NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference’s 2024-25 men’s basketball campaign featured exciting moments from the MAC-SBC Challenge on opening night through March Madness and the postseason.
MARCH MADNESS: Troy (23-11, 13-5 SBC) secured the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship crown and earned the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans made their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and first since 2017. Troy suffered a first-round defeat to No. 3 seed Kentucky, 76-57, in Milwaukee, Wis.
NIT SELECTION: Arkansas State (25-11, 13-5 SBC) earned a bid to the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), marking the fourth straight season a Sun Belt team competed in the event. In their fifth NIT appearance in program history and first since 1991, the Red Wolves rolled to a wire-to-wire home victory, 103-78, over Saint Louis in the first round. The win was the first by a Sun Belt team in the NIT since former league member UT-Arlington in 2017. Arkansas State suffered a 65-63 road loss at North Texas in the second round on a tiebreaking shot with 1.1 seconds remaining.
TROJAN TRIUMPH: The No. 3 seed Troy defeated No. 4 seed Arkansas State, 94-81, in the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Championship final. The Trojans defeated Old Dominion (75-59), James Madison (79-60) and Arkansas State in consecutive days – and all by double digits – to secure their second Sun Belt tournament crown and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Troy’s 94 points in the title game were tied for the fourth-most all-time by any team in a Sun Belt title game and the most since South Alabama scored 95 in 2006.
CO-CHAMPION QUARTET: Four teams earned a share of the 2024-25 Sun Belt Conference regular season championship after South Alabama, James Madison, Troy and Arkansas State posted 13-5 records in league play. South Alabama claimed its 10th crown in program history and first since 2007-08, while James Madison claimed its first as a member of the Sun Belt. Troy’s title was its second overall and first since 2009-10, while Arkansas State claimed its fifth overall and first since 2012-13.
20-WIN CLUB: Arkansas State (25), Troy (23), South Alabama (21), James Madison (20) and Marshall (20) each recorded at least 20 victories in 2024-25, while Troy is the only Sun Belt team with at least 20 total wins in four-consecutive campaigns. Additionally, the Sun Belt has now had at least four teams reach the 20-win benchmark in four-consecutive years. James Madison has three-straight 20-win campaigns, as Arkansas State reached the milestone in back-to-back seasons, while South Alabama accomplished the feat for the first time since 2021-22.
OBINNA’S BLOCK PARTY: Marshall graduate forward Obinna Anochili-Killen finished the season ranked No. 1 nationally in blocks per game (3.19) and No. 2 in total blocks (102). He produced just the fourth season with triple-digit blocks in Sun Belt history and tied for the second most in a year in league history. His 102 rejections were the most by a Sun Belt player since Arkansas State’s Jason Jennings achieved the same total during the 2000-01 campaign.
NATIONAL LEADERS: Sun Belt teams programs among the nation’s leaders in numerous statistical categories throughout the season:
| Category |
School |
National Rank |
Total |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio |
South Alabama |
18 |
1.55 |
| Bench Points/Game |
Georgia Southern |
12 |
30.76 |
| Blocks/Game |
Marshall |
7 |
5.5 |
FG Pct. Defense |
South Alabama |
5 |
.385 |
| App State |
9 |
.391 |
| Arkansas State |
25 |
.405 |
| Troy |
28 |
.406 |
Fouls Per Game |
App State |
6 |
13.4 |
| South Alabama |
9 |
13.4 |
| ULM |
17 |
14.0 |
| Off. Rebounds/Game |
Old Dominion |
6 |
14.29 |
| Troy |
11 |
13.85 |
| Arkansas State |
