GAME NOTES: No. 25 Delta State University (23-5) at GSC MBB Tournament (3.6-9.14)
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CLEVELAND, Miss. - The postseason begins Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m., as the No. 25 Statesmen (23-5, 16-4 GSC) of Delta State University open up Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Tourna- ment action against the University of West Florida (7-19, 6-14 GSC) at the Pete Hannah Center in Birmingham, Ala. DSU cliched the GSC regular season title for the first time since 2005-2006 hold the tournament's No. 1 seed.
Philip Tang will have the call on the Statesmen Sports Network beginning 15 prior to tipoff with the DSU Alumni Association Court Report.
The winner of the Delta State-West Florida matchup will face the winner of the Alabama-Huntsville versus Christian Brothers game on Saturday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the GSC Tournament Semifinals.
THE OPENING TIP
Don't let their 7-19 record fool you, the Argonauts of the Univer- sity of West Florida are one of the GSC's most dangerous teams offensively. The Statesmen have won four of the last five in the series after defeating UWF 71-57 in Pensacola, Fla., on Jan. 25 at The UWF Fieldhouse and falling 67-61 at Sillers Coliseum on March 1. DSU leads 9-4 in the all-time standings.
Delta State is seeking its seventh league championship this week at the Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. DSU's six GSC championships are the most by any member institution. The Statesmen also own GSC records for postseason tournament appearances (26), wins (26), semifinal berths (17) and finals appearances (12).
The Statesmen swept all three major Gulf South Conference postseason awards on Tuesday.
Willie Readus was named GSC Player of the Year and
Devin Schmidt captured GSC Freshman of the Year. In his second season at the helm, coach
Jim Boone received the GSC Coach of the Year Award.
Senior forward
Willie Readus, who averaged 19.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, and freshman point guard
Devin Schmidt, who chipped in 15.5 points and 4.1 assists per game, were named to the All-GSC First Team on Tuesday.
Senior guard
Cornel Knight cracked the career top 10 list for as- sists with 234 after handing out six versus Valdosta State and West Florida in the final week of the regular season.
Delta State enters the tournament ranked No. 25 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Top 25. The Statesmen have been ranked as high as No. 14 this year.
The NCAA DII Basketball Tournament is right around the corner and the Statesmen enter the week ranked No. 2 in the South Region behind Florida Southern.
DSU's resurgence has been fueled on the defensive end of the court, as the Statesmen continue to lead the GSC in scoring defense (65.5) and field goal percentage defense (39.5%) to the hardwood. DSU ranks 13th nationally in scoring defense and ninth in FG% defense.
It's amazing what
Jim Boone, the 2013-14 GSC Coach of the Year, has been able to accomplish in two seasons as head coach of the Statesmen. After inheriting a team that went 6-21 in 2011-12, Boone has engineered a resurgence for the record books. In his first season, DSU was 11-16 in 2012-13, but this year has been magical with a 23-5 regular season finish. The 28-year veteran coach is 464-349 all-time, but owns an outstanding 372-187 mark in NCAA DII play.
For complete Delta State University Men's Basketball notes, please click on the link above.
