PENSACOLA, Fla. – James Madison, Louisiana, South Alabama and Texas State all earned victories on Saturday at the Pensacola Bay Center to punch their tickets to the semifinal round of the 2023 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship. 

The day featured a pair of upsets of two of the tournament’s top-three seeds as eighth-seeded South Alabama defeated top-seeded Southern Miss and 11th-seeded Texas State beat third-seeded Marshall. 

The semifinal round of the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship is slated for Sunday at the Pensacola Bay Center. James Madison faces South Alabama at 5 p.m. CT, followed by Louisiana and Texas State at 7:30 p.m. CT. 

(8) South Alabama 78, (1) Southern Miss 61 (Box Score)
Owen White scored a season-high 23 points, including five three-pointers, to lead eighth-seeded South Alabama to a 78-61 win against top-seeded Southern Miss. 

South Alabama (18-15), which scored 52 points in the second half, got key contributions from a number of players. Isaiah Moore totaled 17 points, including 7-of-8 free throws, to complement a game-high seven assists and just two turnovers. Greg Parham II also turned in 17 points, including 8-of-9 free throws. Kevin Samuel, the 2023 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. 

The Jaguars scored the first six points of the game and opened up to a 10-5 advantage. Southern Miss led 27-26 at halftime. South Alabama took the lead, 47-45, on a pair of free throws by Mo Arnold with 8:47 left. The Jaguars pushed their lead to 15 points, 66-51, at the final media timeout of the game. South Alabama made 12 free throws in the game’s final five minutes. 

South Alabama shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field in the game, while Southern Miss shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51). Both teams were efficient at the free-throw line. The Golden Eagles made 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the charity stripe, while the Jaguars made 75 percent (18-of-24). Southern Miss won the rebound battle, 34-26. 

Southern Miss (25-7) was led by 18 points apiece from Felipe Haase and Denijay Harris. Harris turned in a double-double by adding a game-high 12 rebounds. Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Austin Crowley contributed 13 points. 

(4) James Madison 75, (5) Troy 72 (Box Score)
Terrence Edwards stuffed the stat sheet for fourth-seeded James Madison, which held off fifth-seeded Troy, 75-72. 

Edwards charted a game-high 27 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and a steal. It marked the sixth-most points ever scored by a JMU conference tournament game. The Dukes, in their first year in the Sun Belt Conference, earned their first conference tournament victory since 2019. 

James Madison (22-10) shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field, while limiting Troy to 38.7 percent (24-of-62) shooting. The Dukes held a double-digit advantage in the rebound margin, 46-35. 

Takal Molson totaled 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Alonzo Sule and Noah Freidel each had 10 points for James Madison. 

James Madison led for the majority of the game, but Troy used a 10-2 run in the game’s final three minutes to trim its deficit to one, 73-72, after a Zay Williams free throw. Williams missed his second free throw and Freidel corralled the rebound and then made two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to preserve the victory. 

Troy (20-13) was led by a team-high 26 points from Christyon Eugene and 20 from Nelson Phillips. Phillips also added a team-high nine rebounds. 

(11) Texas State 71, (3) Marshall 68 (Box Score)
Eleventh-seeded Texas State trailed for nearly 30 minutes in the game but powered by Mason Harrell’s team-high 17 points, the Bobcats upset third-seeded Marshall, 71-68. 

Texas State (16-18) used a 6-0 run over the game’s final two minutes, led by Harrell’s basket with seven seconds remaining to claim the victory. The Bobcats become the first double-digit seed to advance to the semifinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship. 

Harrell, who is averaging 16.7 points per game over his three games at the Sun Belt Championship, scored 17 on Saturday with a pair of three-pointers. His shots over the course of the week have come at the most clutch of times. 

Texas State trailed by as many as eight with five minutes left but closed the game on a 15-4 run. 

Tyrel Morgan’s lay-up with 1:03 remaining gave the Bobcats the lead for good. After a missed shot by Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey on the other end, Harrell made the jumper that sealed the win. 

Five Texas State players scored in double figures. Joining Harrell (17) and Morgan (10) were Nighael Ceaser (11), Nate Martin (10) and Jordan Mason (10). Ceaser achieved a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. 

Texas State shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) for the game, while limiting Marshall to 44.4 percent (24-of-54) shooting. The Thundering Herd held a 29-28 edge on the glass. 

Marshall (24-8) was led by Andrew Taylor’s 19 points, which included four three-pointers. Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Taevion Kinsey, who broke Marshall’s all-time career scoring record, totaled 18 in the game to complement eight rebounds and a game-high six assists. Kinsey now has 2,641 career points, which broke Jon Elmore’s record of 2,638. 

(2) Louisiana 67, (7) Georgia Southern 49 (Box Score)
All-Sun Belt Conference First-Team selection Jordan Brown turned in game highs of 16 points and 13 rebounds and second-seeded Louisiana led wire-to-wire in a 67-49 win against seventh-seeded Georgia Southern. 

Brown, who reached 1,000 career points at Louisiana during the game, was one of five Ragin’ Cajuns to reach double-figure scoring, joining Terence Lewis II (12), Jalen Dalcourt (11), Michael Thomas (11) and Greg Williams, Jr. (10). Terence Lewis also reached a double-double with 10 rebounds. 

Louisiana (24-7) shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field in the game, while Georgia Southern was held to 32.7 percent (18-of-55) shooting. The Ragin’ Cajuns controlled the boards 40-26. The Eagles’ 49 points were the fewest of the season for a Louisiana opponent. 

Georgia Southern (17-16) was led by Andrei Savrasov, who missed the team’s second-round game due to injury, and his team-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Kaden Archie also contributed 10 points for the Eagles. 

2023 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship

Tuesday, February 28
Game 1 – (13) Arkansas State 86, (12) Coastal Carolina 69
Game 2 – (11) Texas State 81, (14) Georgia State 76

Thursday, March 2
Game 3 – (8) South Alabama 68, (9) App State 61
Game 4 – (5) Troy 63, (13) Arkansas State 59
Game 5 – (11) Texas State 65, (6) Old Dominion 36
Game 6 – (7) Georgia Southern 66, (10) ULM 57

Saturday, March 4
Game 7 – (8) South Alabama 78, (1) Southern Miss 61
Game 8 – (4) James Madison 75, (5) Troy 72
Game 9 – (11) Texas State 71, (3) Marshall 68 
Game 10 – (2) Louisiana 67, (7) Georgia Southern 49

Sunday, March 5
Game 11 – (4) James Madison vs. (8) South Alabama – 5 p.m. CT
Game 12 – (2) Louisiana vs. (11) Texas State – 7:30 p.m. CT 

Monday, March 6
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 6 p.m. CT

All Times Central
All Games on ESPN+; Championship Game on ESPN2