Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Week 10)

2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule

2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Standings

2015-16 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide

First-Place, Rivalry Showdowns Highlight Busy Week

NEW ORLEANS – A rivalry showdown in Jonesboro, Ark., tonight highlights the upcoming week of Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball play as second-place Arkansas State hosts undefeated Little Rock in a 7:35 p.m. CT game on ESPN3 tonight. The Red Wolves (8-8, 4-1) are tied with UT Arlington (13-3, 4-1) in second in the standings just one game behind the Trojans (15-1, 5-0).

Little Rock is off to its best start in program history and is looking for its eighth road win of the season on Monday night. With a win the Trojans would tie Monmouth for the nation’s lead in true road wins this year. The Red Wolves are looking to bounce back after it saw its four-game win streak snapped on Saturday in an 86-72 loss to Appalachian State.

UL Lafayette (7-8, 3-3), the preseason favorites in the league, won back-to-back contests in Georgia last week led by the Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year, senior Shawn Long. Long earned this week’s Student-Athlete of the Week award by averaging 23.0 points, 17.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in the Ragin’ Cajuns’ first two road victories last week.

Long shot a blistering 76 percent (19-for-25) from the floor while going 7-for-10 from the free throw line during the week. He went 10-for-13 from the field, including a 3-pointer, scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in a 74-65 win at Georgia Southern on Thursday. He also recorded three steals and blocked two shots in helping the Ragin’ Cajuns earn their first-ever win at Hanner Fieldhouse, a 74-65 win vs. the Eagles. Against Georgia State, in a battle of the league’s last two winners of the Sun Belt Conference tournament, Long scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds in helping lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to their first-ever win at the GSU Sports Arena. He finished 9-for-12 from the floor and was perfect from the free throw line in five attempts. He also dished out two assists and blocked two shots.

Last week’s two double-doubles were the 10th and 11th of his season and increased his career total to 63 – the most among active NCAA student-athletes. He also became the first student-athlete in Sun Belt Conference history to grab 1,200 rebounds in a career and enters this week needing 13 points to join the 2,000-point club. He has averaged 21.0 points and 15.2 rebounds in his last five games while going 41-for-75 (.547) from the floor.

Other notable performances last week came from Appalachian State senior Frank Eaves, the leading scorer in the Sun Belt Conference at 20.3 points per game, and Texas State senior Emani Gant. Eaves notched 11 points and was a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe in the Mountaineers’ loss at Little Rock. On Saturday, Eaves tallied his fourth 30-point game of the season and fifth of his career with a 31-point effort in an 86-72 rout of A-State. Gant paced Texas State with 17.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game against South Alabama and Troy on the road. In Mobile, the senior forward recorded his third double-double of the season and seventh in his Bobcat career with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He became the first Texas State student-athlete to record a 20-10 game since March 2013.

In addition to Monday night’s rivalry game on ESPN3 in Jonesboro, another rivalry contest sits on deck in Atlanta, Ga., for Tuesday night. The third-place Georgia State Panthers (11-4, 4-2) host in-state rivals Georgia Southern (6-10, 2-4) for a 6:30 p.m. CT tip from the GSU Sports Arena. The game will also be available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. The weekend schedule features a pair of important showdown in Arlington, Texas, as UT Arlington hosts Arkansas State on Thursday and Little Rock on Saturday. Both games could significantly alter the top of the standings with all of those teams currently occupying the top three spots.

The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship will be held from Mar. 10-13, 2016, at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. The top eight teams in the regular season standings will compete for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. All games of the tournament will be televised by ESPN3 with the championship game set for a Noon C.T. tip on Selection Sunday, Mar. 13, and an ESPN2 broadcast.

