Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 13)
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Standings
2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide
UT Arlington, Texas State Set for ESPN2 Clash on Tuesday Night
NEW ORLEANS – UT Arlington and Texas State meet tomorrow night in San Marcos in an important rivalry clash at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Mavericks (15-7, 6-5) and Bobcats (9-11, 3-8) are looking to earn an important conference win as the race for conference tournament seeding heats up.
UT Arlington snapped a four-game losing streak last week with a 90-69 win at Georgia State on Saturday. The Mavericks swept the season series with the Panthers thanks to Jorge Bilbao’s team-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Texas State will be looking to bounce back from a four-game losing streak on Tuesday night after it suffered two narrow losses last weekend against Georgia State (59-56) and Georgia Southern (66-62).
The Eagles swept the weekend series against UT Arlington and Texas State thanks to the efforts of freshman Tookie Brown. He averaged 25.5 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal. The 5-foot-11 guard shot 60 percent from the field and 54 percent from 3-point range. He scored 20-plus points in each game, giving him eight contests with 20 or more this season. He also scored in double figures for the 21st time this year and has reached the mark in each of the last 20 games. He netted 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting and matched his career high with seven assists to go along with two steals against UTA.
Brown posted 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 from long distance against Texas State. He has led the Eagles in scoring 11 times and is 19 points shy of breaking Georgia Southern’s freshman scoring record. He ranks sixth nationally among freshman in scoring with 18.2 points a game and is half of the second-highest scoring freshmen duo in the country with Ike Smith. He is the first Georgia Southern student-athlete and just the second freshman in the conference to earn the Student-Athlete of the Week award.
Other notable performances last week came from Little Rock’s Marcus Johnson Jr. and UL Lafayette’s Shawn Long. Johnson led the Trojans to another undefeated weekend after he scored in double figures both games and averaged 14.5 points in wins over Troy and South Alabama. Johnson posted a 4.0 assist-to-turnover ratio and finished the week shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 63.6 percent from 3-point range. Long averaged 23.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in a pair of wins for UL Lafayette, extending the Ragin’ Cajuns win streak to eight games, while becoming the 19th student-athlete in NCAA history to score 2,100 points and grab 1,300 rebounds in a career.
The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship will be held from Mar. 10-13, 2016, at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. The top eight teams in the regular season standings will compete for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All games of the tournament will be televised by ESPN3 with the championship game set for a Noon C.T. tip on Selection Sunday, Mar. 13, and an ESPN2 broadcast.
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WEEK 13 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Tookie Brown (Georgia Southern, Freshman, Guard)
Averaged 25.5 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal in a 2-0 week for the Eagles… The 5-foot-11 guard shot 60 percent from the field and 54 percent from 3-point range… Scored 20-plus points in each game, giving him eight contests with 20 or more this season… Scored in double figures for the 21st time this year and has reached the mark in each of the last 20 games… Netted 26 points on 10-20 shooting and added matched his career high with seven assists to go along with two steals against UTA… Posted 25 points on 8 of 10 from the floor and 4 of 5 from long distance against Texas State… Has led the Eagles in scoring 11 times and is 19 points shy of breaking Georgia Southern’s freshman scoring record… Ranks sixth nationally among freshman in scoring with 18.2 points a game and is half of the second-highest scoring freshmen duo in the country with Ike Smith.
RECENT RESULTS
Tuesday, February 2
UL Lafayette 72, UL Monroe 65
Thursday, February 4
UL Lafayette 87, Appalachian State 76
Georgia Southern 82, UT Arlington 73
Georgia State 59, Texas State 56
Little Rock 72, Troy 49
Arkansas State 79, South Alabama 73
Saturday, February 6
UT Arlington 90, Georgia State 69
UL Monroe 91, Appalachian State 90
Georgia Southern 66, Texas State 62
Little Rock 74, South Alabama 43
Troy 71, Arkansas State 70
Tuesday, February 9
UT Arlington at Texas State 8:00 PM CT (ESPN2)
Thursday, February 11
Little Rock at UL Monroe 7:00 PM CT
Georgia State at South Alabama 7:05 PM CT
Arkansas State at UL Lafayette 7:15 PM CT
Appalachian State at Texas State 7:30 PM CT
Georgia Southern at Troy 7:30 PM CT
Saturday, February 13
Arkansas State at UL Monroe 4:00 PM CT
Georgia Southern at South Alabama 4:05 PM CT (ESPN3)
Little Rock at UL Lafayette 4:15 PM CT
Georgia State at Troy 4:15 PM CT
Appalachian State at UT Arlington 7:15 PM CT
* - Indicates Sun Belt Conference game
(All Times CT)
NEWS AND NOTES
NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
The Sun Belt Conference begins the 2015-16 season following unprecedented postseason success to last year. Georgia State earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and upset No. 3 seed Baylor in the first round. Of the 32 conferences with automatic qualifiers into the tournament the Sun Belt Conference was one of 15 to win a game in the tournament.
POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT PROWESS
The Sun Belt Conference was one of the premier mid-major basketball conferences last season as demonstrated by its postseason success. The league was one of just three (Missouri Valley & Pac-12) where its members earned a win in the NCAA Tournament along with wins in at least two other postseason tournaments. UL Monroe advanced to the final of the College Basketball Invitatinoal (CBI) last year while UL Lafayette reached the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).
HISTORIC TV PACKAGE
The Sun Belt Conference has its largest television package ever for men’s and women’s basketball for the 2015-16 season. ESPN3 will carry 99 games during the 2015-16 season to go along with two nationally-televised rivalry games on ESPN2. The two ESPN2 rivalry clashes will be UT Arlington at Texas State on Feb. 9, 2016, and Georgia State at Georgia Southern on Feb. 23, 2016. On-campus productions delivered on ESPN3 offer unique opportunities for students and staff at each Sun Belt Conference member institution in live-game production. ESPN3 is streamed live on WatchESPN platforms across computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices. It is accessible to more than 99 million households to fans with an affiliated internet or video provider.
LITTLE ROCK’S RECORD START
The Trojans nearly finished non-conference play with a perfect record, starting 10-0 before its first loss of the season at Texas Tech on Dec. 22. The 10-game win streak to start the year was the best in program and Sun Belt history. The streak matched a program record, and was the first 10-game winning streak for Little Rock since the 1987-88 season. Little Rock is tied for the best record in the nation at 21-2 and joined the 1992-93 New Orleans squad as the only other Sun Belt Conference team to win 21 of 23 games to start a season.
TRIPLE-DOUBLE RARITIES
Junior Donte Thomas led Arkansas State to an 89-67 win at South Alabama on Saturday (Jan. 2) with a triple-double of 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It marked the third triple-double in Arkansas State program history. UT Arlington Erick Neal recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists to earn the program’s first triple-double. Those triple-doubles are just the fifth and sixth by a Sun Belt Conference student-athlete in a conference game since the 1998-99 season.
LITTLE ROCK IN THE RANKINGS
Little Rock has appeared in the USA Today Coaches Poll in six separate weeks this season, including three straight from Jan. 11 to Jan. 25. Little Rock received as many as five votes in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches polls during its record 10-game winning streak. It marked the first time a Little Rock team had received votes in the AP Poll since Feb. 1988.
LITTLE ROCK’S WINNING WAYS
Little Rock is off to its best start in program history and its first 20-win season since 2008-09. The Trojans are now 11-0 at home on the season, and have won 13 straight games at the JSC dating back to last season.
TROJANS RANK NATIONALLY
Little Rock continues to lead the nation in scoring defense (57.2 ppg) and ranks fifth in defensive field goal percentage (37.0). The Trojans are 10th in country in turnover margin (3.9) and 23rd in turnovers per game (10.8).
LONG SETS ALL-TIME REBOUNDING MARKS
Shawn Long has been a rebounding machine during his three-plus seasons in a Ragin’ Cajuns uniform, averaging 10.5 rebounds per game for his career. Against Alabama on Nov. 20, Long became the school’s all-time leading rebounder, passing Roy Ebron (1,064) before passing former South Alabama standout Augustine Rubit as the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time leading rebounder. Long has pulled down 1,218 rebounds in his career.
HISTORIC FOUR-DAY STRETCH
UT Arlington stunned Memphis 68-64 on Nov. 23 at FedEx Forum to put the wraps on an impressive two-game sweep over perennial basketball powers. The Mavs were three nights removed from beating Ohio State on the road. UTA improved to 3-1 with the win after withstanding a second-half charge that saw the Tigers rally from 10 points down with a 15-0 run. The Mavericks regrouped down the stretch and claimed their first victory over Memphis in three tries.
TWO ON LOU HENSON WATCH LIST
UL Lafayette senior Shawn Long and UT Arlington junior Kevin Hervey were named to the Lou Henson Mid-Season Watch List. Long was named the Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year.
LITTLE ROCK DEFATS MW FAVORITES
Saturday (Nov. 21), the Trojans became just the 12th team and sixth non-Mountain West member to beat the San Diego State in Viejas Arena since 2005. The win was Little Rock’s third-ever over a Mountain West opponent, and first since Colorado State on Nov. 30, 2002.
MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Anthony Livingston posted his 25th career double-double on Thursday (Jan. 28) with 22 points and 12 rebounds against Georgia State. The double-double was his 18th against Sun Belt foes and second against the Panthers. Livingston has a double-double against each Sun Belt opponent, except for ULM. The Warhawks held Livingston to eight points and six rebounds Jan. 7. With 25 career double-doubles, Livingston ranks 13th among active NCAA Division I players. Shawn Long (UL Lafayette) leads the nation with 64 double-doubles in his career. Livingston is tied with Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State) for most double-doubles (25) among active student-athletes in their second season in Division I.
A SUN BELT MAINSTAY
A-State head coach John Brady earned his 400th career win on Jan. 18 against Little Rock with the 76-73 victory. Brady opened his coaching career with 89 victories in six seasons at Samford (1991-97). He continued his career by picking up 192 wins in 11 years at LSU (1997-2008). In his eighth season at A-State (2008-present), Brady has 119 wins to his credit. Of the 122 coaches with 400 career wins, 67, including Brady, have been to the Final Four. Note that all totals are for wins as a Division I coach only.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
Shawn Long has been a double-double machine in his career for the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, totaling 67 double-doubles in 121 games. With 15 double-doubles in the 2015-16 season, Long has extended his NCAA active lead. Here is a list of the top 10 active leaders in double-doubles in the nation through (Feb. 2).
NAME G D-D
1. Shawn Long, UL Lafayette 121 67
2. Jameel Warney, Stony Brook 123 53
3. Chris Horton, Austin Peay 115 52
4. Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville 125 48
5. Joel Bolomboy, Weber State 118 47
6. Josh Hawkinson, Washington State 79 35
7. Josh Scott, Colorado 114 34
8. Venky Jois, Eastern Washington 110 32
9. Kyle Collinsworth, BYU 126 31
Rico Gathers, Baylor 130 31
Devin Thomas, Wake Forest 117 31
ELITE COMPANY
Georgia State has won 25 games in each of the last two seasons, the second-best totals in school history. Only 20 programs in the country have won at least 25 games in each of the last two years. The elite group includes: Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, Gonzaga, Louisville, Wichita State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Virginia, Villanova, VCU, Stephen F. Austin, San Diego State, N.C. Central, Louisiana Tech, SMU and Dayton.
EMERGING MOUNTAINEER
Ronshad Shabazz has emerged as a go-to scorer for the Mountaineers and averaged 22.5 points per game last week. Against ULM, Shabazz tallied 27 points - finishing just two shy of his career high.
BOYANOV’S CAREER GAME
Georgi Boyanov recorded his seventh double-double of the year Thursday (Feb. 4) at Arkansas State with a team-high 20 points and new career bests of 14 rebounds and six steals. His steals total is tied for 10th in school history for a single game and tied for fourth in a league contest. The last player to have six or more thefts in a game was Demetric Bennett vs. Texas College (7) on Dec. 19, 2006.
EAVES SCORES MILESTONE
Appalachian State senior Frank Eaves eclipsed 1,000 career points and was just the 31st student-athlete in program history to accomplish that feat (83 career games). App State boasted two 20-point scorers for the first time this season (Eaves - 25pts, Shabazz - 20pts) last week.
HERVEY OUT FOR SEASON
Sophomore forward Kevin Hervey is out for the rest of the season after MRI results last Friday afternoon revealed a torn left ACL. Hervey suffered the injury prior to last Thursday night’s game against Arkansas State. Hervey was among the Sun Belt leaders in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (9.8). The Arlington Bowie product had eight double-doubles this season.
PANTHERS DEFEND THEIR COURT
Georgia State is 34-3 in the comfy confines of the GSU Sports Arena since the 2013-14 season.
HOT-SHOOTING MOUNTAINEERS
Frank Eaves tied a Holmes Center record against Georgia Southern with 37 points and nine made three-point field goals. Ronshad Shabazz topped his previous career-high of 21 points with a 29-point performance against Georgia Southern last Monday. He also recorded career highs in field goals (10). The 100 points scored against Georgia Southern was the first 100-point game for the Black and Gold since a 100-68 win over Milligan on Dec. 21, 2013.
GANT’S REBOUNDING MILESTONE
With his 11-rebound performance at Georgia Southern, Texas State’s Emani Gant moved into a tie for 19th on the schools career rebounding list. The senior forward now has 498 in his Bobcat career. He is tied with Matt Staff (2010-13) and David Skyes (1999-03).
YOUTH IN STATESBORO
Georgia Southern returns just four scholarship letterwinners from last season’s 22-9 team that advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Championship game. With 11-of-12 scholarship student-athletes who are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores (92 percent), Georgia Southern has the highest percentage of underclassmen on its current roster of the 345 NCAA Division I squads. Liberty (91 percent), Ohio State (85 percent), Fairleigh Dickinson (85 percent) and Wyoming (80 percent) round out the top-5. Georgia Southern lost 76 percent of its scoring and 72 percent of its rebounding from last season. Georgia Southern opens a four-game homestand by playing host to South Alabama Thursday. The Eagles also play host to Troy, ULM and UL Lafayette during the stretch.
#FUNBELT TO THE NBA
The Sun Belt Conference became one of seven conferences nationwide to have back-to-back first round selections in the NBA Draft last year. Former UL Lafayette guard Elfrid Payton went No. 10 overall to the Orlando Magic in the 2014 draft while former Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter went No. 28 overall to the Boston Celtics last year. The Sun Belt joined the American Athletic Conference, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.