LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Men's Basketball team opens up the GSC Tournament on Monday at 6:00 p.m. with a Quarterfinal matchup against No. 8 Seed Delta State at Pruitt Hall.
The 11th ranked team in the country, West Alabama (24-4, 19-3 GSC), enters the GSC Tournament as the No. 1 Seed after winning the Regular Season GSC Championship. The Tigers ended the regular season, winners of six of their last seven games. As for Delta State (11-18, 8-14 GSC), they punched their ticket to the GSC Tourney on the final day of the regular season, by defeating Mississippi College, 85-77.
West Alabama swept the season series against Delta State, winning 67-51 in Cleveland and 86-81 in Livingston. In the first meeting, UWA's Caleb Parr went for a season-high 26 points on 10-13 shooting while the Tigers defense completely stifled the Statesmen's offensive attack. DSU was only able to score 51 points on the night and shot 34.8 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from three.
In the second matchup, it was a tale of two halves. West Alabama's defense dominated the first half, outscoring Delta State, 45-31, before the Statesmen responded, by outscoring the Tigers in the second half, 50-41. 50 points is the most that UWA has allowed in a half this season.
Heading into the Tournament, West Alabama is averaging 78.4 points per game while holding opponents to 64.1 points per game. On the glass, the Tigers are one of the best in the nation, out-rebounding their opponents by 9.9 rebounds per game.
Rasean Frederick remains West Alabama's leading scorer with 12.2 points per game on 47 percent shooting while Elliot Tulip follows closely behind with 11.3 points on 46 | 44 | 90 percent shooting splits. Caleb Parr adds 10.8 points and creates one of the top shooting duos in the league with Tulip. BJ Brown Jr. proved to be one of the best playmakers in the country as he currently ranks eighth in the country with 5.9 assists per game along with 10.1 points. With Brown Jr. running the offense, UWA is only turning the ball over 9.6 times per game which is the fourth best mark in the nation. The anchor of West Alabama's defense is Christian Thompson. He's a top rim protector in the country and is in contention for the GSC Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the regular season, the junior averaged 9.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks on 60.4 percent shooting.
Delta State enters the postseason playing competition basketball. While they've only registered three wins over their last nine games, the contests have been decided by an average of 2.8 points. The Statesmen shoot the three ball more than any other team in the league, and if they can get hot, they are dangerous. Mississippi College found that out the hard way on Saturday as DSU buried 14 threes on a 48 percent clip in route to an eight-point win.
Delta State is led by one of the most dynamic scorers in the league in Dacory Porter. Porter is a score first combo guard who is averaging 17.6 points per game which ranks fifth in the league. The guard does most of his damage inside the three point line and is one of the best slashers in the league, shooting 49.2 percent from the floor. The Tigers haven't had an answer for Porter in their two meetings thus far as he's averaged 26.5 points per game against UWA this season.
Along with Porter, DSU's Je'Marion Westbrook is back after missing a handful of games, including the Statesmen's latest matchup against West Alabama. Westbrook is a 6'7" Forward who is averaging 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Since returning to Delta State's lineup, Westbrook is averaging 19.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Bryce Clayton is the best shooter on DSU's roster as the two-guard is averaging 12.1 points on 44 | 39 | 90 percent shooting splits.
West Alabama is one of the only teams to hold Delta State under 10 three-pointers this season. The Tigers achieved that in both meetings and if they can do it again on Monday, they'll be looking squarely at a GSC Semifinal berth.
Tip-off for Monday's game is set for 6:00 p.m. at Pruitt Hall.