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WEEK 10 SUN BELT CONFERENCE STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Senior, Forward)

The Sun Belt Conference Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year helped lead UL Lafayette to its first two road wins of the season, averaging 23.0 points, 17.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals … shot a blistering 76 percent (19-for-25) from the floor while going 7-for-10 from the free throw line during the week … went 10-for-13 from the field, including a 3-pointer, scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds in a 74-65 win at Georgia Southern on Thursday … recorded three steals and blocked two shots in helping the Ragin’ Cajuns earn their first-ever win at Hanner Fieldhouse … against Georgia State in a battle of the league’s last two teams to reach the NCAA Championships, scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds in helping lead the Ragin’ Cajuns to their first-ever win at GSU Sports Arena … finished 9-for-12 from the floor against the nation’s fifth-best team in scoring defense (59.9 ppg.) and was perfect from the free throw line in five attempts … dished out two assists and blocked two shots … the double-doubles were the 10th and 11th of the season and increased his career total to 63 – the most among active NCAA players … became the first player in Sun Belt Conference history to grab 1,200 in a career and enters this week needing 13 points to join the 2,000-point club … has averaged 21.0 points and 15.2 rebounds in his last five games while going 41-for-75 (.547) from the floor.

RECENT RESULTS

Thursday, January 14

UL Lafayette 74, Georgia Southern 65

Georgia State 65, UL Monroe 51

Texas State 78, South Alabama 67

Little Rock 81, Appalachian State 55

UT Arlington 90, Troy 63

Saturday, January 16

UL Lafayette 87, Georgia State 54

Georgia Southern 66, UL Monroe 51

South Alabama 88, UT Arlington 85

Troy 66, Texas State 57

Appalachian State 86, Arkansas State 72

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Monday, January 18

Little Rock at Arkansas State* 7:35 PM CT (ESPN3)

Tuesday, January 19

Georgia Southern at Georgia State* 6:30 PM CT (ESPN3)

Thursday, January 21

Georgia State at Appalachian State* 6:30 PM CT (ESPN3)

Troy at UL Monroe* 7:00 PM CT

Arkansas State at UT Arlington* 7:15 PM CT

South Alabama at UL Lafayette * 7:15 PM CT

Little Rock at Texas State* 7:30 PM CT

Saturday, January 23

Georgia Southern at Appalachian State* 2:30 PM CT ESPN3

South Alabama at UL Monroe* 4:00 PM CT

Arkansas State at Texas State* 4:30 PM CT

Troy at UL Lafayette* 6:15 PM CT (ESPN3)

Little Rock at UT Arlington* 7:15 PM CT

* - Indicates Sun Belt Conference game

(All Times CT)

NEWS AND NOTES

NCAA TOURNAMENT SUCCESS

The Sun Belt Conference begins the 2015-16 season following unprecedented postseason success to last year. Georgia State earned a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and upset No. 3 seed Baylor in the first round. Of the 32 conferences with automatic qualifiers into the tournament the Sun Belt Conference was one of 15 to win a game in the tournament.

POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT PROWESS

The Sun Belt Conference was one of the premier mid-major basketball conferences last season as demonstrated by its postseason success. The league was one of just three (Missouri Valley & Pac-12) where its members earned a win in the NCAA Tournament along with wins in at least two other postseason tournaments. UL Monroe advanced to the final of the College Basketball Invitatinoal (CBI) last year while UL Lafayette reached the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).

HISTORIC TV PACKAGE

The Sun Belt Conference has its largest television package ever for men’s and women’s basketball for the 2015-16 season. ESPN3 will carry 99 games during the 2015-16 season to go along with two nationally-televised rivalry games on ESPN2. The two ESPN2 rivalry clashes will be UT Arlington at Texas State on Feb. 9, 2016, and Georgia State at Georgia Southern on Feb. 23, 2016. On-campus productions delivered on ESPN3 offer unique opportunities for students and staff at each Sun Belt Conference member institution in live-game production. ESPN3 is streamed live on WatchESPN platforms across computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices. It is accessible to more than 99 million households to fans with an affiliated internet or video provider.

LITTLE ROCK’S RECORD START

The Trojans nearly finished non-conference play with a perfect record, starting 10-0 before its first loss of the season at Texas Tech on Dec. 22. The 10-game win streak to start the year was the best in program and Sun Belt history. The streak matched a program record, and was the first 10-game winning streak for Little Rock since the 1987-88 season. A win on Monday night would give Little Rock eight true road wins this season and tie Monmouth for the most in the country.