18 |
13.36 |
| Rebounds/Game |
Arkansas State |
7 |
40.72 |
| Troy |
26 |
38.56 |
| Old Dominion |
31 |
38.43 |
Scoring Defense |
App State |
12 |
63.5 |
| South Alabama |
18 |
64.6 |
| Troy |
26 |
65.7 |
| Steals/Game |
Troy |
10 |
9.4 |
| South Alabama |
13 |
9.3 |
| 3-Pt. Attempts/Game |
Arkansas St. |
17 |
29.0 |
| 3-Pt. Pct. Defense |
App State |
8 |
.295 |
| Arkansas State |
17 |
.302 |
| Turnover Margin |
South Alabama |
6 |
4.8 |
| Turnovers/Game |
South Alabama |
7 |
9.3 |
Additionally, multiple players were among the nation's best in multiple statistical categories:
| Category |
Name |
School |
National Rank |
Total |
| Blocks |
O Anochili-Killen |
Marshall |
2 |
102 |
| C. Swanton-Rodger |
Old Dominion |
31 |
61 |
| Double-Doubles |
Sean Durugordon |
Old Dominion |
9 |
17 |
| Denijay Harris |
Southern Miss |
9 |
17 |
| C.J. Huntley |
App State |
32 |
11 |
| Izaiyah Nelson |
Arkansas State |
39 |
10 |
| Rebounds/Game |
Denijay Harris |
Southern Miss |
10 |
10.6 |
| Nick McMullen |
Georgia State |
17 |
9.5 |
| Sean Durugordon |
Old Dominion |
27 |
9.1 |
| Off. Rebounds/Game |
Sean Durugordon |
Old Dominion |
7 |
3.89 |
| Izaiyah Nelson |
Arkansas State |
29 |
3.19 |
| Nick McMullen |
Georgia State |
32 |
3.15 |
| Steals |
Tayton Conerway |
Troy |
3 |
98 |
| 3-Pt. FG Att. |
Robert Davis Jr. |
Old Dominion |
1 |
348 |
| Toneari Lane |
Georgia State |
35 |
255 |
| 3-Pt. FG Pct. |
Bryce Lindsay |
James Madison |
33 |
.408 |
| 3-Pt FG/Game |
Robert Davis Jr. |
Old Dominion |
5 |
3.41 |
| Adante’ Holiman |
Georgia Southern |
14 |
3.24 |
MAC-SBC CHALLENGE: Sun Belt teams collected eight home wins in 12 contests against Mid-American Conference opponents in the first round of the second year of the MAC-SBC Challenge on the season’s opening night, Nov. 4. The MAC countered with the same tally on its home courts on Feb. 8 to finish the Challenge deadlocked at 12 wins apiece. Sun Belt teams have now won 27 of 48 (.563) total games in the MAC-SBC Challenge dating back to the inaugural event in 2023-24. The Sun Belt captured the first
MAC-SBC Challenge with 15 wins across the 24 total matchups during the 2023-24 campaign
PORTSMOUTH TRIO: Three Sun Belt standouts players were selected to compete in the prestigious and 71st Annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament April 16-19 in Portsmouth, Va. App State graduate forward C.J. Huntley, Marshall graduate forward Obinna Anochili-Killen and Georgia State senior center Cesare Edwards will take the court in Portsmouth after all three players earned All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team honors this season.
COACHING MILESTONE: Troy’s Scott Cross became just the eighth men’s basketball head coach in Sun Belt history to record 100 conference victories in the Trojans’ 77-57 home win over Georgia State on Dec. 21. Cross finished the season in a tie for fourth place all-time with former South Alabama head coach Ronnie Arrow with 112 wins.
COMEBACK HISTORY: Arkansas State earned an improbable comeback victory, 98-89, in overtime at UAB on Dec. 15 which tied for the sixth-largest comeback win in NCAA Division-I history. Trailing by as many as 27 points in the second half, Arkansas State became just the sixth team ever to overcome a deficit of 25 or more at halftime while tying for the third largest halftime comeback in D-I history.
ACCOLADE ARMORY: Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball players and coaches garnered an array of national recognition through the conclusion of the 2024-25 season:
NABC All-District (Second Team)
Myles Tate, App State
Taryn Todd, Arkansas State
Lou Henson Award (Finalist)
Tayton Conerway, Troy
Mark Freeman, James Madison
Riley Wallace Award (Finalist)
Mark Freeman, James Madison
Joe B. Hall Award (Finalist)
Cornelius “Corny” Jackson, Marshall
Mike Jones, Old Dominion