2024 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

Not to be confused with 2024 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament.

The 2024 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2023–24 season of the Southland Conference. The tournament was held March 10–13, 2024, at The Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.^[1][2] The tournament winner, McNeese, received the conference's automatic invitation to the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

2024 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2023–24
Teams	8
Site	The Legacy Center Lake Charles, Louisiana
Champions	McNeese (3rd title)
Winning coach	Will Wade (1st title)
MVP	Shahada Wells (McNeese)
Television	ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2
Southland Conference men's basketball tournaments ← 2023 2025 →

2023–24 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
McNeese †	17	–	1		.944			30	–	4		.882
Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	14	–	4		.778			21	–	12		.636
Nicholls	13	–	5		.722			20	–	14		.588
Lamar	12	–	6		.667			19	–	14		.576
Southeastern Louisiana	10	–	8		.556			15	–	17		.469
Northwestern State	7	–	11		.389			9	–	23		.281
Texas A&M–Commerce*	6	–	12		.333			13	–	20		.394
New Orleans	4	–	14		.222			10	–	23		.303
Houston Christian	4	–	14		.222			6	–	23		.207
Incarnate Word	3	–	15		.167			8	–	23		.258
* ineligible for the 2024 NCAA tournament due to transition period
† 2024 Southland tournament winner

Seeds

Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Eight teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. The top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds received single byes to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers used were 1) Head-to-head results, 2) comparison of records against individual teams in the conference starting with the top-ranked team(s) and working down and 3) NCAA NET rankings available on day following the conclusion of regular-season play.^[3]

Seed	School	Conference	Tiebreaker
1	McNeese	17–1
2	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	14–4
3	Nicholls	13–5
4	Lamar	12–6
5	Southeastern Louisiana	10–8
6	Northwestern State	7–11
7	Texas A&M–Commerce	6–12
8	New Orleans	4–14	1–1 vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
DNQ	Houston Christian	4–14	0–2 vs. Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
DNQ	Incarnate Word	3–15

Schedule

Session	Game	Time*	Matchup#	Score	Television
First round – Sunday March 10, 2024
1	1	5:00 pm	No. 5 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 8 New Orleans	66–78	ESPN+
	2	7:30 pm	No. 6 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 Texas A&M–Commerce	64–69
Second round – Monday, March 11, 2024
2	3	5:00 pm	No. 4 Lamar vs. No. 8 New Orleans	71–57	ESPN+
	4	7:30 pm	No. 3 Nicholls vs. No. 7 Texas A&M-Commerce	72–51
Semifinals – Tuesday, March 12, 2024
3	5	5:30 pm	No. 1 McNeese vs. No. 4 Lamar	76–57	ESPNU
	6	8:00 pm	No. 2 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi vs. No. 3 Nicholls	73–81OT	ESPN+
Championship – Wednesday, March 13, 2024
4	7	4:00 pm	No. 1 McNeese vs. No. 3 Nicholls	92–76	ESPN2
*Game times in CDT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

	First round Sunday, March 10 ESPN+					Second round Monday, March 11 ESPN+					Semifinals Tuesday, March 12 ESPNU/ESPN+					Championship Wednesday March 13 ESPN2
											1	McNeese	76
						4	Lamar	71			4	Lamar	57
	5	Southeastern Louisiana	66			8	New Orleans	57								1	McNeese	92
	8	New Orleans	78													3	Nicholls	76
											2	Texas A&M–Corpus Christi	73
						3	Nicholls	72			3	Nicholls	81*
	6	Northwestern State	64			7	Texas A&M–Commerce	51
	7	Texas A&M–Commerce	69

* denotes number of overtime periods

First round

ESPN+

March 10 5:00 pm

Report

Southeastern Louisiana 66, New Orleans 78
Scoring by half: 33–39, 33–39
Pts: R. McFarlane – 18 Rebs: R. McFarland – 8 Asts: R. Eastmond – 8		Pts: J. Johnson – 34 Rebs: J. Glisson III – 10 Asts: K. Wilson-Rouse – 5

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Referees: Garrett Theriot, Jeff Malham, Amy Bonner

ESPN+

March 10 7:30 pm

Report

Northwestern State 64, Texas A&M–Commerce 69
Scoring by half: 26–33, 43–31
Pts: J. Wilson – 20 Rebs: J. Wilson – 9 Asts: C. Forte – 3		Pts: K. Williams – 19 Rebs: K. Abdul-Mateen – 8 Asts: T. Lewis – 3

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Attendance: 687 Referees: Jon Stigliano, Gerald Williams, Rodrick Dixon

Second round

ESPN+

March 11 5:00 pm

Report

Lamar 71, New Orleans 57
Scoring by half: 34–25, 37–32
Pts: T. Anderson – 20 Rebs: T. Anderson – 8 Asts: C. Pryor – 8		Pts: K. Wilson-Rouse – 10 Rebs: K. Wilson-Rouse – 6 Asts: K. Wilson-Rouse – 2

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Referees: Darren George, Danny Chance, Joe Wilbert III

ESPN+

March 11 7:30 pm

Report

Nicholls 72, Texas A&M–Commerce 51
Scoring by half: 34–21, 38–30
Pts: R. Brown III – 18 Rebs: D. Smith – 7 Asts: Q. Strander – 5		Pts: A. Dodd – 15 Rebs: K. Williams – 8 Asts: T. Lewis – 3

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Attendance: 270 Referees: Danny Chance, Steve Orkus, Jr., Brent Dugas

Semifinals

ESPNU

March 12 5:30 pm

Report

McNeese 76, Lamar 57
Scoring by half: 39–24, 37–33
Pts: S. Wells – 27 Rebs: C. Shumate – 7 Asts: S. Wells – 5		Pts: T. Anderson – 16 Rebs: E. White – 9 Asts: Tied (5 players) – 2

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Attendance: 4,200 Referees: Joe Wilbert III, Danny Chance, Brent Dugas

ESPN+

March 12 8:00 pm

Repor

Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 73, Nicholls 81 (OT)
Scoring by half: 30–35, 39–34 Overtime: 4–12
Pts: G. Clark – 17 Rebs: D. Prim – 7 Asts: M. Humphrey – 6		Pts: M. Gray, Jr. – 23 Rebs: M. Gray, Jr. – 9 Asts: M. Gray, Jr. – 5

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA Attendance: 4,200 Referees: Gerald Williams, Garrett Theriot, Jeff Malham

Championship

ESPN2

March 13 4:00 pm

McNeese vs. Nicholls

The Legacy Center – Lake Charles, LA

Awards and honors

2024 Southland Conference Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team

Shahada Wells, McNeese (MVP) Javohn Garcia, McNeese DJ Richards, McNeese Diante Smith, Nicholls Terry Anderson, Lamar [4][5][6]

See also

2024 Southland Conference women's basketball tournament

References

1. "2024 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Basketball Championships pres. by ExploreLouisiana.com". Southland Conference. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
2. Ryan Taylor (March 13, 2024). "Southland tournament bracket: Full TV schedule, scores, results for 2024 basketball championships". Sporting News. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
3. "Basketball Tie-Breaking Procedures". Southland Conference. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
4. Anthony Goss (March 13, 2024). "Regular season champion No. 1 McNeese cruises to third ever tournament championship in dominant win over No. 3 Nicholls in 2024 Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by Explore Louisiana". Southland Conference. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
5. "Colonels fall in SLC title game at No. 1 McNeese". Nicholls State University. March 13, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
6. "Southland Men's Basketball Record Book". Southland Conference. p. 27. Retrieved February 2, 2025.