2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball season explained

2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball season
Color:
  1. 0058a1
Color Text:
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League:NCAA Division I
Sport:Basketball
Pixels:250px
No Of Teams:14
Tv:CBS Sports Network, American Sports Network, beIN Sports, Campus Insiders, ESPN3
Season:2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
Season Champs:Middle Tennessee
Second Place:Louisiana Tech
Season Champ Name:Regular season champions
Mvp:JaCorey Williams
Mvp Link:Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Finals:Tournament
Finals Link:2017 Conference USA Men's Basketball Tournament
Finals Champ:Middle Tennessee
Finals Runner-Up:Marshall
Finals Mvp:Giddy Potts
Seasonslistnames:Basketball
Prevseason Year:2015–16
Nextseason Year:2017–18

The 2016–17 Conference USA men's basketball season began with practices in October 2016, followed by the start of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December and concluded in early March.

Middle Tennessee claimed the outright regular season championship with a win over UAB on February 26, 2017.[1] Louisiana Tech finished in second place in the regular season, three games behind the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee's JaCorey Williams was named C-USA Player of the Year[2] and Kermit Davis was named the Coach of the Year.[3]

The C-USA tournament was held from March 8 through 11, 2017 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Middle Tennessee defeated Marshall to win the tournament championship for the second consecutive year. As a result, the Blue Raiders received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. No other C-USA school received an NCAA Tournament bid. Rice received a bid to the College Basketball Invitational tournament.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On March 10, 2016, after 10 years with UTSA, head coach Brooks Thompson was fired.[4] He finished at UTSA with a record of 130–176. On April 1, the school hired Steve Henson as head coach.[5]

On March 17, 2016, WKU head coach Ray Harper resigned after three players were suspended by a university disciplinary committee.[6] [7] [8] He finished at WKU with a record of 90–62. On March 28, the school hired Rick Stansbury as head coach.[9]

UAB head coach Jerod Haase left UAB to accept the head coaching position at Stanford.[10] On April 4, 2016, the school hired Robert Ehsan, who had been an assistant under Haase at UAB, as head coach .[11]

Coaches

TeamHead coachPrevious jobYear at schoolOverall recordC-USA recordC-USA championshipsNCAA Tournaments
style= CharlotteMark PriceCharlotte Bobcats
(asst.)		227–36 16–20 00
style= FIUAnthony EvansNorfolk State451–76 25–45 00
style= Florida AtlanticMichael CurryPhiladelphia 76ers
(asst.)		327–64 13–41 00
style= Louisiana TechEric KonkolMiami
(asst.)		246–20 26–10 00
style= MarshallDan D'AntoniLos Angeles Lakers
(asst.)		348–52 29–25 00
style= Middle TennesseeKermit DavisLSU
(asst.)		15307–179 52–1822
style= North TexasTony BenfordMarquette
(assoc. head coach)		562–9523–4900
style= Old DominionJeff JonesAmerican489–51 46–24 00
style= RiceMike RhoadesVCU
(assoc. head coach)		347–52 26–28 00
style= Southern MissDoc SadlerIowa State
(asst.)		320–63 14–39 00
style= UABRobert EhsanUAB
(asst.)		117–169–900
style= UTEPTim FloydUSC7135–81 75–41 00
style= UTSASteve HensonOklahoma
(asst.)		114–197–1100
style=WKURick StansburyTexas A&M
(asst.)		115–17 9–900
Notes:

Preseason

Preseason Coaches Poll

Source[12]

RankTeam
1.UAB (10)
2.Middle Tennessee (4)
3.WKU
4.Marshall
5.Old Dominion
6.UTEP
7.Louisiana Tech
8.Charlotte
9.Rice
10.North Texas
11.FIU
12.Florida Atlantic
13.Southern Miss
14.UTSA
first place votes

Preseason All-C-USA Team

Source

RecipientSchool
Jeremy CombsNorth Texas
UAB
Jon ElmoreMarshall
Justin Johnson WKU
William Lee UAB
Erik McCreeLouisiana Tech
Giddy PottsMiddle Tennessee
Ryan TaylorMarshall
Reggie Upshaw Jr.Middle Tennessee

