Men's Basketball
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Men’s Basketball Saturday, March 25 - Postseason Contact: Randy Lieberman ([email protected]) Phone: 504-556-0872 Mercedes-Benz Superdome 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive New Orleans, LA 70112 | SunBeltSports.org | @SunBelt | #FunBelt Conference Overall W L PCT L10 STREAK PF PA TP W L PCT L10 STREAK PF PA TP UTA - & 14 4 0.778 8-2 L1 79.8 70.6 18 27 9 0.750 7-3 L1 78.3 70.3 36 Georgia State 12 6 0.667 6-4 W1 74.9 70.7 18 20 13 0.606 4-6 L2 74.0 70.1 33 Arkansas State 11 7 0.611 5-5 L2 71.8 68.9 18 20 12 0.625 4-6 L3 73.3 69.1 32 Georgia Southern 11 7 0.611 4-6 L2 75.4 73.2 18 18 15 0.545 4-6 L3 75.5 73.2 33 Texas State 11 7 0.611 6-4 W1 66.8 65.4 18 22 13 0.629 7-3 W2 67.5 63.1 35 Coastal Carolina 10 8 0.556 5-5 L1 71.7 72.3 18 19 17 0.528 6-4 W3 72.9 72.2 36 Louisiana 10 8 0.556 6-4 W6 79.1 79.3 18 21 12 0.636 7-3 L1 81.9 76.3 33 Troy - @ 10 8 0.556 7-3 W2 76.9 74.5 18 22 15 0.595 7-3 L1 77.6 71.4 37 South Alabama 7 11 0.389 4-6 W1 72.2 76.3 18 14 18 0.438 4-6 L1 71.4 72.6 32 Little Rock 6 12 0.333 3-7 L1 63.9 67.9 18 15 17 0.469 3-7 L2 68.4 68.3 32 Appalachian State 4 14 0.222 3-7 W1 69.8 76.7 18 9 21 0.300 3-7 L1 74.3 75.1 30 ULM 2 16 0.111 2-8 L3 64.1 70.6 18 9 24 0.273 2-8 L1 66.7 69.7 33 & - Regular Season Champions | @ - Tournament Champions SUN BELT NOTES POSTSEASON SCHEDULE/RESULTS Record Six The Sun Belt Conference sent a record six teams to the postseason for the 2016-17 season. It marked the first time ever (CIT started in 2009) that the Sun Belt sent a men’s basketball program to each of the NCAA MARCH 17 (FRIDAY - GREENVILLE, S.C.) Tournament, NIT, CIT and CBI. #2 Duke 87, #15 Duke 65 Together We Rise The Sun Belt is in a class of its own as a mid-major basketball league. It is the only mid-major conference that had both a first-round pick in the 2014 and 2015 NBA Drafts while also having a team win a game in the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments. Below is a list of MARCH 15 (WEDNESDAY) conferences that accomplished both of those feats: UTA 105, BYU 89 ACC Big Ten Big 12 2017 SUN BELT CHAMPIONSHIP PAC-12 SEC Sun Belt MARCH 20 (MONDAY) MARCH 8 (WEDNESDAY) UTA 85, Akron 69 Cinderella Lives Here First Round: #8 CCU 80, #9 USA 67 Little Rock’s thrilling 85-83 double-overtime win First Round: #12 ULM 73, #5 A-ST 70 (OT) MARCH 22 (WEDNESDAY) - QUARTERFINALS against No. 5 seed Purdue in the first round of the Cal State Bakersfield 80, UTA 76 NCAA Tournament last year made it a second year in First Round: #7 LA 78, #10 LR 71 a row a team from the Sun Belt shocked a favorite. First Round: #6 TROY 84, #11 APP 64 After Georgia State topped No. 3 seed Baylor 57-56 in the 2015 tournament, the Sun Belt has now joined an exclusive list of conferences with teams that have won MARCH 10 (FRIDAY) games in the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournaments: Quarterfinals: #1 UTA 74, #8 CCU 51 MARCH 15 (WEDNESDAY) ACC American Atlantic 10 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 80, Georgia State 64 Big East Big Ten Big 12 Quarterfinals: #4 Texas State 63, #12 ULM 51 Conference USA Missouri Valley PAC-12 Quarterfinals: #2 Georgia State 86, #7 Louisiana 76 MARCH 16 (THURSDAY) SEC Sun Belt West Coast Quarterfinals: #3 Georgia Southern 70, #6 Troy 90 Texas State 70, Lamar 60 Postseason Success MARCH 22 (WEDNESDAY) The Sun Belt has had plenty of success in postseason MARCH 11 (SATURDAY) Texas State 64, Idaho 55 tournaments outside of the Big Dance. Recently, ULM Semifinals: #1 UTA 62, #4 Texas State 83 made a run to the 2015 CBI championship series and MARCH 25 (SATURDAY) - QUARTERFINALS Louisiana advanced to the CIT quarterfinals in the 2015 Semifinals: #2 Georgia State 63, #6 Troy 74 Saint Peter’s at Texas State 4:00 PM (FB Live) season. Last year a record three teams participated in the CIT where Louisiana and UTA both advanced to the MARCH 12 (SUNDAY) quarterfinals. Final: #4 Texas State 53, #6 Troy 59 #FunBeltToTheNBA Two former student-athletes from the Sun Belt are MARCH 15 (WEDNESDAY) currently on an NBA roster. Coastal Carolina 83, Hampton 67 Utah Valley 74, Georgia Southern 49 Team Student-Athlete (School) Orlando Magic Elfrid Payton (LA) MARCH 20 (MONDAY) Philadelphia 76ers Shawn Long (LA) Coastal Carolina 72, Loyola (MD) 63 In addition there are four