Men's Basketball | February 28, 2023

AIKEN, S.C. – The PBC regular-season champion University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team is set for the upcoming tournament, which will be played March 2-5.

The Pacers are the No. 1 seed for the first time since a Final Four run during the 2013-14 campaign. 

The regular-season title is USC Aiken's sixth in the history of the PBC. The program will look for its sixth PBC Tournament Championship this weekend, with the last title also coming during the 2013-14 season.

Head coach Mark Vanderslice's team has been close to a tournament championship, having reached the PBC Championship game during the sensational 2019 season.

The Pacers are led by Tehree Horn's 16.4 points per game. Jalen McCoy (12.5 ppg), Tyler Johnson (12.4 ppg) and Karon Boyd (10.5 ppg) are all netting double figures.

Horn leads the a with 6.5 rebounds per game while Jameel Rideout (5.6 rpg) and Boyd (5.4 rpg) also top five boards a night. 

McCoy leads the team by hitting 55.2 percent of his shots from the floor while Johnson drains a team-best 37.8 percent from downtown. Horn cans 84.0 percent of his free throws. 

Rideout sports a team-best 64 assists while Horn has 56 assists. Defensively, Johnson more than doubles up anyone else with 51 steals on the season. 

Coming off a 21-7 regular season, including a 14-4 ledger in PBC play, the Pacers will square off against No. 8 Georgia Southwestern in the first game of the tournament (12 p.m.). USC Aiken holds a commanding 21-4 edge in the all-time series, but the Hurricanes snagged a four-point win in the last meeting between the teams.

Facing off in the other quarterfinal in the bracket is No. 4 Lander and No. 5 Young Harris. That game will follow the USC Aiken – Georgia Southwestern contest. Winners of those games will play Friday at 5 p.m.

This season, USC Aiken split with Lander and swept Young Harris.

On the other side of the bracket No. 2 Augusta hosts No. 7 Flagler Thursday at 5 p.m. No. 3 North Georgia and No. 6 Columbus State play at 7:30 p.m. Winners of those games will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. After a day off, the PBC Championship will be held Sunday at 1 p.m.

This season, USC Aiken took both games from the Jaguars and split with the Saints. Vanderslice's team swept the Nighthawks and split with the Cougars. 

All games will be at Augusta University. Ticket information can be found here. 

Live stats and live video links for USC Aiken men's basketball will be available for the tournament at PacerSports.com. 

USC Aiken Regular-Season PBC Championships
1992-93, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2022-23

USC Aiken PBC Tournament Championships
1992-93, 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14