No. 1 seed UT Arlington will try to follow its outright regular-season title with tournament win

FRISCO, Texas – When the 2012 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament tips off Wednesday at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, UT Arlington will begin its quest to sweep of the conference’s regular season and tournament titles. The Mavericks are the No. 1 seed after winning the school’s second conference regular-season championship and its first outright title. UTA has won the tournament once and in doing so became the first No. 7 seed to win the Southland tournament in 2008. The regular-season champion has won the tournament 22 times in the previous 31 tournaments, including eight times since 2000.

Tournament Matchups

UT Arlington, which is making a record 26th appearance in the Southland tournament after missing the event last year, also was the tournament’s top seed in 2004 and won its only tournament title in 2008. UTA will open the tournament Wednesday at 6 p.m. against No. 8 seed Nicholls State. The Colonels are in the tournament for the fourth consecutive season and for the 12th time overall. Nicholls has a 10-19 overall record and was 6-10 in league games. UTA beat Nicholls State, 85-55 Jan. 7 in Arlington, in the only meeting this season between the teams

Stephen F. Austin is in the tournament for the 16th time overall and for the seventh consecutive season. The Lumberjacks, who won the tournament in 2009, are the No. 2 seed in this year’s tournament and are 19-11 overall and 12-4 in league play to finish second in the West Division. SFA will play No. 7 seed Sam Houston State Wednesday at noon. The Bearkats got past Texas State 63-61 last Saturday in San Marcos in a must-win game to make their 15th Southland tournament appearance and their 10th in a row. Sam Houston, which won the tournament in 2010, is 13-18 overall and finished 7-9 in league play. Stephen F. Austin won both games against the Bearkats this season, picking up a 67-66 overtime win Jan. 25 in Nacogdoches and a 58-47 victory Feb. 29 in Huntsville.

The second game Wednesday pits No. 3 seed Lamar and No. 6 seed Northwestern State at 2:30 p.m. Lamar is back in the tournament for the first time since 2008 after beating McNeese State 78-68 last Saturday to win the East Division with an 11-5 record. The Cardinals are 20-9 overall, winning 20 games for the first time since 1988. Lamar enters the tournament on a three-game win streak and as winners of eight of their last 11 games. Northwestern State is back in the tournament for the second consecutive year and the 15th time overall. The Demons are 16-15 overall and finished third in the East Division with an 8-8 league record.

No. 4 seed McNeese State and No. 5 seed UTSA meet in the final game Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. McNeese, which finished 15-14 overall and 10-6 in conference play though dropped its final three games, a stretch that was preceded by an eight-game win streak. The Cowboys are making their 25th overall tournament appearance and their second in a row. McNeese, the 2011 regular-season champion, will face UTSA, which won last year’s tournament. This year, the Roadrunners are 18-13 overall and were 10-6 in conference play, which was good enough for third in the West Division. The Roadrunners are making their 18th overall appearance in the Southland tournament and their fifth in a row. McNeese won the only meeting between the teams this year in a rematch of last year’s tournament final, 58-54 Feb. 15 in Lake Charles.

Television Coverage

The Southland Conference Television Network will televise both men’s semifinal games on Thursday at 6:05 p.m. and 8:33 p.m., Cdentral The semifinals will also be available on SLC NOW, ESPN Full Court and ESPN3.com. For a complete list of Southland TV Network affiliates, visit www.southland.org/television. The championship game will be played Saturday at 2:05 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2 and on ESPN3.com. The first six games will also be streamed live and for free on SLC NOW at Southland.org.

Other Ways to Follow the Tournament

. The official twitter feed, @MerrellMadness, will also have all the latest about the tournament. You can also follow @SouthlandSports or @Southland_TV for the latest updates of not only the conference tournament, but all Southland Conference sports. If facebook is your preferred social network, find us at

Tournament Champion Will Dance

The winner of the Southland Conference tournament is the league’s automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament. The expanded 68-team bracket for the tournament will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m., CDT, on CBS Sports. This year’s Final Four will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, March 31-April 2.

Tournament Tickets

Tickets are on sale for the 2012 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament at the Merrell Center box office and on Ticketmaster.com. Reserved all-tournament passes are available for $75, while general admission all-tournament passes are available for $60. Tickets are also available for each session of the tournament. A reserved ticket for each session is $18, while a general admission ticket is $13. Tickets to each championship game are $15 for a reserved ticket or $10 for general admission.

