2015 WAC men's basketball tournament
College basketball tournament
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The 2015 WAC men's basketball tournament was a postseason men's basketball tournament for the Western Athletic Conference, held from March 12–14, 2015 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada. The tournament was won by New Mexico State, who defeated Seattle in the final.[1]
| 2015 Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2014–15 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Champions | New Mexico State (6th title) |
| Winning coach | Marvin Menzies (5th title) |
| Attendance | 4,546 |
| Television | ESPNU |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico State † | 13 | – | 1 | .929 | 23 | – | 11 | .676 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grand Canyon * | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 17 | – | 15 | .531 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UMKC | 8 | – | 6 | .571 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seattle | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 18 | – | 16 | .529 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cal State Bakersfield | 7 | – | 7 | .500 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 5 | – | 9 | .357 | 11 | – | 19 | .367 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chicago State | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 8 | – | 24 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas–Pan American | 4 | – | 10 | .286 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2015 WAC tournament winner * ineligible due to transition from NCAA Division II. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
Grand Canyon did not compete in the 2015 men's basketball tournament for the second time. As a D2 to D1 transitioning school, they are ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament or the NIT (which is also operated by the NCAA) until the 2018 season, so they could not win the conference tournament as the winner received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. However Grand Canyon was eligible to win the regular season title and was eligible to compete in the CIT or the CBI. (The Antelopes did in fact receive a bid to, and participated in, the 2015 CIT.)
Seeds
| Seed | School | Conference | Overall | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico State | 13–1 | 21–10 | |
| 2 | UMKC | 8–6 | 13–18 | |
| 3 | Seattle | 7–7 | 14–14 | 1–1 vs. NMSU |
| 4 | CSU–Bakersfield | 7–7 | 13–18 | 0–2 vs. NMSU |
| 5 | Utah Valley | 5–9 | 11–18 | |
| 6 | Chicago State | 4–10 | 8–23 | 2–0 vs. Grand Canyon |
| 7 | Texas–Pan American | 4–10 | 10–20 | 1–1 vs. Grand Canyon |
Overall record at the end of regular season
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 2:30 pm | #4 Cal State Bakersfield vs. #5 Utah Valley |
| 2 | 2 | 6:00 pm | #2 UMKC vs. #7 Texas–Pan American |
| 3 | 8:30 pm | #3 Seattle vs. #6 Chicago State | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13 | |||
| 3 | 4 | 6:00 pm | #1 New Mexico State vs. #4 Cal State Bakersfield |
| 5 | 8:30 pm | #2 UMKC vs. #3 Seattle | |
| Championship – Saturday, March 14 | |||
| 4 | 6 | 7:00 pm | #1 New Mexico State vs. #3 Seattle |
| *Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Thursday, March 12 | Semifinals Friday, March 13 | Championship Saturday, March 14 ESPNU | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 57 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Cal State Bakersfield | 52 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Cal State Bakersfield | 55 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Utah Valley | 40 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | New Mexico State | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UMKC | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Texas–Pan American | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | UMKC | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Seattle | 49 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Chicago State | 45 | ||||||||||||