Conference schedules

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.

  style= width=75Charlottestyle= width=75FIUstyle= width=75FAUstyle= width=75LaTechstyle= width=75Marshallstyle= width=75MTSUstyle= width=75UNTstyle= width=75ODUstyle= width=75Ricestyle= width=75USMstyle= width=75UABstyle= width=75UTEPstyle= width=75UTSAstyle= width=75WKU
FIU FAU LATECH MARSH MTSU UNT ODU RICE USM TULANE TULSA UAB UTEP UTSA WKU -->vs. Charlotte– 0–11–01–02–01–00–21–12–00–11–01–00–11–1
vs. FIU1–0– 2–01–01–02–00–11–01–01–00–22–02–01–0
vs. Florida Atlantic0–10–2– 1–01–02–01–00–11–00–12–02–01–11–0
vs. Louisiana Tech0–10–10–1– 0–11–00–20–11–10–21–00–21–10–1
vs. Marshall0–20–10–11–0– 2–00–11–11–01–01–01–00–10–2
vs. Middle Tennessee0–10–20–20–10–2– 0–10–10–10–10–21–00–10–2
vs. North Texas2–01–00–12–01–01–0– 2–02–02–01–01–01–01–0
vs. Old Dominion1–10–11–01–01–11–00–2– 0–20–11–00–11–00–2
vs. Rice0–20–10–11–10–11–00–22–0– 0–21–01–01–01–0
vs. Southern Miss1–00–11–02–00–11–00–21–02–0– 1–01–11–11–0
vs. UAB1–02–00–20–11–12–00–11–00–10–1– 1–01–01–1
vs. UTEP0–10–20–22–00–10–10–11–00–11–10–1– 1–11–0
vs. UTSA0–10–21–11–11–01–01–00–11–01–10–11–1– 1–0
vs. WKU1–10–10–11–02–02–00–12–00–10–11–10–10–1– FIU FAU LATECH MARSH MTSU UNT ODU RICE USM UAB UTEP UTSA WKU -->
Total7–113–156–1214–410–817–12–1612–611–76–129–912–68–109–9

Players of the Week

Throughout the conference regular season, the C-USA offices named one or two players of the week and one or two freshmen of the week each Monday.[13]

WeekPlayer of the weekFreshman of the week
November 14, 2016Egor Koulechov, RiceDaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
November 21, 2016Dominic Artis, UTEPByron Frohnen, UTSA
November 28, 2016JaCorey Williams, Middle TennesseeJailyn Ingram, Florida Atlantic
December 5, 2016Marcus Evans, RiceNajee Garvin, Charlotte
December 12, 2016Jon Elmore, MarshallDeon Barrett, UTEP
December 19, 2016JaCorey Williams (2), Middle TennesseeA. J. Lawson, North Texas
December 26, 2016Stevie Browning, MarshallByron Frohnen (2), UTSA
Jalen Harris, Louisiana Tech
January 2, 2017Reggie Upshaw Jr., Middle TennesseeQuentin Jackson Jr., Charlotte
January 9, 2017Ryan Taylor, MarshallGiovanni De Nicolao, UTSA
January 16, 2017William Lee, UABDaQuan Bracey (2), Louisiana Tech
January 23, 2017Jon Davis, CharlotteDaQuan Bracey (3), Louisiana Tech
January 30, 2017Matt Willms, UTEPByron Frohnen (3), UTSA
February 6, 2017Justin Johnson, WKUA. J. Lawson (2), North Texas
February 13, 2017Marcus Evans (2), RiceRyan Woolridge, North Texas
February 20, 2017Paul Thomas, UTEPRyan Woolridge (2), North Texas
February 27, 2017Quinton Campbell, Southern Miss A.J. Lawson (3), North Texas
March 6, 2017Egor Koulechov (2), RiceJalen Harris (2), Louisiana Tech

All-C-USA honors and awards

Following the regular season, the conference selected outstanding performers based on a poll of league coaches.[14] [15]