Back for Year No. 5 in Katy

The 2012 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament is back at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas for the fifth consecutive year. The 2012 tournament is the 13th in league history to be played at a neutral site and the sixth consecutive. The tournament was played in Shreveport, La., from 1995-2001 and was held in Houston in 2007 before moving to Katy in 2008.

Tournament Tidbits

• This is the 32nd Southland Conference tournament.

• The regular-season champion has won the tournament 22 times including two of the last three years. Stephen F. Austin won both titles in 2009 and Sam Houston State won both in 2010, but McNeese State, last year’s regular season champion, lost to UTSA in the tournament final.

• The regular-season champion has reached the final every year of the tournament except for three: 1994, 2000 and 2008.

• The top two seeds in the tournament this year are Texas schools. There have been seven all-Texas finals, including two of the last three years.

• There have been five all-Louisiana finals, but not since 2005 when Southeastern Louisiana beat Northwestern State in Natchitoches.

• Former Southland university Louisiana-Monroe won the tournament a record six times. Lamar and UTSA each have three tournament titles to lead all current schools.

• McNeese State’s next tournament victory will tie Louisiana-Monroe for the most wins. ULM won 21 games in 22 appearances. The Cowboys have 20 victories in 24 previous tournament appearances.

• UT Arlington is making a record 26th appearance in the tournament this year.

• UTSA and Northwestern State lead all current schools with six appearances in the championship game. Lamar is next with five. Louisiana-Monroe made 10 appearances in the final.

On a Neutral Court

The Southland Conference has played its postseason tournament on a neutral court every year since 2007. In those six years, only Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston State have participated every year. The Lumberjacks, who are making their seventh consecutive tournament appearance, and Sam Houston State, which earned its 10th consecutive tournament berth, face one another in the opening game of the tournament. It is a rematch of the 2010 final, which was won by the Bearkats. Stephen F. Austin has been the most successful team in the last six neutral-site tournaments, going 6-4 in a league-best 10 games. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 5-2, UTSA is 5-3 and Sam Houston State is 5-4 for the second most tournament wins since 2007.

Tournament Records Since 2007

Regular-Season Champion Has Used Neutral Floor to Sweep Titles Seven Times

Of the 13 times the Southland tournament has been played on a neutral floor, the regular-season champion has won seven tournament titles. Overall, the regular-season champion has 22 tournament titles.

Swept Season/Tourney Titles at Neutral Site

Field of Champions

All eight teams in this year’s Southland tournament have combined to win the event 16 times. Each team has at least one tournament title to its credit. Five of the eight teams have won the tournament since 2006: Northwestern State (2006), UT Arlington (2008), Stephen F. Austin (2009), Sam Houston State (2010) and UTSA (2011) and all eight team in the field this year have won titles since 1998 when Nicholls State won its second of two. Lamar won its last title in 2000 and McNeese State won its last title in 2002. Since Nicholls’ last tournament title, two Southland teams have won the tournament multiple times, including UTSA (1999, 2004 and 2011) and Northwestern State (2001 and 2006). A different team has won the tournament every year since 2005. There has not been a team win consecutive tournament titles since former league member Louisiana-Monroe won four consecutive from 1990-94.

Tournament Titles Among 2012 Field

Patrick Richard Named Player of the Year

McNeese State senior Patrick Richard was named the 2011-12 Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. A native of Carencro, La., he enters the conference tournament having scored 1,563 career points which puts him 12th on the school’s all-time list. He is 94 points shy of 11th place and 124 points out of 10th place. Richard also has 178 career assists which is 10th best in school history. The 6-foot-4, 208-pound swingman leads the conference in scoring with 18.2 points per game overall and finished second in the league with 19.1 points per game during Southland games. His 36.1 minutes per game in all games and 37.4 during league play were the most in the conference this year. Richard also ranked among the conference’s top 10 this season in four other categories, including free-throw percentage (sixth, .783), defensive rebounds (eighth, 4.4), assist-to-turnover ratio (ninth, 1.3) and assists (10th, 3.0).

Richard is the eighth McNeese State player to be selected as the Southland player of the year and the first since Demond Mallet in 2001. He was McNeese State’s athlete of the year last year after helping the Cowboys to the conference regular-season championship and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. The team’s most valuable player the last two seasons, Richard already has a degree in mass communication and is working on a master’s degree.

