VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 9 Valdosta State men's basketball team, winners of 15 straight games, finish the 2019-20 regular season on the road this week at West Florida on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET and then at Auburn Montgomery on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.  
 
The Blazers are 22-3 on the year and a league-best 16-2 mark in Gulf South Conference play heading into the final week of the season.  VSU leads Lee University by one game in the league standings and has a chance to win or share its fourth-straight Gulf South Conference regular season title this week.  No GSC team has won four-straight league regular season titles when the conference hasn't been split into divisions.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  The games also will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM in Valdosta with Spencer Van Horn having the call.  
 
VSU head coach Mike Helfer is one win away from 300 for his VSU career.  He is 299-140 (.681) in Titletown in 15 seasons, as he has the second-most wins in program history (James Dominey 436-243 from 1971-2000).  Overall, Helfer is 485-223 (.685) all-time in his coaching career in 23 seasons.  He has guided VSU to three-straight Gulf South Conference regular season titles, three straight NCAA postseason appearances and six total NCAA postseason appearances, including the Elite Eight in 2010.  Helfer has won 20 or more games each of the last four seasons and eight times overall while at VSU. 
 
Following the games this weekend, VSU will host a quarterfinal round game of the GSC Championship on Tuesday, Mar. 3 at 7 p.m. at The Complex against an opponent to be determined.  The winner of Tuesday's game will advance to Birmingham, Ala., for the semifinal/finals of the GSC Championship, Mar. 7-8 at the Pete Hanna Center.  Fans can purchase tickets for the Mar. 3 game at the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT (7328).  For information on the GSC Championship, please click on the link to the right of this article for the GSC Men's Basketball Championship page.
 
The Blazers are coming off two big home wins for Senior Weekend, downing Montevallo 105-74 and using a late rally for a 75-67 win over West Alabama on Senior Day. VSU senior Clay Guillozet earned GSC Player of the Week honors for the third time this week, as he averaged a team-high 17.5 points per game, while pulling down 7.5 rebounds per contest.  He shot 11 of 23 from the field (.478) with one triple and went a team-best 12 of 14 from the line, along with eight assists and three steals.  He scored 18 points in the win over West Alabama, going 6 of 11 from the field, 1 of 1 from range and 5 of 6 from the line with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals in a matchup of a pair of 20-win teams.
 
For the winning streak, as VSU has not lost since an 88-74 setback on Dec. 17, 2019, at The Complex versus Lee. The 15-game winning streak is the seventh-longest current streak in NCAA Division II.  Lincoln Memorial leads the nation with 27-straight wins, while Azusa Pacific is second with 19 and there is a three-way tie for third between West Texas A&M, UC San Diego and Northwest Missouri State with 18.  Jefferson (Pa.) is sixth with 17-straight victories. 
 
The Blazers tallied their sixth game of scoring 100 or more points in the win over Montevallo last week, while it was the fourth during the winning streak and third in February.  VSU has scored 90 or more points 14 times this season and the team is averaging 89.4 points per game for the year for first in the GSC and 12^th nationally.  During the winning streak, VSU is shooting .488 from the field on 511 of 1048, while going 111 of 298 from beyond the arc (.372) and 231 of 334 from the line, making 20 less free throws than the opposition has attempted.  VSU is averaging 41.6 rebounds per game and scoring 90.9 points per game, while allowing 72.7 points per contest.  
 
Senior Darrell Jones leads the team through the streak averaging 15.8 points per game on 84 of 154 from the field (.545).  He is 44 of 55 from the line (.800) and averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.  Guillozet is second in scoring at 14.1 points per game, while going 78 of 165 from the field (.473) and 21 of 46 from range.  He leads the team in rebounding at 8.8 per game.  Senior Bryce Smith is averaging 13.8 points per game with a team-high 85 made field goals, while junior Burke Putnam has really turned up his game, going 68 of 121 from the field (.562) and is averaging 13.0 points per game.  Sophomore Imoras Agee is averaging 12.5 points per game as all five starters are averaging double figures in the last 15 games.  
 
