2018-19 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Weekly News and Notes:
Week 17 Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship | Media Guide

AROUND #SUNBELTMBB
• ESPN+ has live coverage of 11 of 12 Sun Belt men’s basketball matchups over the penultimate week of the 2018-19 regular season.

• As the calendar turns to March, the madness kicks in as the regular-season title race take shape. This week’s matchups are particularly intriguing as the teams at the top of the standings are taking on teams vying to the final spots in the 10-team field for the 2019 Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship. Texas State remains in first with an 11-4 record with Georgia State and Georgia Southern, each at 10-5, and UTA at 9-6 close behind. The Bobcats have the tough task trying to capture its first Sun Belt regular-season title with their three remaining games on the road, including a March 9 date at in-state rival UTA. Georgia Southern is hot right now having won four in a row and close out the regular season with three games at home. The Eagles rank sixth in NCAA Division I in field goal percentage (.501) and 15th in scoring at 83.6 points a game. Georgia State has two of its final three contests at home, but the road game is at in-state rival Georgia Southern. The Panthers scored a nine-point win (81-72) over the Eagles in their Feb. 2 meeting in Atlanta.

• The Sun Belt forecasts the final four conference games of its 20-game smart schedule that begins with the 2019-20 season as a part of the league’s men’s basketball strategic plan.

• Arkansas senior guard Ty Cockfield II and ULM senior guard Daishon Smith are in a unique club. Through games of Feb. 25, the Sun Belt duo are among just seven players in NCAA Division I to average at least 22.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game this season. Cockfield is averaging 22.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists while Smith is averaging 22.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. According to CBB Reference, the only two Sun Belt players to accomplish this statistical feat for a full season since 1992-93 are New Orleans’ Bo McCalebb (2004-05, 2006-07 and 2007-08) and UTPA’s Greg Guy (1992-93). 

• Georgia State junior guard D’Marcus Simonds is averaging 18.2 points per game for his career, which ranks 16th among active Division I players and leads the Sun Belt. His 614 career field goals made are the most in school history and rank in top 35 among active Division I players.

• Georgia Southern’s brother-sister duo of senior guard Tookie and junior guard Alexis Brown are lighting it up for the Eagles this season. The top scoring siblings in NCAA Division I, Tookie (17.9 points per game) and Alexis (17.5 points per game) are leading their respective teams in scoring. For their careers, the Browns have scored more than 3,000 points - 2,217 for Tookie and 883 for Alexis. Both wear No. 4 jerseys and are majoring in sport management. Tookie became just the eighth player in Sun Belt men’s basketball history to eclipse 2,000 career points when he surpassed the milestone on a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 18:14 mark in the first half at Troy on Jan. 17. He enters the week sixth on the conference’s all-time scoring list behind South Alabama’s Jeff Hodges in fifth with 2,221 points from 1985-89 and WKU’s Courtney Lee in fourth with 2,238 points from 2004-08. Among active Division I players, Brown ranks ninth in points, 15th in assists (510) and 18th in steals (194). He is vying to be the first player in conference history to be named to the All-Sun Belt first team in all four seasons.

• Louisiana senior forward JaKeenan Gant is the only Division I player averaging 20 points (20.3), 8.0 rebounds (8.7) and 2.75 blocks (2.81) per game. He ranks in the conference’s top five in five categories – first in blocks (2.81), tied for first in offensive rebounds per game (3.1), second in total rebounds per game (8.7) and field goal percentage (.538) and fourth in scoring (20.3). Gant remains among the nation’s best shot blockers, entering the week ranked fifth in total blocks (73) and sixth in blocks per game. His 45-point, 11-rebound effort against Little Rock on Jan. 5 marked the sixth time this season a Division I player notched a 40-point, 10-rebound game. He enters the week needing just 34 points to reach 1,000 for his Louisiana career.

