Bracket Set for 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship with YSU as No. 1 Seed

February 25

#HLMBB Championship Bracket | #REACHtheHORIZON Championship Central | #HLMBB Standings
INDIANAPOLIS – Following the end of the regular season on Saturday, the Horizon League revealed the bracket for the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship with Youngstown State earning the regular season title and No. 1 seed for the first time in program history.

Youngstown State claimed its first regular season title with a win on Saturday at IUPUI, 93-79, to finish 15-5 in Horizon League play, setting the school record for most conference wins in a season. YSU will host a quarterfinal game on campus at the Beeghly Center for the first time. It marks the first outright regular season champion in the Horizon League since the 2019-20 season.

Three teams tied for second place in the HL standings as Milwaukee, Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky each ended the regular season with a 14-6 mark. The Panthers earn the No. 2 seed with a combined 4-0 record against CSU and NKU, including an 81-72 win over the Vikings tonight. MKE will host on quarterfinal Thursday for the first time since the new format was instituted for the 2018-19 season.

Cleveland State secured the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye for the third-straight season by virtue of winning the tiebreaker over Northern Kentucky who also clinched quarterfinal hosting duties for the third consecutive season and the No. 4 seed after winning its regular season finale at Oakland, 78-63.

The top-four seeds earn a bye to the quarterfinals and a home game on Thursday, March 2. The quarterfinal round winners will advance to the semifinals on March 6 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Oakland is the No. 5 seed for the Barbasol Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship for the second-straight season and earns the final bye out of the first round after closing the season with an 11-9 HL record.

RMU comes in as the No. 6 seed and Wright State is the No. 7 seed as both teams ended the regular season at 10-10 in League play with the Colonials holding the tiebreaker due to a win over top-seeded YSU earlier this week. Detroit Mercy finished as the No. 8 seed and Purdue Fort Wayne came in at No. 9 as both teams finished with a 9-11 mark in HL play, but the Titans held the tiebreaker by winning the season series. RMU, Wright State and Detroit Mercy will host first round matchups on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

Rounding out the seeds are Green Bay at No. 10 and IUPUI at No. 11 as the Phoenix won the tiebreaker due to their win at Milwaukee on Feb. 6.

The 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships will begin Feb. 28 and March 2 at campus sites and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #REACHtheHORIZON on March 6-7 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.

Tuesday’s first-round action will feature three games as No. 6 RMU will host No. 11 IUPUI, No. 7 Wright State welcomes No. 10 Green Bay and No. 8 seed Detroit Mercy will face No. 9 Purdue Fort Wayne.

Every game of the tournament will be carried on ESPN networks with the first round and quarterfinal games streamed on ESPN+. The first semifinal game in Indianapolis will be on ESPNU starting at 7 p.m. ET on March 6 followed by semifinal No. 2 on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. ET. The championship game will broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2 at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 7.

For complete information on the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships and to score your tickets to the semifinals and championship in Indianapolis, visit HorizonLeague.com/Indy.

RESULTS

GAME	RECAP
Wright State 82, Detroit Mercy 71	Box Score
Northern Kentucky 78, Oakland 63	Box Score
Purdue Fort Wayne 78, Green Bay 61	Box Score
Youngstown State 93, IUPUI 79	Box Score
Milwaukee 81, Cleveland State 72	Box Score

2023 BARBASOL #HLMBB CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

DATE	GAME	Time (ET)	TV
Tuesday, Feb. 28	No. 6 RMU vs. No. 11 IUPUI	7 p.m.	ESPN+
	No. 7 Wright State vs. No. 10 Green Bay	7 p.m.	ESPN+
	No. 8 Detroit Mercy vs. No. 9 Purdue Fort Wayne	7 p.m.	ESPN+
Thursday, March 2	No. 4 Northern Kentucky vs. No. 5 Oakland	7 p.m.	ESPN+
	No. 1 Youngstown State vs. Lowest-remaining seed	8 p.m.	ESPN+
	No. 2 Milwaukee vs. Second lowest-remaining seed	8 p.m.	ESPN+
	No. 3 Cleveland State vs. Second highest-remaining seed	8 p.m.	ESPN+
Monday, March 6	Semifinal No. 1 Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed	7 p.m.	ESPNU
	Semifinal No. 2 Second-highest remaining seed vs. Second-lowest remaining seed	9:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Tuesday, March 7	Championship	7 p.m.	ESPN or ESPN2