THOMAS’ TRIPLE-DOUBLE RARITY

Junior Donte Thomas led Arkansas State to an 89-67 win at South Alabama on Saturday (Jan. 2) with a triple-double of 14 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. It marked the third triple-double in Arkansas State program history and just the fifth by a Sun Belt Conference student-athlete in a conference game since the 1998-99 season.

LITTLE ROCK IN THE RANKINGS

Little Rock received as many as five votes in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches polls during its record 10-game winning streak to open the season. It marked the first time a Little Rock team had received votes in the AP Poll since Feb. 1988.

RPI Rankings

Little Rock leads the Sun Belt Conference in the latest RPI rankings at No. 66, while UT Arlington at No. 67 and Georgia State at No. 97 give the league three teams inside of the Top 100 (More than the Conference-USA and Mountain West Conference).

LONG SETS ALL-TIME REBOUNDING MARKS

Shawn Long became the all-time leading rebounder in Sun Belt history on Saturday, Jan. 9. Long grabbed 15 rebounds to increase his career total to 1,196 and pass former South Alabama standout Augustine Rubit (1,183 rebounds). He also became the leading rebounder in Ragin’ Cajuns basketball history after pulling down a season-high 14 boards on Friday, Nov. 20, at SEC opponent Alabama. Long tipped in a Steven Wronkoski miss with 5:47 remaining to record his 1,065th career rebound and pass former Ragin’ Cajuns standout Roy Ebron (1,064 from 1971-73) as the school’s all-time leader.

HISTORIC FOUR-DAY STRETCH

UT Arlington stunned Memphis 68-64 on Nov. 23 at FedEx Forum to put the wraps on an impressive two-game sweep over perennial basketball powers. The Mavs were three nights removed from beating Ohio State on the road. UTA improved to 3-1 with the win after withstanding a second-half charge that saw the Tigers rally from 10 points down with a 15-0 run. The Mavericks regrouped down the stretch and claimed their first victory over Memphis in three tries.

TROJANS RANK NATIONALLY

Little Rock continues to lead the nation in scoring defense (55.8 ppg) and ranks second in defensive field goal percentage (36.2). The Trojans are fifth in country in free throw percentage (77.0) and third in turnover margin (6.0).

MAVS OFF TO RECORD START

UT Arlington’s 13-3 start is its best in program history. The Mavs are also 4-1 in Sun Belt Conference play for the first time ever.

LITTLE ROCK DEFATS MW FAVORITES

Saturday (Nov. 21), the Trojans became just the 12th team and sixth non-Mountain West member to beat the San Diego State in Viejas Arena since 2005. The win was Little Rock’s third-ever over a Mountain West opponent, and first since Colorado State on Nov. 30, 2002.

Two on Lou Henson Watch List

UL Lafayette senior Shawn Long and UT Arlington junior Kevin Hervey were named to the Lou Henson Mid-Season Watch List. Long was named the Preseason Student-Athlete of the Year. Hervey currently leads the Mavericks in scoring and rebounding.

MR. DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Anthony Livingston posted his 22nd career double-double at South Alabama with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was his 14th against Sun Belt foes and second against South Alabama. Livingston has a double-double against each Sun Belt opponent, except for ULM. The Warhawks held Livingston to eight points and six rebounds on Jan. 7. With 22 career double-doubles, Livingston ranks 20th among active NCAA Division I players. Shawn Long (UL-L) leads the nation with 63 double-doubles in his career. Livingston is second (22) among active players in their second season at the NCAA Division I level. Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State) has 24 to lead second-year players.

A SUN BELT MAINSTAY

Head Coach John Brady announced his resignation following the end of the 2015-16 season on Monday. He is in his eighth season at A-State and is one win shy of 400 victories in his 25 seasons on the bench. Brady holds a record of 399-333 (.545 win pct.) in stops at Samford, LSU and A-State. He is the active leader among Sun Belt Conference coaches in conference victories with 66, ahead of current UL Monroe head coach Keith Richard.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE

Shawn Long has been a double-double machine in his career for the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, totaling 63 double-doubles in 116 games. With nine double-doubles in the 2015-16 season, Long has extended his NCAA active lead. Here is a list of the top 10 active leaders in double-doubles in the nation through Jan. 14.