• The Sun Belt’s top team across the major computer rankings – Texas State ranked 121st in the NCAA NET Rankings, Georgia Southern ranked 60th in the RealTime RPI, 95th in the ESPN Basketball Power Index and 97th in the Ken Pomeroy Ratings and 109th in the Jeff Sagarin Rankings and Georgia State ranked 60th in the CBS Sports RPI and 85th in the KPI Rankings. As a conference, the Sun Belt is ranked 17th by the NCAA NET Rankings, Sagarin Rankings and RealTime RPI. Sun Belt teams combined for a .500 or better record against 11 other Division I conferences during the regular season.

• In the latest CollegeInsider.com Men’s Mid-Major Top 25, Texas State (20th) was ranked with Georgia Southern and Georgia State receiving votes. 

• Several Sun Belt men's and women's basketball programs are participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. The 3-Point Challenge is a nationwide program that unites college and high school basketball teams and their fans for a common cause – ending cancer. Fans donate for every three-point shot their team makes or join their team as a fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society’s life-saving mission. This year’s college initiative runs from February 1 to March 5.

• Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter is once again competing in the INFINITI “Timeout For the Win” Challenge. This year, Hunter is one of 48 basketball coaches taking a “TIMEOUT FOR THE WIN” (#TIMEOUTFTW) to defeat cancer by raising one million dollars for Coaches vs. Cancer through various donation methods, activations and events. Through March 11, fans can vote for their favorite coach via INFINITITIMEOUT.com or social media (Twitter and Instagram). There are three required elements to trigger a social media vote – post a back and white picture of yourself taking a basketball timeout and include the hashtags #TIMEOUTFTW and #CoachRonHunter in your social media copy. The three coaches with the most votes will receive a portion of INFINITI’s $600,000 donated in their name to the American Cancer Society.

• The 2019 Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 12 and 14-17. The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 12, with two first-round games taking place at on-campus sites. The remaining eight teams converge on Lakefront Arena in New Orleans starting on Thursday, March 14, with the winner earning the league’s automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. First-round, second-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games are set for live coverage on ESPN+. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Complete ticket information is available on SunBeltSports.org.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern (Sr., G, Madison, Ga.)
Georgia Southern senior guard Tookie Brown posted a stellar week in helping the Eagles move into a tie for second place. Brown averaged 22.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two road wins. He was 12-of-21 (.571) from the field, connecting on three of his four shots from three-point land, and 18-of-22 (.818) from the free throw line. Brown started the week with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists at Coastal Carolina. He followed that with 28 points and eight rebounds at Appalachian State. Against the Mountaineers, Brown scored eight points in a 20-3 Georgia Southern run in the first half. This marks his sixth Player of the Week honor of his career. The Madison, Ga., native is now the only player in Sun Belt history with more than 2,000 career points and 500 career assists.

2018-19 Weekly Award Winners
November 13: D'Marcus Simonds, Georgia State
November 20: Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern
November 27: Nijal Pearson, Texas State
December 3: Nijal Pearson, Texas State
December 10: Alonzo Sule, Texas State
December 17: Ty Cockfield II, Arkansas State
January 7: Daishon Smith, ULM
January 14: JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana
January 21: Jordon Varnado, Troy
January 28: JaKeenan Gant, Louisiana and Trhae Mitchell, South Alabama
February 4: Zac Cuthbertson, Coastal Carolina and Brian Warren, UTA
February 11: Daishon Smith, ULM
February 18: Ty Cockfield II, Arkansas State
February 25: Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Thursday, February 28
*Little Rock at Georgia Southern (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Arkansas State at Georgia State (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Texas State at Troy (ESPN+), 6 p.m.
*Appalachian State at ULM (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
*Coastal Carolina at Louisiana (ESPN+), 7 p.m.
*UTA at South Alabama (ESPN+), 7 p.m.

Saturday, March 2
*Little Rock at Georgia State (ESPN+), Noon
*Coastal Carolina at ULM (ESPN+), 2 p.m.
*UTA at Troy (ESPN+), 2 p.m.
*Arkansas State at Georgia Southern, 4 p.m.
*Texas State at South Alabama (ESPN+), 7 p.m.

Sunday, March 3
*Appalachian State at Louisiana (ESPN+), 1:30 p.m.

*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times are Central and Subject to Change