Men's Basketball | 11/30/2016 7:57:00 PM

Georgia Southern (3-3) at Savannah State (2-6)
Thursday, Dec. 1 - Tiger Arena (6,000) – Savannah, Ga. - 8 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Video | Live Stats
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup), 100.9 WLYU (Lyons)
Series Record: GS leads 11-1, L1
Last meeting: 12/2/2015, L, 76-67
Probable Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#11 Shawn O'Connell

Georgia Southern Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [Game Notes]

Savannah State Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern plays its third straight game in Savannah when the Eagles travel to Savannah State Thursday.
• It's the nightcap of a doubleheader with the women's teams, and tipoff is slated for 8 p.m.
• It's the Eagles' second contest against a MEAC member this season.
• The Eagles have won their last two, both of which were in the Savannah Civic Center last weekend. Georgia Southern topped Florida A&M, 83-72, and Radford, 65-64, in its final two games of the Savannah Invitational.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. Three of those games are in Savannah (two in Savannah Invite and at Savannah State).   
• Georgia Southern returns all five starters from last season's 14-17 squad that finished fifth in the Sun Belt with a 10-10 record.
• The Eagles were picked fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, and Tookie Brown and Mike Hughes were named preseason all-conference.
• Savannah State has lost its last three and is coming off a 100-67 setback at San Diego State Monday.
• Two losses have come at Power 5 schools Iowa and Iowa State and the Tigers also lost at Memphis.
• Savannah State was picked 11th in the 13-team MEAC in the league's preseason poll.
• The Tigers are averaging 90.3 points per game but giving up 103.6 an outing. They have scored over 100 points three times.

The Series vs. Savannah State
• Georgia Southern leads the all-time series against the Tigers 11-1.
• The series was renewed last season after a 10-year hiatus.
• The Eagles are 4-1 against Savannah State on the road and suffered the loss last season.
• The series began in 1986, and the teams played twice a season from 2001-05. 

Three Things to Know about the Eagles
1 -  Georgia Southern returns all five starters and 11 lettermen. Ninety-four percent of the Eagles' scoring and rebounding is back in uniform, and Georgia Southern is still young. Walk-ons James Holder and Dominique Bullock are the team's lone seniors.
2 -  Georgia Southern was picked fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason Coaches Poll, Tookie Brown was named preseason first-team all-league and Mike Hughes earned second-team honors.
3 - Georgia Southern ranks 29th nationally and leads the Sun Belt in fewest turnovers and ranks 14th nationally in first in the SBC in turnovers per game. The Eagles have logged single-digit turnovers twice.

More Team Storylines
• Last year, Georgia Southern set new school records with 3-pointers made (282) and attempted (834) in a season. GS ranks second in the SBC in 3s per game (8.5). The Eagles have made 10 or more 3s twice this season.
• The Eagles picked up the 1,200th win in the history of the program, which began play in 1926-27, when they topped Coastal Georgia 92-43 Nov. 14.
• GS held Coastal Georgia to 23.1 percent shooting from the field, the lowest for an opponent since holding North Georgia to 22.7 percent in 2003.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. The stretch ends Dec. 20 at Winthrop. GS does play three contests in Savannah (55 miles East) during that time.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 114th career game today and his 103rd at Georgia Southern. His 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern are the best of any coach in the modern era.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 37-6 in games when leading at half and 46-3 when leading with five minutes to go, but two of those losses in each category have some this season.
•  GS scored 75.9 points a game last season, the Eagles' best offensive output since averaging 77.5 points a game in 2005-06. GS scored 80-plus points in 10 games and 100-plus in three contests. The Eagles are averaging 75.5 this year and scored over 80 twice.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 19 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 12-7.
• Georgia Southern is 23-6 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 29 contests there and 31-12 under Mark Byington.
• Georgia Southern used 11 different combinations of starting lineups last year. GS has used three this season.
• The Eagles are 17-1 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. For tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.