1977 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NCAA Basketball Conference tournament |

| Year=1977

| Conference = Missouri Valley Conference

| Division = I

| Gender = Men's

| FirstTournamentEver= yes

| Image =

| ImageSize = 200px

| Caption =

| Teams = 7

| Arena = Levitt Arena

| City = Wichita, KS

| Champions = Southern Illinois

| TitleCount = 1st

| Coach =Paul Lambert

| CoachCount = 1st

| MVP =

| MVPTeam =

}}

{{1976–77 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings}}

The 1977 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 28–March 5 at Levitt Arena on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.{{cite web| title=1976-77 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary| work =sports-reference.com| publisher =Sports Reference LLC| year=2016| url =https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/mvc/1977.html | accessdate =May 1, 2016}} This was the initial edition of the conference tournament.

Top-seeded Southern Illinois defeated {{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=West Texas A&M Buffaloes|title=West Texas State}} in the inaugural championship game, 82–69, to win their first men's basketball tournament.

The Salukis, in turn, received a bid to the 1977 NCAA tournament.

Bracket

{{7TeamBracket-2finals

| RD1 = First round
Monday, February 28

| RD2 = Second round
Tuesday, March 1 /
Wednesday, March 2

| RD3 = Semifinal
Friday, March 4

| RD4 = Final
Saturday, March 5

| RD1-seed1=4

| RD1-team1={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=West Texas A&M Buffaloes|title=West Texas State}}

| RD1-score1=96

| RD1-seed2=7

| RD1-team2={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=Tulsa Golden Hurricane|title=Tulsa}}

| RD1-score2=81

| RD1-seed3=5

| RD1-team3={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=Drake Bulldogs|title=Drake}}

| RD1-score3=80

| RD1-seed4=6

| RD1-team4={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=Bradley Braves|title=Bradley}}

| RD1-score4=73

| RD2-seed1=2

| RD2-team1={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=New Mexico State Aggies|title=New Mexico State}}

| RD2-score1=86

| RD2-seed2=4

| RD2-team2=West Texas State

| RD2-score2=89

| RD2-seed3=3

| RD2-team3={{cbb link|1976|sex=men|team=Wichita State Shockers|title=Wichita State}}

| RD2-score3=67

| RD2-seed4=5

| RD2-team4=Drake

| RD2-score4=63

| RD3-seed1=4

| RD3-team1=West Texas State

| RD3-score1=79

| RD3-seed2=3

| RD3-team2=Wichita State

| RD3-score2=68

| RD4-seed1=1

| RD4-team1=Southern Illinois

| RD4-score1=82

| RD4-seed2=4

| RD4-team2=West Texas State

| RD4-score2=69

}}

References