2002 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

2002 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2001–02
Teams11
SiteLakefront Arena
New Orleans, LA
ChampionsWestern Kentucky (4th title)
Winning coachDennis Felton (2nd title)
MVPDerek Robinson (Western Kentucky)
← 2001
2003 →
2001–02 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
No. 19 Western Kentucky † 13 – 1   .929 28 – 4   .875
Arkansas-Little Rock 8 – 6   .571 18 – 11   .621
Middle Tennessee 6 – 8   .429 14 – 15   .483
Arkansas State 5 – 9   .357 15 – 16   .484
Florida International 4 – 10   .286 10 – 20   .333
West
Louisiana–Lafayette 11 – 4   .733 20 – 11   .645
New Mexico State 11 – 4   .733 20 – 12   .625
New Orleans 9 – 6   .600 15 – 14   .517
North Texas 8 – 7   .533 15 – 14   .517
Denver 3 – 12   .200 8 – 20   .286
South Alabama 2 – 13   .133 7 – 21   .250
† 2002 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll


The 2002 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 1–5 at the Lakefront Arena at the University of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana.[1]

The top-seed in the East division Western Kentucky defeated West division top-seed Louisiana–Lafayette in the championship game, 76–70, to win their fourth Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Hilltoppers, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament as the #9 seed in the Midwest region. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

All eleven participating Sun Belt members were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the five highest-seeded teams were awarded byes into the quarterfinal round while the six lowest-seeded teams entered the bracket in the preliminary first round.

Bracket

First round
Friday, March 1 		Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 2
Sunday, March 3 		Semifinals
Monday, March 4 		Championship
Tuesday, March 5
            
1E #20 Western Kentucky 82
4W North Texas 68
5W Florida International 71
4W North Texas 84
1E #20 Western Kentucky 73
2W New Mexico State 72
6W South Alabama 47
3E Middle Tennessee 48
3E Middle Tennessee 48
2W New Mexico State 63
1E #20 Western Kentucky 76
1W Louisiana–Lafayette 70
2E Arkansas–Little Rock 71
3W New Orleans 67
2E Arkansas–Little Rock 53
1W Louisiana–Lafayette 67
4E Arkansas State 58
5W Denver 53
4E Arkansas State 59
1W Louisiana–Lafayette 74

See also

References

  1. ^ "2001–02 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved March 16, 2020.