Men's Basketball | 1/24/2016 11:59:00 AM

Georgia Southern (6-11, 2-5) vs. Appalachian State (5-13, 3-4)
Monday, Jan. 25 - Holmes Center (8,325) – 6:30 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup)
Series: Georgia Southern trails 25-19, W2
Last meeting: 2/26/15, W 77-58 (A)
Probable Starters:
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller
#14 Coye Simmons

Georgia Southern Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [@GSAthletics_MBB] [Game Notes (PDF)]

Appalachian State State Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [@AppStateMBB]

Layup Line
• Georgia Southern continues a four-game road trip with a 6:30 p.m. contest at Appalachian State Monday, Jan. 25.
• The contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 23, but was moved due to weather conditions generated by Winter Storm Jonas, which affected much of the Southeast.
• It's the first of two meetings against the Mountaineers this season.
• Georgia Southern is 2-3 in its last five contests and coming off a 69-66 overtime loss at Georgia State Tuesday night.
• Georgia Southern freshman Tookie Brown is ranked in the top-10 in the Sun Belt in scoring (6th, 16.6 ppg), assists (7th, 3.4 apg), steals (2nd, 2.0) and assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.8).
• Brown has scored 20-plus points in five games and reached double figures in 16 of 17 contests, including the last 15.
• Georgia Southern is 1-8 on the road this season and has lost its last five on the road.
• With 11 of 12 scholarship student-athletes who are freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores (92 percent), Georgia Southern has the highest percentage of underclassmen on its current roster of the 345 NCAA Division I squads. Liberty (91 percent), Ohio State (85 percent), Fairleigh Dickinson (85 percent) and Wyoming (80 percent) round out the top 5.
• Georgia Southern lost 76 percent of its scoring and 72 percent of its rebounding from last season.
• The Eagles were picked 10th in the Preseason Sun Belt Conference Coaches Poll.
• Appalachian State is on a two-game win streak and has won three of its last five. The Mountaineers downed Georgia State 76-67 at home Thursday.
• Appalachian State  is 3-3 at home this season and has won its last two in the Holmes Center.
• The Mountaineers were picked sixth in the Preseason Sun Belt Coaches Poll, and Frank Eaves earned second-team all-conference honors.
• Eaves leads the Sun Belt in scoring (20.6 ppg) and 3-point percentage (.444).

Team Storylines
• The Eagles are led in scoring by a pair of freshmen in Tookie Brown and Ike Smith. The last time a freshman led Georgia Southern in scoring was the 1999-2000 season, when the school's all-time scoring leader, Julius Jenkins, led the Eagles with 15.5 points a game. Elton Nesbitt averaged 15.7 points a game to lead the Eagles in scoring as a newcomer to the program in 2003-04, but it was his sophomore season after spending a year at Compton Community College.
• Georgia Southern is averaging 9.4 turnovers in its last five games (47 total).
• The Eagles lost their first Sun Belt game after leading at halftime at Georgia State Tuesday (11-1).
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 30-5 in games when leading at half and 38-1 when leading with five minutes to go.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 12 Georgia Southern games have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 7-5. 
• Georgia Southern is 12-9 in games decided by six points or less since 2014 and 3-6 games decided by three points or less.
• The Eagles are averaging 76.8 points a game this season and have scored 80-plus points in six games. Georgia Southern scored 80-plus points in just six contests last year.
• Eleven different Eagles have scored 10 or more points in a game this season.
• Georgia Southern is 17-5 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 23 contests there.
• Georgia Southern posted a 4-6 record in the non-conference portion of its schedule.
• Georgia Southern has used nine different combinations of starting lineups this season.
• The Eagles played their Sun Belt opener on the road for the second straight season. Georgia Southern is 0-2 in Sun Belt openers.
• Georgia Southern played its first ranked opponent since 2008 when the Eagles traveled to No. 7/6 Duke Dec. 15. Their last game against a ranked opponent was also at Duke Nov. 11, 2008.
• Georgia Southern's 21 steals against Bob Jones (11/30) was one shy of the school record set against Little Rock in 1981 and tied against The Citadel in 2004.
• After not playing an SEC opponent since a 78-75 loss to Auburn Dec. 30, 2011, the Eagles have faced two this season. Georgia Southern fell 82-72 at Ole Miss Nov. 16 and 92-62 at Auburn Nov. 20.
• Georgia Southern's 116 points in a 116-49 season-opening win over Webber International Nov. 13 were tied for the 16th most all-time and the most since a 116-73 neutral site win over UC Davis Nov. 12, 2006, which was the 2006-07 season opener.
• The Eagles' 40 3-point attempts tied for the second-the most in school history (West Georgia, 1/2/1992).

The Series
• Georgia Southern trails the all-time series, which began in 1949, 25-19, but the Eagles swept the Mountaineers last season in both schools' first year in the Sun Belt.
• The Eagles are 4-13 in the last 17 contests, dating back to 2006.
• Georgia Southern is 7-13 on the road against the Apps but won 77-58 in the Holmes Center last year. It was the Eagles' first win at App since an 81-77 triumph in February of 2004.
• Both meetings in the 2012-13 campiagn went into overtime, and the Mountaineers won them both.
• Last Meeting - 2/26/2015 - Holmes Center: Angel Matias collected 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Georgia Southern retained at least a share of first place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 77-58 victory over Appalachian State in the Holmes Center.
• Trent Wiedeman added 12 points for the Eagles, while Devonte Boykins and Curtis Diamond each netted nine. Ten of 15 players who saw action for Georgia Southern scored.
• It was the Eagles' first win at Appalachian State since 2004.
• Georgia Southern jumped out to a 20-2 lead as the Eagles held the Mountaineers scoreless for five minutes between their first and second baskets. Matias scored seven of the Eagles' first nine points of the game, and Boykins came off the bench and chipped in six points.
• Appalachian State used 3-pointers to get back in the contest and trimmed the margin to 29-20 on a Dustin Clarke layup with 2:41 left in the frame. The Eagles capped the half with a 7-1 run, with five points coming from Mike Hughes, and Georgia Southern led 36-20 at the break.
• The margin never dipped below 14 points in the second half and grew to as many as 24 points on a layup by Eric Ferguson midway through the period and again with 1:14 to play on free throw by Coye Simmons.
• Frank Eaves led Appalachian State with 15 points, and Dustin Clarke scored eight.

Next Up
• Georgia Southern continues its four game road trip at Little Rock Thursday. Tipoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET.

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