MOBILE, Ala. – The South Alabama men's basketball team (16-15, 8-10 SBC) will open play in the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament on Thursday, March 7, as they take on the Georgia Southern Eagles at 11:30 a.m. in the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. 

Game Information vs. Georgia Southern

Tip-off: Thursday, March 7 | 11:30 a.m. CST

Site: Pensacola Bay Center | Pensacola, Fla.

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Notes

• South Alabama closed the regular season, winning six out of eight final regular season games with an average margin of victory of 12 points. They defeated Southern Miss twice, Texas State, NIU, ULM, and Georgia Southern before falling to Arkansas State twice.
•  Freshman Marcus Millender has been a dominant force for the Jaguars as of late. Millender set a new career-high with 27 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc against Arkansas State on Feb.22. He has also been a floor general for South Alabama, compiling 39 assists in the last ten contests. Only two other Freshman at South have secured 100 assists in their Freshman season (1982: Joe Karr 138, 1985: Jeff Hodge 106, 2024: Marcus Millender 106)
• Samuel Tabe has been on a tear in the last six games. Tabe has scored 131 points in the last six, averaging 21.8 points and five rebounds per contest. After scoring the most points by any player in the Richie Riley era against Arkansas State on Feb. 17, Tabe followed up that performance, finishing with 29 points and five rebounds against Southern Miss before scoring 27 points and seven rebounds at Arkansas State on Feb.22. This was good enough to earn the first Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week honors for South Alabama this season on Feb.27.
• South Alabama comes into the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament as the No.8 seed for the second year in a row. They had the same overall record (16-15) and were the same seed last season on their magical run to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship game.
•  The Jags have been incredibly efficient from the free-throw line this year. South ranks second in the Sun Belt in free throw percentage, shooting 74.8 percent from the charity stripe. Through 31 games, this is the third-highest team free-throw percentage in program history. South also set a new season-high in free throws made with 31 against Georgia Southern.
• Julian Margrave has made 24 three-pointers in the last seven contests. Margrave led the Jags in their game against Southern Miss on Feb.28, shooting 6-of-10 from three-point range to earn 18 points. In that eight-game stretch, Margrave has only attempted two two-point field goals, shooting 24-for-42 from behind the arc, and 23- for-44 from the field.  

Georgia Southern Notes (8-23; 8-10)

• Tyren Moore leads the Eagles, averaging 16.3 points, three assists, and 2.8 rebounds per game. Moore has had a week full of accolades as he was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week after averaging 28 points, four assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game in wins over Marshall and Old Dominion. He also received All-Sun Belt second-team honors in the Sun Belt's postseason awards. 
• Georgia Southern ranks second in the Sun Belt in three-point percentage, shooting 35.1 percent per contest and making 9.4 triples per game. 
• The Eagles are an efficient free-throw shooting team. They shoot 73.1 percent from the line, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt.

Last Time Against Georgia Southern 

South Alabama got back in the win column with a 78-65 win over Georgia Southern. Samuel Tabe led the way, scoring 20 points, shooting 10-11 from the field with seven rebounds, and Julian Margrave scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from downtown. The Jags asserted themselves on the boards throughout the night, winning the rebounding battle 31-23, marking the ninth time the Jags had an advantage in the battle on the boards this season. In addition, they made a season-high 31 free throws on 37 attempts. 

The Jags led for 35 of the final 40 minutes of the game and led by as many as 19 points in the final five minutes. 

The Series

- Overall: South Alabama leads 17-11

- The last time these teams met in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, South Alabama picked up a 67-61 win over Georgia Southern in the first round of the Tournament in 2016. 

First Matchup: 1/22/76-- W 81-66

Last Matchup: 2/7/24--- W 78-65

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