Incarnate Word and Lamar are ineligible.Starting with McNeese St, eligible teams move up.6Nicholls State7–11 10–18 Houston Baptist ineligible.Starting with Nicholls State eligible teams move up.7New Orleans6–12 10–17 2–0 vs. SE Louisiana8Southeastern Louisiana6–12 9–22 0–2 vs. New Orleans‡ Southland Conference regular season champions.* Receives a first-round and second-round bye in the conference tournament.# Receives a first-round bye in the conference tournament. Overall record as of end of regular season. Source:
Schedule SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevision First round – Wednesday, March 1111 5:00 pm#5 McNeese State vs. #8 Southeastern Louisiana62–60SLC Digital27:30 pm#6 Nicholls State vs. #7 New Orleans82–73 Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12235:00pm#4 Northwestern St vs. #5 McNeese State96–89SLC Digital47:30pm#3 Texas A&M CC vs. #7 New Orleans61–58 Semifinals – Friday, March 13355:00 pm#1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #4 Northwestern St91–79ESPN367:30pm#2 Sam Houston State vs. #3 Texas A&M CC70–67 Championship – Saturday, March 14478:30pm#1 Stephen F. Austin vs. #2 Sam Houston State83-70ESPN2 *Game times in CST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.
Bracket
denotes an overtime game
Game summaries
Awards and honors Source: Tournament MVP: Thomas Walkup – Stephen F. Austin
All-Tournament Team:
Thomas Walkup – Stephen F. Austin Jared Johnson – Stephen F. Austin Michael Holyfield – Sam Houston State Jabari Peters – Sam Houston State Zeek Woodley – Northwestern State
See also 2015 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament
References
External links 2015 Southland Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament Page