VSU moved into the top ten in the National Association of Basketball Coaches ranking (NABC) this week as it is ninth. The Blazers were 12^th last week and steadily have increased their ranking during the last half of the run.  Northwest Missouri State leads this week's rankings, followed by Lincoln Memorial, West Texas A&M, UC San Diego and Florida Southern, who VSU played earlier in the year, is fifth.  Following Florida Southern and VSU from the South Region, Nova Southeastern is 14^th and Alabama Huntsville is 20^th.   Lee is the first team among others receiving votes. 
 
The second NCAA Region Rankings are scheduled to be released Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA.  The Blazers were fourth in the initial rankings, released last week.  Florida Southern was first, followed by Nova Southeastern, Lee, VSU, Palm Beach Atlantic, West Alabama, Barry, Embry-Riddle, Alabama Huntsville and Miles rounded out the top ten.  Check back with vstateblazers.com Wednesday afternoon for the second region rankings.
 
West Florida has gotten on a bit of a roll recently as the Argos are 11-8 in league play and 14-12 overall, having clinched a berth in the conference tournament.  UWF currently sits sixth in the standings and Thursday marks its last game of the regular season and Senior Night.  The Argos are led by Jon Brown at 17.7 points per game.  He leads the team in field goal shooting on 124 of 368 from the field, while he is 32 of 111 from range for second on the team in triples made.  Brown is 127 of 169 from the line (.751) and is leading the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game.  
 
In the first meeting with the Argos this season, VSU won 88-53 on Jan. 2, 2020, as sophomore Cam Hamilton had a career-high 25 points on 9 of 15 from the field, draining six 3's and collecting four steals.  Putnam added 20 points on 8 of 10 from the field and a career-high nine assists.  VSU held a blistering 50-30 lead in rebounding, including 18-8 on the offensive end and forced UWF into 22 turnovers for a 31-17 lead in points off miscues. 
 
The Blazers lead the all-time series with UWF 24-9 and have won the last three in the series and 11 of 14.  The Blazers are 8-6 all-time in Pensacola, winning five of their last six there, including last season in an 85-69 win on Feb. 21, 2019.  
 
AUM enters with a 15-11 record overall and a 10-8 mark in the GSC.  The Warhawks have won five-straight and six of seven since the 95-83 loss at VSU on Jan. 25.  AUM also has clinched a spot in the GSC Championship and sits seventh in the league standings with two games to play.  The Warhawks will play at West Georgia on Thursday, before returning home to host VSU on Saturday for Senior Day. 
 
The Warhawks are led by Carlos Bell, who is averaging 15.2 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game to lead the team.  Bell is 127 of 297 from the field (.428), while going 124 of 156 from the line (.795) to lead the team.  Maharrith Jackson in second in scoring at 13.5 points per game on 123 of 281 from the field (.438) and 89 of 128 from the line.  Jackson is averaging 6.2 rebounds per game for third on the team as Aaron Reddick also is averaging 6.4 rebounds per game for tops on the team with Bell.  Darrion Taylor, who is third in scoring at 13.2 points per game, leads the team with 59 triples, while Stanley Davis has 58 treys and is fourth in scoring at 11.4 points per game.  
 
In the first meeting, Putnam had a game-high 26 points leading four Blazers in double figures, while Jones added 17 points.  VSU trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, but used a 20-11 run to get back into it.  The Blazers led 44-41 at intermission and then outscored the Warhawks 51-42 in the second half for the 12-point win.  A huge trey from Putnam started a 10-2 run by the Blazers with eight minutes left to take command of the game.  
 
VSU leads the all-time series with AUM, 7-3, including the win earlier this season.  The Blazers have won six-straight in the series and are 2-1 all-time in Montgomery, Ala.  VSU has scored 100 or more points four times and 90 or more points six times.  AUM's last win in the series came on Feb. 6, 1982, in Valdosta in a 79-71 decision.