HonorRecipient
Player of the YearJaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee
Coach of the YearKermit Davis, Middle Tennessee
Defensive Player of the YearWilliam Lee, UAB
Freshman of the YearDaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
Newcomer of the YearJaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee
Sixth Man of the YearZoran Talley, Old Dominion
All-C-USA First TeamErik McCree, Louisiana Tech
Jon Elmore, Marshall
JaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee
Marcus Evans, Rice
Egor Koulechov, Rice
All-C-USA Second TeamJon Davis, Charlotte
Reggie Upshaw Jr., Middle Tennessee
William Lee, UAB
Dominic Artis, UTEP
Justin Johnson, WKU
All-C-USA Third TeamJacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech
Ryan Taylor, Marshall
Giddy Potts, Middle Tennessee
Ahmad Caver, Old Dominion
Omega Harris, UTEP
All-C-USA Defensive TeamJacobi Boykins, Louisiana Tech
Ryan Taylor, Marshall
Reggie Upshaw Jr., Middle Tennessee
Denzell Taylor, Old Dominion
William Lee, UAB
All-C-USA Freshman TeamDaQuan Bracey, Louisiana Tech
Jalen Harris, Louisiana Tech
Tyrik Dixon, Middle Tennessee
A. J. Lawson, North Texas
Byron Frohnen, UTSA

Postseason

C-USA Tournament

See main article: 2017 Conference USA men's basketball tournament. Only the top 12 conference teams were eligible for the tournament.

GameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevisionAttendance
First round – Wednesday, March 8
111:30 amNo. 8 Western Kentucky vs. No. 9 UTSA52–56Campus Insiders3,207
22:00 pmNo. 5 Rice vs. No. 12 Southern Miss 86–75
35:30 pmNo. 7 UAB vs. No. 10 Charlotte74–736,410
48:00 pmNo. 6 Marshall vs. No. 11 Florida Atlantic89–74
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9
511:30 amNo. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 9 UTSA86–70ASN3,654
62:00 pmNo. 4 UTEP vs. No. 5 Rice86–76
75:30 pmNo. 2 Louisiana Tech vs. No. 7 UAB69–574,005
88:00 pmNo. 3 Old Dominion vs. No. 6 Marshall63–64
Semifinals – Friday, March 10
911:30 amNo. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 4 UTEP82–56CBSSN3,299
102:00 pmNo. 2 Louisiana Tech vs. No. 6 Marshall77–93
Championship Game – Saturday, March 11
117:30 pmNo. 1 Middle Tennessee vs. No. 6 Marshall83–72CBSSN3,956
  • Game times in CT. Rankings denote tournament seed

NCAA tournament

See main article: 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MBK: Middle Tennessee Claims C-USA Regular-Season Title. Conference USA. 2017-08-01.
  2. News: MTSU's JaCorey Williams named Conference USA Player of the Year. DNJ. 2017-08-01. en.
  3. News: Kermit Davis named Conference USA's Coach of the Year. DNJ. 2017-08-01. en.
  4. News: UTSA fires coach Thompson after 10 seasons. ESPN.com. 2017-01-25.
  5. News: Steve Henson hired as seventh men's basketball coach at UTSA. San Antonio Express-News. 2017-01-25.
  6. Web site: Ray Harper has resigned as WKU basketball coach.
  7. News: WKU's Harper resigns as three players suspended. The Courier-Journal. 2017-01-25. en.
  8. News: Ransdell: Outcome of WKU players' hearing was 'primary reason' for Harper's resignation. GREENWELL. ZACH. Bowling Green Daily News. 2017-01-25. en.
  9. News: It's official: WKU hires Stansbury as coach. The Courier-Journal. 2017-01-25. en.
  10. News: Jerod Haase leaves UAB after four seasons, heading to Stanford. AL.com. 2017-01-25. en-US.
  11. News: UAB promotes assistant Ehsan to head coach. ESPN.com. 2017-01-25.
  12. Web site: MBK: UAB Voted C-USA Preseason Favorite. www.conferenceusa.com. 2017-01-17.
  13. Web site: C-USA Notebook.
  14. Web site: C-USA MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS ANNOUNCED.
  15. Web site: C-USA MEN'S BASKETBALL SPECIALTY AWARDS ANNOUNCED.

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