2019 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2019 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Southwestern Athletic Conference during the 2018–19 season. Tournament first round games were played at the campus of the higher seeded team on March 12. The remainder of the tournament was held on March 15 and 16, 2019 at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.[1] Prairie View A&M defeated Texas Southern 92–86 in the championship game to win the tournament, and received the SWAC's automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It was the second SWAC title for Prairie View A&M, and the first since the 1997–98 season.
| 2019 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2018–19 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Bill Harris Arena Birmingham, Alabama |
| First round site | Campus sites |
| Champions | Prairie View A&M (2nd title) |
| Winning coach | Byron Smith (1st title) |
| MVP | Gary Blackston (Prairie View A&M) |
| 2018–19 SWAC men's basketball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prairie View A&M † | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | 22 | – | 13 | .629 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Southern | 14 | – | 4 | .778 | 24 | – | 14 | .632 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jackson State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grambling State | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 17 | – | 17 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 13 | – | 19 | .406 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alcorn State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 10 | – | 21 | .323 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mississippi Valley State | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 6 | – | 26 | .188 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alabama A&M* | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 5 | – | 27 | .156 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *ineligible for postseason due to APR violations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2019 SWAC Tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeds
The top eight teams qualified for the conference tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used for teams with identical conference records. The top 4 seeds host their quarterfinal round games. Alabama A&M is ineligible for postseason play due to APR violations.
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prairie View A&M | 17–1 | |
| 2 | Texas Southern | 14–4 | |
| 3 | Jackson State | 10–8 | 4–0 vs. UAPB/GSU |
| 4 | Grambling State | 10–8 | 1–3 vs. JSU/UAPB, Better point differential in season split with UAPB |
| 5 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 10–8 | 1–3 vs. JSU/GSU, Worse point differential in season split with Grambling State |
| 6 | Alabama State | 9–9 | |
| 7 | Southern | 6–12 | Better point differential in season split with Alcorn State |
| 8 | Alcorn State | 6–12 | Worse point differential in season split with Southern |
Schedule and results
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 12 – campus sites | ||||
| 1 | 7:30 pm | No. 8 Alcorn State at No. 1 Prairie View A&M | 66–86 | |
| 2 | 7:30 pm | No. 5 Arkansas–Pine Bluff at No. 4 Grambling State | 52–59 | |
| 3 | 7:30 pm | No. 7 Southern at No. 2 Texas Southern | 70–80 | |
| 4 | 8:00 pm | No. 6 Alabama State at No. 3 Jackson State | 58–49 | |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 15 – Bill Harris Arena, Birmingham, AL | ||||
| 5 | 2:30 pm | No. 1 Prairie View A&M vs. No. 4 Grambling State | 81–71 | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 Texas Southern vs. No. 6 Alabama State | 80–66 | |
| Final – Saturday, March 16 – Bill Harris Arena, Birmingham, AL | ||||
| 7 | 5:00 pm | No. 1 Prairie View A&M vs. No. 2 Texas Southern | 92–86 | ESPNU |
| Game times in CST. Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||
Bracket
| Quarterfinals March 12 ESPN3 | Semifinals March 15 ESPN3 | Championship March 16 ESPNU | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Prairie View A&M | 86 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Alcorn State | 66 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Prairie View A&M | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Grambling State | 71 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Grambling State | 59 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Arkansas–Pine Bluff | 52 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Prairie View A&M | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas Southern | 86 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas Southern | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Southern | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas Southern | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Alabama State | 66 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Jackson State | 49 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Alabama State | 58 | ||||||||||||
First round games at campus sites of lower-numbered seeds
References
- "SWAC football, basketball championships returning to Birmingham". al.com. Retrieved 2019-03-02.