BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 2 seed Valdosta State men's basketball team takes on the No. 3 seed Montevallo Falcons tonight at the Pete Hanna Center in the semifinals of the Gulf South Conference Tournament for an 8:15 p.m. ET tip.
 
The game will be streamed live on FloCollege, and fans can listen live on Talk 92.1 WDDQ FM with Jaylan Scott on the call.
 
Valdosta State (24-5, 18-4 GSC) surpassed 20 wins for the first time since the 2019-20 season and have reached the semifinals for the first time since the 2020-21 season when they won the GSC Tournament. Montevallo (20-9, 15-7 GSC) advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 2007 with a 67-60 win over West Alabama Tuesday night in Montevallo, Ala. The Falcons last won the GSC Tournament in the 2006-07 season when they defeated Henderson State by a 66-52 final. UM's 15 conference wins is the most in school history and their 20 total wins is its best since the 2014-15 season when they had 26.
 
VSU and UM split the season series with both teams winning on the road during the regular season. Montevallo defeated VSU one week ago today at The Complex in a 101-92 upset on senior night. Falcon forward Jaylen Curry scored 25 points in Valdosta as it was the second most points he scored in a game this season as he was 8-15 form the floor, 3-7 from deep and a perfect 6-6 from the line as the Blazers had no answers for him. As a team, Montevallo shot 21-23 from the charity stripe as Valdosta State committed 18 fouls and got in foul trouble early which proved to be a tough test. MJ Jones was the life of the Blazers, as he scored a season high 22 points as the former Falcon went 5-5 from distance in the first half before finishing 6-9 from deep.
 
On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 seed Alabama Huntsville will put their 28 game winning streak to the test as they play No. 5 seed Delta State at 6 p.m. ET. The winners of each game will play tomorrow, Mar. 9 at 4:00 p.m. ET.
 
The Falcons are led by a trio of scorers as Brandon Fussell leads the way with 17.7 PPG on .474/.384/.857 shooting splits while leading the team in assists with 105 and steals with 59. Jaylen Curry is right behind him in scoring as he is putting up 16.4 points a night on .477 from the floor and .372 from deep on a team leading 67 made threes. Derek Moore is third in scoring at UM as the forward is scoring 14.2 PPG on an efficient .586 from the floor while leading the team in rebounds at 6.1 per game. The Falcons are led by head coach Anthony Komara, who is his third year at the helm of the program and is 3-3 against the Blazers in his career as he has split every series thus far. Komara's offense is third in the league in field goal percentage as they are shooting .470 from the field while holding the opponents to .454 from the floor.
 
Head coach Mike Helfer is appearing in his 12th GSC Tournament semifinals appearance since taking over in 2005-06 as he holds a record of 5-6 in the semis. Helfer's offense has been one of the best in the whole country this season as the Blazers are scoring 94.2 PPG and have surpassed 100 points in nine games this season and have set numerous school records. Earlier this season, VSU hit a single game record 23 three pointers against Clark Atlanta. Helfer's squad has also broken the single season record for steals in a season as they have recorded 333 for 11.5 a game which is fifth in the nation. Individually, Carlos Hart has already broken three single season records, as he currently holds the single season record for most free throws made, most free throws attempted, and steals in a season. Hart was recently selected to the All-GSC First Team earlier this week as he was the first Blazer to earn that honor wince Imoras Agee and Burke Putnam in 2020-21. Hart is currently leading the team in points (18.6 PPG), rebounds (6.8 RPG), assists (116), and steals (75). Hart has scored 20+ points in 14 games this season and is shooting .501 from the floor, .254 from deep, and .779 from the line.