PENSACOLA, Fla. – Southern Miss and Georgia Southern notched third round victories at the 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Air Force Reserve on Friday evening at the Pensacola Bay Center.
No. 8 seed Southern Miss defeated No. 5 seed Texas State, 81-77, for its second win in a row, before No. 10 seed Georgia Southern tied a Sun Belt tournament record with 23 made 3-pointers to stun No. 6 seed South Alabama, 94-85 and earned its third win in as many days.
The quarterfinals of the Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Championship are slated for Saturday, March 7 with games beginning at 5:30 and 8 p.m., respectively.
Game 7: (8) Southern Miss 81, (5) Texas State 77 (Box Score)
Southern Miss junior forward Tylik Weeks eclipsed 30 points for the second game in a row with 32 on 9-for-18 shooting while going 14-for-14 at the free throw line, as the Golden Eagles shot 53 percent overall to return to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2023.
Weeks scored 23 of his high game-high 32 points in the second half and shot 9-for-18 overall while going 14-for-14 at the free throw line.
In a first half that featured seven ties and eight lead changes, Southern Miss held the lead for almost 14 minutes of the period while shooting 13-for-23 (.565) from the floor. Both teams attacked the opposition’s interior, but the Golden Eagles reclaimed the upper hand with five points inside the final minute to go ahead before halftime, 37-33.
Southern Miss led for the first 13 minutes of the second half and pulled ahead by as many as eight points, 58-50, but Texas State chipped away with a 10-1 scoring run to reclaim a one-point edge on a mid-range, fadeaway jumper by 2026 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year D.J. Hall with 6:51 to go.
Texas State would lead one more time, 62-61, but Southern Miss reclaimed the lead on a Weeks basket that proved to be the final lead change of the night.
Hall led the Bobcats with 25 points and 11 rebounds on 10-for-18 shooting, as senior guard Mark Drone chipped in 19 points.
Southern Miss advances to face fourth-seeded App State at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Game 8: (10) Georgia Southern 94, (6) South Alabama 85 (Box Score)
Redshirt senior forward Alden Applewhite led all players with 34 points on 11-for-12 shooting - including 8-for-9 from 3-point range - while senior guard Tyren Moore added 23 points and nine assists with six 3-pointers made.
The Eagles’ 23 triples made tied Troy’s Sun Belt tournament single-game record set in 2006, while their 44 attempts set a new standard. Georgia Southern has made 47 3-pointers in three tournament games which also broke ULM’s previous record of 37 established in 2019.
The lead was exchanged 11 times in the first half, as all but one of Georgia Southern’s 26 shot attempts in the period came from beyond the arc. The Eagles made 13 treys in the opening 20 minutes, but South Alabama was even more efficient offensively, shooting 13-for-25 overall, 5-for-8 from deep and 12-for-17 at the free throw line to take a 43-40 lead into halftime.
Leading, 53-52, the Jaguars scored nine-straight points capped by a Harris layup with just under 11 minutes to go to create the game’s first double-digit scoring margin. Georgia Southern cut the deficit to eight, 70-62, before getting scorching hot from outside and generating a 20-3 scoring run capped by an Applewhite trey to pull back ahead, 82-73, with 2:13 left. South Alabama was unable to compound consecutive scoring possessions, as the Eagles closed out the nine-point triumph.
Senior guard Chaze Harris led five South Alabama scorers in double-figures with 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Georgia Southern advances to face third-seeded Coastal Carolina at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
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 def. (12) Louisiana, 87-72
Game 4 – (10) Georgia Southern def. (11) Old Dominion, 88-84
Thursday, March 5
Game 5 – (8) Southern Miss def. (9) James Madison, 86-80
Game 6 – (10) Georgia Southern def. (7) Arkansas State, 80-77
Friday, March 6
Game 7 – (8) Southern Miss def. (5) Texas State, 81-77
Game 8 – (10) Georgia Southern def. (6) South Alabama, 94-85
Saturday, March 7
Game 9 – (4) App State vs. (8) Southern Miss – 5:30 p.m. CT [ESPN+]
Game 10 – (3) Coastal Carolina vs. (10) Georgia Southern – 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]