Lewis Named Freshman of the Year

Nicholls State forward Trevon Lewis was named the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year after leading the Colonels in scoring, averaging 13.1 points per game. That figure was the best among conference freshmen and ranked 10th overall in the Southland. He is ranked eighth in the league in field goal percentage, connecting on 50.4 percent of his shots from the floor. In league action, the forward from Houma, La., was fourth in field goal accuracy, shooting 55.4 percent. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound forward has four double-doubles to his credit this season in games against Auburn, UTSA, UT Arlington and Texas State. He finished the season with three 20-point games, including a season-high 25 points in a win over Louisiana-Monroe in December. Lewis is the fourth Nicholls player to earn freshman of the year honors and the first since Fred Hunter in 2009.

Butler is Southland’s Top Newcomer

UT Arlington junior forward Kevin Butler was named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year in his first year after transferring from TCU. The junior forward from Duncanville, Texas, averaged 11.2 points per game to rank third for UT Arlington and 5.6 rebounds per game to rank second on the team. Butler has scored in double figures 19 times and has four double-digit rebounding efforts. He grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds at Central Arkansas and led team in scoring four times. Butler netted a career-high 21 points and added six rebounds and career-best five steals in 22 minutes against Texas-Pan American in December. Butler, a transfer from TCU, is the second UT Arlington player to be named the league’s newcomer of the year, following last year’s recipient Bo Ingram.

Cross Named League Coach of the Year

UT Arlington head coach Scott Cross was voted the Southland Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Mavericks to their second overall and first outright conference regular-season championship. He is the second UTA coach to earn the award, joining Bob LeGrand, who was honored in 1981. The Mavericks enter this week’s conference tournament with a 23-7 overall record and finished 15-1 during conference play, just missing a bid to become the league’s first team to go undefeated in a 16-game schedule with a loss in the regular-season finale. They have won 19 of their last 21 games, including 16 in a row. Cross, who guided the Mavericks to their first NCAA tournament berth by winning the Southland tournament in 2008, is 102-80 in six seasons at UT Arlington.

Division Winners UT Arlington, Lamar Lead All-Conference Teams

Division winners UT Arlington in the West and Lamar in the East led all universities with three all-conference selections. Northwestern State, Stephen F. Austin and UTSA each had two selections, while Central Arkansas, McNeese State and Texas State each had at least one all-league honoree. UT Arlington placed senior guard LaMarcus Reed on the first team, senior forward Bo Ingram on the second team and junior forward Kevin Butler on the third team. Lamar senior guard Mike James picked up first-team league honors, while senior guards Devon Lamb and Anthony Miles were named to the second team. Just three all-conference players were also recognized last season. Richard earned all-conference kudos for the third time overall, while Mosley and Scott each earned second-team honors last season. Additionally, six student-athletes were named honorable mention all-conference after receiving votes from at least 25 percent of the coaches and sports information directors.

UT Arlington Wins Second Regular-Season Southland Conference Title

The Mavericks won at McNeese State Feb. 22 to earn at least a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the 2012 Southland Conference Basketball Tournament. Before the Mavericks’ come-from-behind win over Northwestern State Feb. 25, they had clinched the title outright after Nicholls State surprised McNeese State in Lake Charles. This is the second regular-season title for the Mavericks, but its first outright championship after it shared the 2004 championship with Southeastern Louisiana and UTSA.

Mavericks Fall Short of Perfection

The 23-7 Mavericks were trying to finish with a perfect league record Saturday, but lost at UTSA 97-88. They would have been the league’s first team to finish undefeated in conference play since 1973-74. No Southland Conference team has been perfect in a 16-game league schedule, but the Mavericks’ 15-1 mark is the Southland’s best record since Northwestern State had the same conference mark in 2005-06.

The Mavericks were trying to become the first Southland team to finish the regular-season with a perfect conference record since Arkansas State finished with a 4-0 league record in 1974. There have only been three other undefeated teams in conference play in the league’s history, including Louisiana Tech (8-0) in 1972, Arkansas State (8-0) in 1967 and Abilene Christian (8-0) in 1966.

