MONTGOMERY, Ala. --- The Auburn Montgomery men's basketball team will play a pair of pivotal Gulf South Conference games this week, hosting West Florida on Thursday, Jan. 30 and traveling to Cleveland, Miss. on Saturday, Feb. 1 to take on Delta State.
 
Game Information: University of West Florida (10-9, 7-5 GSC)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020
Time:  8:00 p.m.
Location: Montgomery, Ala. | AUM Gymnasium
Media Coverage:  Live Video | Live Stats
 
Game Information: at Delta State (7-12, 3-8 GSC)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020
Time:  4:00 p.m.
Location: Cleveland, Miss. | AUM Gymnasium
Media Coverage:  Live Video($8) | Live Stats | Live Audio
 
ABOUT THE WARHAWKS
AUM (9-10, 4-7 GSC) currently sits ninth in the GSC standings, just a half-game game back of Christian Brothers (5-7 GSC) for the eighth and final postseason spot up for grabs. The Warhawks are just two and a half games back of Union and West Florida (7-5 GSC) in sixth place, and three games back of West Alabama (7-4 GSC) in fifth place.
 
Despite dropping a 95-83 contest at Valdosta State their last time out on Saturday, Jan. 25, the Warhawks have notched victories in three of their last four games.  In their most recent matchup with West Florida on Thursday, Jan. 23, the Warhawks used a career-high 32-point performance from Carlos Bell to propel them to a 73-66 win in Pensacola.
 
Bell paces the Warhawks, and ranks 10th in the Gulf South, averaging 15.4 points per game. The senior guard has seen a considerable uptick in production over the month of January, where he has averaged 19.9 points per game in the month and scored double-digit points in every game. 
 
Bell was most recently awarded the GSC Men's Basketball Player of the week, as the result of averaging 26.5 points and 8.5 rebounds over a two-game slate last week. The Bessemer, Ala. native became the second men's basketball player to take home player of the week honors in as many weeks, with Maharrith Jackson earning Co-Player of the Week honors in the previous week. 
 
As a unit, the Warhawks are averaging 76.5 points per game, a mark that ranks for fifth in the conference. Darrion Taylor (14.2 PPG), Jackson (12.3 PPG) and Stanley Davis (10.9 PPG) join Bell as three other AUM players averaging in double figures in scoring.
 
The Orange and Black come into the week as the second-best three-point shooting team in the league, with a 36.4 percent efficiency on threes this season. D. Taylor ranks sixth in the GSC with 47 treys made, while Davis ranks ninth with 43 made. 
 
D. Taylor continues to possess one of the best assist/turnover ratios in the league, coming into the week with a mark of 2.4 that ranks for fourth-best in the GSC. The senior guard additionally ranks seventh in the conference in field-goal percentage (50.8%) and is shooting a GSC-best 50 percent on threes in conference games. 
 
Jackson, Bell, and Aaron Reddick all rank among the top-20 rebounders in the Gulf South, with Jackson leading the Warhawks and ranking 15th in the conference at 6.4 boards per game. Bell ranks 18th at 5.8 per game, and Reddick ranks 19th at 5.7 per contest.
 
The Warhawks will look to make it two wins in a row against West Florida on Thursday, and improve their all-time series record with the Argos at 6-8.  AUM holds a 1-6 series record with Delta State. 
 
ABOUT THE ARGOS
After falling to the Warhawks at home on Thursday, Jan. 23, West Florida bested West Alabama 61-49 in front of their home crowd on Saturday, Jan. 25 their last time out. The Argonauts currently sit tied for sixth with Union in the GSC standings.
 
The Argos have used a stingy defense to notch their 10 wins this season, having given up no more than 72 points to their opponents this season in victories. UWF ranks third in the league in scoring defense (65.2 PPG), fourth in field-goal-percent defense (41.8%) and second in three-point-percent defense (30.8%).
 
Sophomore guard Jon Brown comes in as the second-leading scorer in the GSC, averaging 19.8 points per contest. Brown also paces the Argos in rebounding, averaging 6.6 boards per contest.
 
ABOUT THE STATESMEN
Delta State comes in looking to snap a six-game losing skid and work their way out of 1tth place in the GSC standings. The Statesmen's last contest saw them drop an 87-56 contest at Lee University on Saturday, Jan. 25.
 
The Statesmen are currently averaging 69.4 points per game, while allowing 76.8 points from their opponents. Junior forward Airen Brooks leads all of the GSC in rebounding, with an average of 11.1 boards per game. 
 
Two Statesmen rank among the top 16 scorers in the GSC. Brooks (16.1) finds himself seventh in the conference in points per game, while Keyshaun Street ranks 15th at 14.9 points per contest.
 
Prior to their contest with AUM, the Statesman will host Alabama-Huntsville on Thursday, Jan. 30.
 
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