CLEVELAND, Miss. - For the second time in four years, the Delta State University men's basketball team are going to the "Big Dance" after receiving the third seed in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament and will face the sixth-seeded Christian Brothers University on Saturday, March 11 at 12 p.m. CDT at Spragins Hall in Huntsville, Ala.

 

GAME DAY INFO	NCAA SOUTH REGION TOURNAMENT
Date/Opponent	March 11: Delta State vs. Christian Brothers
Date/Location/Time	March 11: Spragins Hall/Huntsville, Ala. - 12 p.m. CDT
Series History/Last Meeting	DSU leads all-time series w/ CBU 57-38  - Last Meeting: 2.18.17 - DSU W, 69-67
Audio/Video	March 11: Listen Here | Watch Here
Live Stats	March 11: Follow Here
Game Notes	Delta State vs. Christian Brothers

 

• Delta State fell in the Gulf South Conference Tournament in the semifinal round against Alabama Huntsville, but received an at-large bid into this years tournament.
• Delta State is making its 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since the 2013-14 season. The Statesmen are 16-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and will be looking for their first postseason tournament win since falling to Tuskegee College, 59-80, at the Jenkins Field House in the South Region title game.
• The Statesmen boast a 5-3 record this season versus the field at the 2017 NCAA South Region Men's Basketball Tournament. The Green-and-White are 104-76 all-time versus the field as well.
• This will also be the second time in head coach Jim Boone's five seasons at the helm that the Statesmen have reached the post season. Boone has also taken three other Division II institutions to the NCAA Tournament, and in his 21 years of coaching at the Division II level has reached the post season 10 times (six at California Pa., one at Tusculum, one at West Virginia Wesleyan and twice at Delta State).
• Delta State swept the Bucs in the regular season by a total of three points that seperated the two, as the Statesmen claimed the 65-64 victory with five seconds to go after Cedric Harper had a monster dunk at Canale Arena on Jan. 2. The next meeting, James Kilpatrick and Devin Schmidt combined for 37 points in the 69-67 win at Walter Sillers Coliseum on Feb. 18.
• The Bucs are led by a duo of scoring leaders in Adam Dieball (17.4 ppg) and Jeff Larkin (17.3 ppg). Earlier this season, Larkin scored 21 points in the 65-64 defeat of the Bucs, while the Statesmen contained Dieball to only seven points. In the last meeting, Miller and Dieball combined for 30 points and 13 rebounds in the 69-67 Statesmen win.
• As a team, the Statesmen average 76.2 points per game, which ranks ninth in the conference. On the defensive side of the ball, Delta State continues locking down its opponents to an average 71 points per game to rank second in the GSC.
• Senior guard Devin Schmidt reached this level during his freshman season and now returns for his senior season, is averaging 22.8 points per game which ranks second in the league and 4.8 assists per game to also rank second.
• Schmidt has scored 2,558 career points (21 ppg), is 43 percent (857-of-1992) from the floor and 35.9 percent from three-point range (302-of-841). He needs 12 points to become the GSC's all-time leading scorer, a record that has stood since the late 1970's.
• In the game against Shorter (Feb. 28), he eclipsed the 500 career assist mark with six assists and is only one rebound shy of 700 career rebounds. Schmidt was named to the First Team All-GSC and All-GSC Tournament Team last week.
• Junior Cedric Harper continues to be clutch for the Statesmen, Harper has averaged 13 points in the last four games and ranks second in the conference with 1.8 blocked shots per game. Ravion Henry continues to make a splash off the bench averaging 9.8 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game.

The winner of the Delta State-Christian Brothers game will face the victor between Valdosta State (26-5, No. 2 seed) and Rollins (21-10, No. 7 seed) on Sunday, March 12 at 5 p.m. in the semifinals.