Men's Basketball | 2/17/2016 2:56:00 PM

Georgia Southern (11-13, 7-7) vs. Arkansas State (11-14, 7-7)
Thursday, Feb. 18 - Hanner Fieldhouse (4,325) – 7:30 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets | Season Promotions | Gameday Guide: Basketball
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup)
Promotions: Stamp Card Promotion begins; First Responders Night – Firemen, police officers, and EMS receive free admission and their family can receive discount $5 general admission tickets; Faculty and Staff Night – Faculty and staff, with a valid GS ID, and their families can each receive a discount $5 general admission ticket.
Series Record: GS leads 8-3, W6
Last meeting: 1/30/2016, W 71-66 (A)
Probable Starters:
#2 Mike Hughes
#4 Tookie Brown
#5 Devince Boykins
#10 Jake Allsmiller
#14 Coye Simmons

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

Arkansas State Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [@AStateMB]

Layup Line
• Georgia Southern opens a four-game homestand in a pivotal stretch of the season by playing host to Arkansas State Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
• It also opens a stretch in which Georgia Southern plays three games in six days.
• It's the second meeting of the season against the Red Wolves. Georgia Southern earned a 71-66 win in the Convo Center back on Jan. 30.
• Georgia Southern and Arkansas State are tied for fifth place in the Sun Belt standings with 7-7 records. The Eagles currently have the tiebreaker over the Red Wolves by virtue of their win in Jonesboro. Both teams are one game out of fourth and a game ahead of eighth. The top-8 teams make the Sun Belt Championship March 9-13 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
• Georgia Southern is 4-1 in its last five contests but coming off an 80-76 loss at South Alabama Saturday. The Eagles have won seven of their last 11, including four at home.
• The Eagles are 27-11 under head coach Mark Byington in Hanner Fieldhouse and posted a 13-2 record in the building last season. The Eagles are 7-3 this season.
• Georgia Southern freshman Tookie Brown is ranked in the top-10 in the Sun Belt in scoring (4th, 18.2 ppg), assists (7th, 3.3 apg), steals (2nd, 1.9) and assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.6). He ranks sixth among freshmen in NCAA Division I scoring.
• The last Sun Belt freshman to average over 18 points a game was Charlotte's Henry Williams in the 1989-90 season. For historical perspective, Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington was 14 years old in 1989, and assistant coach Larry Dixon played against Williams during his college career.
• Brown has scored 20-plus points in nine games and reached double figures in 23 of 24 contests, including the last 22.
• Brown (18.2 ppg) is half of the second-highest scoring freshman duo in the country. He and Ike Smith (11.9 ppg) combine to average 30.1 points a game.
• Eagle sophomore Mike Hughes is one of four Sun Belt players ranked in the league's top-10 in scoring (10th, 14.2) and top-20 in rebounding (18th, 4.8).
• Arkansas State is 1-4 in its last five and coming off a 78-73 overtime setback at ULM Saturday.
• The Red Wolves are 2-10 on the road and 2-4 in road Sun Belt tilts.
• Devin Carter leads the team and ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 17 points a game.
• Anthony Livingston ranks seventh in the league in scoring (15.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.9 rpg).

The Series
• This will be the 12th meeting in the all-time series, which began in 1956. Georgia Southern owns an 8-3 edge and has won the last six.
• Georgia Southern has won three straight against the Red Wolves at home.
• The Eagles won the season's first meeting 71-66 in Jonesboro Jan. 30.
• The last two meetings have been decided by five points each.
• Georgia Southern swept the season series against Arkansas State last year.
• Last Meeting - 1/30/2016 - Convo Center: Tookie Brown hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with just over a minute to play, and Mike Hughes iced the contest with a pair of free throws with 7.7 on the clock as Georgia Southern topped Arkansas State 71-66.
• Brown pulled up for a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down and a hand in his face with 1:08 to play, and Jake Allsmiller took a charge on Arkansas State's next trip down the floor. Georgia Southern ran the shot clock down again on their possession but Ike Smith's runner was blocked. 
• After a Red Wolves' timeout, Sean Gardner's 3-point try from the top of the key was short, and Brown corralled the rebound and was fouled, ASU's sixth team foul of the half. Georgia Southern inbounded to Hughes, who was fouled and made the free-throws to put the game away.
• Hughes finished with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Eagles, and Brown tallied 17 points and four assists. Ike Smith collected 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Gardner tallied 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Arkansas State, and Anthony Livingston finished with 16 points, all in the second half. Devin Carter netted 12 points on four 3-pointers.
• The Eagles led 61-55 following a triple from the wing by Devince Boykins as the shot clock horn sounded with 7:08 to play, but Georgia Southern went cold from the field and did not score over the next 4:13. Meanwhile, Livingston scored six points for the Red Wolves, and Arkansas State took a 63-61 advantage. The game saw two ties and a lead change from there until Brown broke a 66-66 tie with the go-ahead triple.
• Last time in Hanner - 2/12/2015: Jelani Hewitt scored 15 points and set the Georgia Southern career free throws made record to lead the Eagles to a 65-60 win.
• Hewitt set the mark during a pivotal 7-2 Georgia Southern run which saw the senior score all seven points. After Arkansas State trimmed a 12-point deficit to five, Hewitt hit a jumper, drilled the two record-setting free throws and capped the stretch with a long 3-pointer.
• The Red Wolves made a final push and got the margin down to five points with under a minute to go, but Hewitt was there again to hit a floater and put the lead back to seven points with 37 seconds left.
• Trent Wiedeman posted 14 points and six rebounds for Georgia Southern, and Curtis Diamond collected 11 points and nine rebounds. Angel Matias chipped in 10 points and six rebounds, and Hewitt added five rebounds, four assists and three steals with 11 of his points coming in the second half.
• Nouhoum Bocoum posted 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Arkansas State, and Anthony Livingston finished with 16 points and 16 boards. Sean Gardner scored 10.

Team Storylines
• The Eagles are led in scoring by freshman Tookie Brown. 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.
• Brown and fellow rookie Ike Smith average 30.1 points a game combined, making them the second-highest freshmen scoring duo in the country. Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley of Florida State (32.4 ppg) lead the nation, and Rice's Marcus Evans and Marquez Letcher-Ellis are third (30.0).
• Georgia Southern's seven freshmen and redshirt freshmen combine for 41.5 points a contest, the third-highest total in the country.
• Three Eagles are in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made per game - Mike Hughes (T-8th, 2.0), Jake Allsmiller (6th, 2.1) and Tookie Brown (15th, 1.7).
• Tookie Brown, Ike Smith and Mike Hughes all scored 20-plus points in the win over UT Arlington Feb. 4. The last time three Eagles scored 20-plus points in a game was Jan. 16, 2014, an 88-81 overtime over Furman in Hanner Fieldhouse. Angel Matias (21), Jelani Hewitt (21) and Tre Bussey (26) all scored 20-plus points.
• Georgia Southern's 11 blocked shots against UT Arlington Feb. 4 were one shy of the school record, set against Texas San Antonio in 1989.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 101th career game today.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 33-5 in games when leading at half and 42-1 when leading with five minutes to go.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 18 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 11-7.
• The Eagles are averaging 76.9 points a game this season and have scored 80-plus points in eight games and 100-plus in three contests. Georgia Southern scored 80-plus points in six contests last year.
• The Eagles have played every team in the league at least once and posted a 4-6 record through the first half of conference play.
• Eleven different Eagles have scored 10 or more points in a game this season.
• Georgia Southern is 19-5 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 24 contests there.
• Georgia Southern posted a 4-6 record in the non-conference portion of its schedule.
• 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.
• Devince Boykins is the lone scholarship senior on the Eagles' roster, but this is his first year in the program.
• 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.
• Three student-athletes who redshirted last season - Jonathan Sanks, Aubrey McRae and Shawn O'Connell - are making their debuts this season.
• Georgia Southern has used 10 different combinations of starting lineups this season.
• The Eagles lost their first Sun Belt game after leading at halftime at Georgia State Jan. 19 (14-1).
• The Eagles' 101-100 win over Appalachian State Jan. 25 was their first win when allowing 100 points since a 112-104 triumph over Old Dominion Jan. 7, 1978. It was just the third time Georgia Southern has won a game when conceding 100 points (135-109 vs. Piedmont, 2/24/1951 and 110-106 vs. Samford, 1/20/1975). It was the first time the Eagles put up 100 points against a Division I opponent since a 116-73 victory over UC Davis Nov. 12, 2006.
• 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.
• The Eagles played their Sun Belt opener on the road for the second straight season. Georgia Southern is 0-2 all-time in Sun Belt openers.
• The Eagles played six of their first eight games on the road, a stretch that included contests at Ole Miss, Auburn and No. 6 Duke.
• 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).

Next Up
• Georgia Southern continues its four-game homestand against league leader Little Rock Saturday at 7 p.m. 
• It's Cheerleader Senior Day and Junior Eagle Club Day.

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.