Southern Miss Falls to Troy as Sun Belt Tournament Run Ends in the Semifinals

Sunday, March 8

Pensacola, Fla.

5 PM

Southern Miss

19-16,9-9Sun Belt

(1) Troy

21-11,12-6Sun Belt

Southern Miss.

Troy

Southern Miss Falls to Troy as Sun Belt Tournament Run Ends in the Semifinals

3/8/2026 8:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

PENSACOLA, Fla. – A valiant comeback effort fell short for Southern Miss (19-16, 9-9) as Troy (21-11, 12-6) held off the Golden Eagles for a 78-70 win at the 2026 Visit Pensacola Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship Presented by Air Force Reserve.

Tylik Weeks finished his four-game run, scoring a program record of 106 points at the conference tournament. Weeks finished with 15 points on Sunday night as he averaged 26.5 points per game after producing a pair of 30-point efforts.

Isaac Taveras dropped a career-high 32 points as he joined Weeks in the 30-point club at the Pensacola Bay Center. Djahi Binet ended his collegiate career with a 14-point night and also grabbed seven rebounds.

Notables
- Southern Miss started the same five -- #0 Izzy Hart, #4 Tylik Weeks, #10 Isaac Taveras, #13 Dylan Brumfield, #15 Djahi Binet
- The first Golden Eagle points were scored by Isaac Taveras for the seventh time this season and for the 18th time on a layup
- Southern Miss' 19 offensive rebounds were a season best
- The run to the semifinals was the best showing for Southern Miss at the Sun Belt Tournament since joining the league
- Southern Miss went 5-1 at the Pensacola Bay Center this season
- Isaac Taveras scored 32 points to reach double figures for the 19th time this season. It was his fifth 20-point game and first since scoring 20 at Arkansas State on Feb. 20. His 32 points were a career best
- Djahi Binet reached double figures for the 21st time after scoring 14 points
- Tylik Weeks scored 15 points to reach double figures for the 32nd time
- Weeks finished with 106 points in his four games at the Sun Belt Tournament. It's the most points by a Golden Eagle in a conference tournament in program history
- Brumfield, Binet, and Taveras all pulled down four offensive rebounds

How it Happened
Both teams combined to hit the first seven shots of the game as Southern Miss went into the media timeout 4-for-6 from the floor. Meanwhile, Troy started 4-for-4 and trailed 11-10 at the first media timeout.

Isaac Taveras had the hot hand early for the Golden Eagles as he had eight points over the first eight minutes. Troy held a one-point edge at the second media timeout, as it had only missed two shots up to that point. The Golden Eagles followed that with a three-minute scoring drought that allowed Troy to take a 25-18 lead at the midway mark of the half.

Djahi Binet ended the scoring drought with a dunk, and then Chiante' Tramble forced a steal that led to a Taveras basket that cut the Troy advantage to three with seven minutes to play in the half. Another scoring drought hit the Golden Eagles, which saw three Southern Miss turnovers in a three-minute stretch, which let Troy take a 29-22 lead at the under-four media timeout.

Troy took a 41-28 lead into the break after shooting 53.8 percent from the floor in the first half. After starting hot, Southern Miss shot the ball just 36.7 percent over the first 20 minutes of the game. After 15 points in the first half, Taveras came out and scored the first points for the Golden Eagles in the second half. Despite the start, Troy kept its foot on the gas as it took a 53-36 lead by the under-16 media timeout.

The Golden Eagles cut Troy's lead to 13 at the under-12 media timeout after forcing the Trojans to no field goals over two minutes. Southern Miss was just 1-for-9 from deep in the game, though, and missed four open looks early in the second half that could have swung momentum.

Troy went nearly eight minutes without a field goal as they held a 64-50 lead with 8:10 left in the game. Despite that stretch, Southern Miss had 10 fouls at that point in the game,, and the Trojans had nine made free throws during the stretch of no field goals. Southern Miss managed to make it a 10-point game after Tylik Weeks hit a three-pointer, but Troy answered right back with a 5-0 run as the Golden Eagles went scoreless for two minutes after Weeks' three.

Troy only made two field goals over the final 15 minutes of the game as Southern Miss slowly trimmed the lead down as the two went down the stretch. Dylan Brumfield and Binet scored on back-to-back baskets that cut it to an eight-point game with just under a minute left in the game.

Taveras scored his final basket of the game with 11 seconds left, which cut it to four points again, but the Trojans made four free throws to ice the game. The Golden Eagles went 17-for-39 in the second half, but Troy ended up shooting 10 more free throws in the half.

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