Sun Belt Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament Semifinals Preview

Zac Capps March 8, 2026 4 minutes read

The Sun Belt quarterfinals saw two teams continue their Cinderella runs, and now Southern Miss and Georgia Southern now face the challenge of the top two seeds in the conference..

(1) Troy vs. (8) Southern Miss

Southern Miss continued its run on the top half of the bracket, defeating App State 86-73 in its third game in as many days. It now faces its biggest test, the regular-season champion Troy Trojans.

Troy earned its bye to the semifinals of the tournament after winning the regular-season title outright on the final night of the season. It is led by junior forward Thomas Dowd, who is the only returning starter from last year’s tournament team and is averaging 14.6 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. All-conference selection Victor Valdes leads the team in scoring (15), while fellow starters Cooper Campbell and Theo Seng also average double figures.

Tylik Weeks led the Golden Eagles once again in their win, scoring 28 points, which has been his only game of the tournament under 30 points. Center Tegra Izay came off the bench once again and provided a spark, adding six points and nine rebounds, and is playing the best ball of his season. Izzy Hart and Dylan Brumfield both added 16 points. Against the Mountaineers, Southern Miss held them to 24% from deep and outrebounded App State by 10.

The two teams have seen each other twice this season, with both getting a win. In the first game at Troy, the Trojans came away with the blowout victory. Cobi Campbell went for 30 points, and the team shot over 50% from the field and 40% from deep while forcing 18 turnovers. In the second game, Southern Miss snuck out with a four-point victory at home. Weeks went for 32 points and Djahi Binet hauled in 18 boards. The Golden Eagles had 21 fast-break points and 46 in the paint.

Tipoff: 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT)

TV: ESPN+

Radio: WTBF 94.7 (Troy) Southern Miss Radio Network (Southern Miss)

(2) Marshall vs. (10) Georgia Southern

Georgia Southern is the biggest surprise of the tournament, defeating Coastal Carolina in convincing fashion in its fourth game. It looks to continue its run against Marshall.

Marshall comes into the tournament as the No. 2 seed, beating out the other five teams in the tiebreaker. Wyatt Fricks was named first-team all-conference, averaging 15.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in his sophomore season. Jalen Speer led the team in scoring (15.7) and assists (5.5) and was also an all-conference selection. Center Matt Van Komen is a headline, as since his injury the team’s defense has struggled immensely, and it is not confirmed if he will play.

The Eagles are one of the hottest teams in all of college basketball and destroyed Coastal Carolina in the second half. Tyren Moore dropped a career-high 40 points and has set the tournament record for 99 points in a single competition. Alden Applewhite has been a massive scoring threat, but against the Chants he didn’t have to be and ended with a double-double. The Eagles forced 14 turnovers compared to their five and got 40 points in the paint compared to the Chants’ 12.

𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗧𝗬𝗥𝗘𝗡.@GSAthletics_MBB guard Tyren Moore has broken the 15-year old Sun Belt tournament record for total points with 9️⃣9️⃣. ☀️🏀 pic.twitter.com/0VhYgmWAuS

— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) March 8, 2026

These two teams have also played each other twice this season, both being high-scoring wins for the Eagles. In game one, Georgia Southern scored 101 points, led by Moore’s 32. They shot 47% from deep and got to the free-throw line 32 times in that game. In the second game on the final day of the season, Georgia Southern scored 99 points to win on national television. Moore once again led all scorers with 26, and the Eagles completely took over the game late despite trailing for more than half of the game.

Tipoff: 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. CT)

TV: ESPN+

Radio: WMUL 88.1 (Marshall), The Varsity Network (Georgia Southern)