The 2012

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), ...

men's basketball tournament took place February 27, 29, March 1, and March 3, 2012. The semifinals were televised on

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, and the championship on

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. It was the first year the Big South introduced a first round that consisted of 2 games to be held on campus sites of the higher seeds. VMI and High Point defeated Radford and Gardner-Webb, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinals, held at UNC Asheville's

Kimmel Arena Kimmel Arena is the home of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs basketball programs, both men and women's. It is a 3,200-seat arena located on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina, Asheville, North Carol ...

along with the semifinals. The quarterfinals featured a pair of upsets, the first from the hands of VMI. The 7-seeded Keydets used a huge 2nd half run to pull away from #2 seed Coastal Carolina 85–68. Later that day, #6 Winthrop defeated #3 Campbell 71–55 thanks to 25 points from Reggie Middleton. Top-seed UNC Asheville blew away High Point 86–61, followed by Charleston Southern beating

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89–72. VMI continued their upset run with a 20-point drubbing over Winthrop 75–55. Asheville defeated Charleston Southern 91–64, thus gaining home-court advantage for the championship game on March 3. In a game that flip-flopped leads in the first half, Asheville used a 9–0 run to break a 47–47 tie with VMI and take the lead for good. After the Keydets got 2 to make the score 58–52, the Bulldogs ended the game on a 22–12 run to win the Big South crown for a second straight year.

Format

With the addition of Campbell from the

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, the Big South introduced a new format for 2012 where the top 10 teams in the standings qualified for the tournament. The 10-team field was the largest in the event's history, and first round games were contested for just the second time – the last occurring in 1993. Initially, the Big South intended for only the top 10 teams to make the tournament, as

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was supposed to be complete its Division I transition this season. However, Presbyterian was given another transition year thus, remained ineligible for the NCAA tournament and thus not allowed to participate. As such, the ten other teams will contest the bracket. This was the last tournament in which early-round games were held at campus sites. In June 2012, the conference announced that the 2013 men's and women's tournaments would be held solely at the Student Recreation and Convocation Center on Coastal Carolina's

Conway, South Carolina Conway is a city in and the county seat of Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,849 at the 2020 census, up from 17,103 in the 2010 census, making it the 18th-most populous city in the state. The city is part of ...

campus, a venue which would ultimately open in fall 2012 as the

HTC Center HTC Center, originally known as the Student Recreation and Convocation Center, is a 3,370-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. It is home to the Coastal Carolina University men ...

. With Presbyterian completing its Division I transition and Longwood joining the conference, the 2013 tournament will be the first to feature 12 teams.

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime
First round at campus sites of higher-numbered seeds
Quarterfinals and Semifinals games at #1 seed,

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Championship game hosted by highest remaining seed

References

{{Big South Conference men's basketball tournament navbox

Tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

Big South Conference men's basketball tournament

Big South Conference men's basketball tournament The Big South Conference men's basketball tournament (popularly known as the Big South tournament) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the Big South Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 1986. It is a s ...