C-USA men’s basketball tournament preview

Favorite

Louisiana Tech: Bulldogs won regular-season title by two games, are solid favorites to claim tournament title.

Contenders

Texas-El Paso: Miners have league’s best defensive player in forward Julian Washburn and perhaps best all-around player in forward Vince Hunter.

Old Dominion: Coach Jeff Jones’ Monarchs finished regular season with a flourish, winning their final six games.

Alabama-Birmingham: Blazers lost four of seven to close the regular season but will be a threat in their home city.

Players to watch

Trey Freeman, Old Dominion, G, 6-2, jr.: Transfer from Campbell averages 17.2 points and has 11 games with 20-plus points.

Vince Hunter, Texas-El Paso, F, 6-8, soph.: Versatile player who has 12 double-doubles and averages 15.2 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Terrence Williams, Charlotte, F, 6-5, sr.: Has been playing best basketball of his career over past seven games; is averaging 16.0 points over past eight games.

Kenneth Smith, Louisiana Tech, G, 6-3, sr.: League leader in assists (7.52) and assist-turnover ratio (2.25).

Jeromie Hill, Texas-San Antonio, F, 6-6, sr.: Averaging 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds after missing last season with knee injury.

By the numbers

17.6 Scoring average of Western Kentucky’s T.J. Price, tops in the league.

14-12-13

Points-rebounds-blocks by Florida International’s Adrian Diaz vs. Alabama-Birmingham (16th triple-double in conference history).

2.7 3-pointers per game by Marshall’s Austin Loop, best in conference.

Schedule

This story was originally published March 10, 2015 at 8:45 PM with the headline "C-USA men’s basketball tournament preview."