Southern Miss Men’s Basketball Heads to Sun Belt Tournament in Pensacola
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Southern Miss men’s basketball team departs for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Florida, where it will face James Madison or Louisiana on Thursday night. The eighth seed Golden Eagles will tip off at 5 p.m. at the Pensacola Bay Center, with coverage on ESPN+ and the Southern Miss Radio Network, according to school officials.
Southern Miss finished the regular season with a 16-15 record and a 9-9 mark in conference play. The team is seeking its first tournament win since last year’s victory over Coastal Carolina, after a 1-3 record overall at the Pensacola Bay Center in previous Sun Belt tournaments.
The Golden Eagles have a strong recent history at the Pensacola Bay Center, winning the Pensacola Invitational in late November. Tylik Weeks was named tournament MVP, and Djahi Binet and Isaac Taveras earned all-tournament honors. In their last game at the venue, Southern Miss defeated UT Martin 70-60 in the championship, led by Weeks’ 14 points and seven rebounds.
Weeks, a junior forward, was named First Team All-Sun Belt earlier this week. He averaged 18.8 points per game during the season and 20.1 in league play, ranking second in the conference behind South Alabama’s Chaze Harris. Weeks scored in double figures in 28 games and had 14 20-point performances, including two 30-point games.
Southern Miss has relied heavily on free throws this season, making at least 20 in 11 games, a feat last achieved during the 2013-14 season. The team’s season-high of 27 free throws was accomplished in a win at Radford. The Eagles are 45-12 at home since the start of the 2022-23 season, including a 10-3 record this year.
In postseason history, Southern Miss is 1-2 on March 5, with its last win on this date a 66-64 victory over TCU in 2005. The team’s most recent tournament appearance was a quarterfinal win over Memphis in 1998.
Veteran guard Curt Lewis, born May 19, 1999, is among the oldest Division I players this season. Southern Miss will face either James Madison or Louisiana in the tournament’s first round, with the winner advancing to play Texas State on Friday.
Southern Miss’s non-conference schedule included notable road games at South Carolina, Miami, LSU, and Ole Miss. Fans can follow updates on social media @SouthernMissMBB for the latest news on the team’s tournament run.
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