UT Arlington Slips to 21st in Mid-Major Poll

The season-end loss at UTSA dropped UT Arlington to No. 21 in this week’s collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll that was released Monday. The Mavericks are 23-7 overall and finished 15-1 in league with the only conference loss coming in the regular-season finale. UTA, which has won 19 of its last 21 games, is No. 103 in the USA Today Sagarin rankings and entered the week with an official RPI of 97, down 13 spots from last week.

Team Tournament Capsules...

No. 1 Seed UT Arlington

The Mavericks claimed their first outright regular-season title and second overall to secure the top seed in the 2012 tournament. UT Arlington will make a Southland-leading 26th appearance in the conference tournament after a one-year drought in 2011. The Mavericks won their lone tournament championship in 2008 as the No. 7 seed. The team is 12-24 (.333) in the tournament and has three second-place finishes.

No. 2 Seed Stephen F. Austin

The Lumberjacks boast an 11-14 (.440) record in their 15 previous tournament appearances and will make their seventh consecutive appearance in 2012. Stephen F. Austin won their only conference tournament championship in 2009, playing as the No. 2 seed. The Lumberjacks have been tournament runners up three times.

No. 3 Seed Lamar

Under first-year head coach Pat Knight, Lamar enjoyed its first 20-win season since 1988 and is making its 15th appearance in the conference tournament. The Cardinals last won the tournament in 2000 and have a record of 16-11 (.592). This is Lamar’s first tournament appearance since 2008.

No. 4 Seed McNeese State

The Cowboys, who have made 24 tournament appearances, are looking for their third tournament title and first since 2002. McNeese State is 20-23 (.465) in tournament play and has finished second three times. The Cowboys, who were the regular-season champions in 2010-11, lost to UTSA in the tournament final last year.

No. 5 Seed UTSA

UTSA will try to defend last year’s title in their 18th overall appearance in the conference tournament and fifth consecutive. With a 17-14 (.548) overall tournament record, the Roadrunners are three-time champions and three-time runners up. The Roadrunners’ other two titles came in 2004 and 1999.

No. 6 Seed Northwestern State

The Demons return to the conference tournament for the 15th time and make their second consecutive appearance. Northwestern State boasts a 17-12 (.586) tournament record and are two-time tournament championships, their last coming in 2006.The Demons’ 2001 championship came as a No. 6 seed.

No. 7 Seed Sam Houston State

The Bearkats locked up the seventh seed after defeating Texas State in the final game of the regular season. Sam Houston State last won the tournament in 2010 and is making their 10th consecutive tournament appearance. Their tournament record sits at 12-12 (.500) with two titles and one second-place finish.

No. 8 Seed Nicholls State

The Colonels are making their 12th overall conference tournament appearance and fourth consecutive. Nicholls, which was10-19 overall and 6-10 in league games is looking for its first tournament win since 2009. The Colonels have compiled a tournament record of 7-9 (.437) and have two tournament titles, in 1995 and 1998.

UTSA Beat No. 1 Seed McNeese State to Win 2011 Southland Tournament

No. 7 seed UTSA ran through the top three seeds to capture the program’s third Southland Conference tournament championship in 2011. The Roadrunners rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit to topple No. 2 seed Northwestern State, 97-96, in the quarterfinals behind a triple-double of a career-high 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 points from Devin Gibson. In the 79-70 semifinal victory against No. 2 Sam Houston State, Gibson posted a double-double with 26 points and 11 boards to guide UTSA into the championship game. Southland freshman of the year Jeromie Hill poured in 25 points and Gibson added 15, as the Roadrunners held off a furious rally in the final minutes by top seed McNeese State in a 75-72 win to earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The Roadrunners opened with a 70-61 First Four win over Alabama State before getting knocked out of the tournament with a 75-46 loss to Ohio State.

Miles Named League Player of the Week

Lamar guard Anthony Miles was named the Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week on Sunday after leading the Cardinals to the East Division title with conference wins over Texas State and McNeese State last week. The senior from Houston, Texas, opened the week with 25 points in an 81-65 win over Texas State, adding eight rebounds and eight assists in the game. He capped the week with a 17-point performance over McNeese State, recording six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Miles also shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line as Lamar clinched the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. With the wins, Lamar reached 20 victories for the first time since 1988. Miles is a three-time player of the week this season. His other two honors came in back-to-back weeks on Nov. 28 and Dec. 5.