former Sun Belt student- MARCH 22 (WEDNESDAY) athletes playing professionally in the NBA D-League. Coastal Carolina 89, UIC 78 MARCH 27 (MONDAY) - CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Team Student-Athlete (School) Wyoming at Coastal Carolina 6:30 PM (ESPNU) Grand Rapids Drive Melvin Johnson (ASU) Fort Wayne Mad Ants Anthony Walker (UTA) MARCH 29 (WEDNESDAY) - CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES Long Island Nets R.J. Hunter (GSU) Coastal Carolina at Wyoming 8:00 PM (ESPNU) Maine Red Claws Josh Hagins (LR) Follow the #funBelt all times are central time and subject to change 1 /SunBeltConference @SunBelt @SunBelt SunBeltsports @SunBelt /SunBeltsports MEDIA SERVICES SUN BELT POSTSEASON HISTORY CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL Visit www.SunBeltSports.org to find 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship Central. When at the main page, mouse over “Championships” and click on “Men’s Basketball” to be taken to the championship central page. ANNUAL AWARDS The Sun Belt Conference will name three All- Conference teams and individual honors for Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the 2012 Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the year. 2009 All awards are decided upon by a vote at the end FIRST ROUND of the regular season by the league’s 12 head FIRST ROUND Rice 68, Louisiana 63 coaches and select members of the media. Charleston 93, Troy 91 EMAIL LIST-SERVE Media members may request to receive Sun Belt 2015 Conference News, Press Releases and Weekly 2015 FIRST ROUND Releases via email. Media should send an email Louisiana 83, Incarnate 68 to [email protected] or mcelwain@ FIRST ROUND sunbeltsports.org with the subject “Media News” ULM 71, Eastern Michigan 67 SECOND ROUND requesting to be added to the media distribution Louisiana 71, Sam Houston State 70 list. QUARTERFINAL ULM 71, Mercer 69 QUARTERFINAL Evansville 89, Louisiana 82 SEMIFINAL BASKETBALL CONTACTS ULM 71, Vermont 65 SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 2016 Randy Lieberman ......................504-556-0872 (O) Loyola Chicago 65, ULM 58 [email protected] ..504-250-4642 (C) Loyola Chicago 63, ULM 62 FIRST ROUND Louisiana 96, Texas A&M-CC 72 APPALACHIAN STATE Furman 58, ULM 57 Ben Winterrowd ........................828-262-7162 (O) UTA 75, Savannah State 59 [email protected] ....828-964-6409 (C) SECOND ROUND ARKANSAS STATE Louisiana 80, Furman 72 Mark Taylor ...............................870-372-3547 (O) [email protected] ...............870-219-5705 (C) THIRD ROUND UC Irvine 67, Louisiana 66 COASTAL CAROLINA NJIT 63, UTA 60 Darrell Orand ............................843-349-6467 (O) [email protected] ..................843-333-4067 (C) GEORGIA SOUTHERN Marc Gignac ..............................912-478-5288 (O) SUN BELT NOTES [email protected] .....980-297-9981 (C) Upset City Cradle of Coaches GEORGIA STATE UTA’s 65-51 win at #12 Saint Mary’s marked a third Experience meets opportunity in the Sun Belt with a mix Mike Holmes .............................404-413-4033 (O) consecutive year a Sun Belt team defeated an AP Top of illustrious coaching careers balanced by first-year [email protected] .....................404-259-9716 (C) 25 team. It was also the first regular-season win vs. head coaches and everything in between. Below is a an AP Top 25 opponent by a Sun Belt team since 2009. list of all coaches in the Sun Belt arranged by career LITTLE ROCK Arkansas State’s 78-72 win at Georgetown marked Division I wins (through March 22): Patrick Newton .........................501-569-3449 (O) the second year in a row a Sun Belt team has won a Coach School Career Wins true road game against a Big East school, after Little [email protected] ...................501-859-4537 (C) Rock won 66-44 at DePaul last year. Georgia State’s Cliff Ellis Coastal Carolina 735 64-56 win at Middle Tennessee on Dec. 21 marked the Bob Marlin Louisiana 354 LOUISIANA second time in three seasons the Panthers defeated an Ron Hunter Georgia State 345 Matt Sullivan .............................337-482-6331 (O) NCAA RPI Top 10 team. UTA’s victory at Texas was the Danny Kaspar Texas State 306 [email protected] .............985-981-0009 (C) second time in three seasons a Sun Belt team upset a Keith Richard ULM 228 Big 12 opponent. Little Rock’s 77-62 win vs.