NAME G D-D

1. Shawn Long, UL Lafayette 116 63

2. Chris Horton, Austin Peay 109 49

Jameel Warney, Stony Brook 117 49

4. Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville 120 44

5. Joel Bolomboy, Weber State 113 43

Josh Hawkinson, Washington State 73 32

7. Rico Gathers, Baylor 124 31

8. Josh Scott, Colorado 108 31

Devin Thomas, Wake Forest 111 30

10. Venky Jois, Eastern Washington 104 29

ELITE COMPANY

Georgia State has won 25 games in each of the last two seasons, the second-best totals in school history. Only 20 programs in the country have won at least 25 games in each of the last two years. The elite group includes: Kentucky, Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, Gonzaga, Louisville, Wichita State, Kansas, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Virginia, Villanova, VCU, Stephen F. Austin, San Diego State, N.C. Central, Louisiana Tech, SMU and Dayton.

Williams Hits USA Milestone

Ken Williams became the 15th student-athlete in South Alabama history to score 1,000 points in their career after pouring a team-high 13 points Thursday vs. Texas State. He moved up one spot to No. 14 after putting up 23 points vs. Texas-Arlington, tying his career high with six 3-pointers.

Boyanov Sparks Jags Upset

Georgi Boyanov recorded his team-leading fifth double-double of the year vs. UT Arlington, scoring a career-best 24 points with a game-high 11 rebounds to lead South Alabama to an 88-85 overtime victory. He also tied his career-high with three steals and shot 13 for 14 from the free-throw line. Boyanov leads the league in field-goal percentage (.560).

DEFENDING THEIR COURTS

Dating back to last season, Little Rock has won nine straight games at the Jack Stephens Center. The win Thursday vs. Appalachian State set a new arena record for the program.Georgia State is 33-2 in the comfy confines of the GSU Sports Arena since the 2013-14 season, with the only losses coming in double-overtime to Texas State last year and a regulation defeat to UL Lafayette on Saturday, Jan. 16.



GANT HITS MILESTONE

Texas State’s Emani Gant scored his 800th career point on Saturday at Appalachian State. The senior forward scored 10 points to give him 802 in his Bobcat career.

Mavs Find Consistency

UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross has used two different starting lineups this season after employing 19 last season.

BROWN PACES EAGLES

Tookie Brown is ranked in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in scoring (6th, 17.1 ppg), assists (7th, 3.5 apg), free-throw percentage (15th, .773), steals (T-1, 2.2), 3-point percentage (5th, .387) and assist/turnover ratio (5th, 1.8).

DEFT DEFENSE

ULM has held SBC opponents to under 75 points in 35 straight games including postseason play. It limited UL Lafayette to 70 points to begin conference action this year. ULM went 47 consecutive games overall without allowing a 75-point scoring team which was the second longest in the country. It was snapped at Houston on Nov. 28 on a jumper with nine seconds left.

TOPS ON THE GLASS

UT Arlington leads the nation in total rebounds per game at 45.71. The Mavericks have out-rebounded their Sun Belt competition 138-100 through three conference games.

YOUTH IN STATESBORO

Georgia Southern returns just four scholarship letterwinners from last season’s 22-9 team that advanced to the Sun Belt Conference Championship game. With 11-of-12 scholarship student-athletes who are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores (92 percent), Georgia Southern has the highest percentage of underclassmen on its current roster of the 345 NCAA Division I squads. Liberty (91 percent), Ohio State (85 percent), Fairleigh Dickinson (85 percent) and Wyoming (80 percent) round out the top-5. Georgia Southern lost 76 percent of its scoring and 72 percent of its rebounding from last season. Georgia Southern opens a four-game homestand by playing host to South Alabama Thursday. The Eagles also play host to Troy, ULM and UL Lafayette during the stretch.

#FUNBELT TO THE NBA

The Sun Belt Conference became one of seven conferences nationwide to have back-to-back first round selections in the NBA Draft last year. Former UL Lafayette guard Elfrid Payton went No. 10 overall to the Orlando Magic in the 2014 draft while former Georgia State guard R.J. Hunter went No. 28 overall to the Boston Celtics last year. The Sun Belt joined the American Athletic Conference, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC.