PENSACOLA, Fla. – Louisiana and Old Dominion collected victories in first-round action at the 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve on Tuesday evening at the Pensacola Bay Center.
The No. 12 seed, Louisiana (11-21) outscored No. 13 seed Georgia State (10-22) by 11 points in the second half for an 84-75 win, while No. 11 seed Old Dominion (12-20) defeated No. 14 seed ULM (4-28), 87-80, to win its fourth Sun Belt tournament game in the last two seasons.
The second round of the Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship is slated for Wednesday, March 4 with two games beginning at 5 and 7:30 p.m., respectively.
Game 1: (12) Louisiana 84, (13) Georgia State 75 (Box Score)
Louisiana sophomore guard Jaxon Olvera scored a career-high 29 points and led all players with nine rebounds to send the Ragin’ Cajuns to the second round of the tournament.
Georgia State used a stretch of seven-consecutive field goals made to build its largest lead of the game, 24-17, with 10:01 remaining in the first half, but Louisiana countered with a 13-0 scoring run from that point to pull ahead by six in less than four minutes of game time. The Panthers closed the half with 14-6 scoring run to take a 38-36 edge into halftime.
Louisiana trailed, 41-36, early in the second half before erupting with 13-straight points to reclaim the lead with 15:26 remaining. The Ragin’ Cajuns built their first double-digit advantage, 58-48, with just under 12 minutes to go. They widened the margin to as many as 13 points with under five minutes left and didn’t allow the Panthers to draw closer than six to close out the win.
Georgia State redshirt sophomore guard Jelani Hamilton scored 16 of his team-high 20 points in the first half.
Louisiana advances to face ninth-seeded James Madison at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
Game 2: (11) Old Dominion 87, (14) ULM 80 (Box Score)
Senior guard K.C. Shaw led five Monarchs in double-figure scoring with 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as Old Dominion scored the first 14 points of the game and never looked back for a wire-to-wire win over ULM.
Old Dominion made 30 field goals, shot 50 percent from the floor and went 13-for-20 (.650) from 3-point range while committing just eight turnovers. Junior forward Jared Turner and junior guard Robert Davis Jr. added 15 points apiece off the bench, while senior guard L.J. Thomas has 12 points and senior guard Jordan Battle chipped in 10 more.
Old Dominion erupted from the jump by making its first eight shots from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers, to build a 19-3 lead just four minutes into the game. The Monarchs expanded the advantage to as many as 19 points, 27-8, with 12:21 to go before taking a 46-35 lead into halftime.
ULM battled back in the second half and drew within as few as five points inside the final minute, but Old Dominion earned stops to run out the clock.
The Warhawks were led by sophomore guard Krystian Lewis’ game-high 27 points, as senior swingman Lavell Brodnex registered a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds.
2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Presented By Air Force Reserve
Tuesday, March 3
Game 1 – (12) Louisiana def. (13) Georgia State, 84-75
Game 2 – (11) Old Dominion def. (14) ULM, 87-80
Wednesday, March 4
Game 3 – (9) James Madison vs. (12) Louisiana – 5 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 4 – (10) Georgia Southern vs. (11) Old Dominion – 7:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Thursday, March 5
Game 5 – (8) Southern Miss vs. Winner Game 3 – 5 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 6 – (7) Arkansas State vs. Winner Game 4 – 7:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Friday, March 6
Game 7 – (5) Texas State vs. Winner Game 5 – 5 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 8 – (6) South Alabama vs. Winner Game 6 – 7:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Saturday, March 7
Game 9 – (4) App State vs. Winner Game 7 – 5:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 10 – (3) Coastal Carolina vs. Winner Game 8 – 8 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Sunday, March 8
Game 11 – (1) Troy vs. Winner Game 9 – 5 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 12 – (2) Marshall vs. Winner Game 10 – 7:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Monday, March 9 (Championship)
Game 13 – Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12 – 6 p.m. CT [ESPN2]