Men’s Basketball Preview: Louisiana Visits Hanner for Pack the House in Pink

Eagles look to end two-game skid.

Georgia Southern (16-9, 7-5) vs. Louisiana (20-4, 10-1)
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018 - Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) – 5 p.m.
Series: GS trails 4-5, W2
Last Meeting: 2/6/17, W 74-70 (Hanner)
TV: WSAV-CW/ESPN3
Radio: GS Sports Network (pregame show starts a half hour before tipoff) - WMCD 107.3 FM (Statesboro), 630 AM WBMQ (Savannah), 1370 AM WLOP (Jesup)
Promotions: Pack the House in Pink – Join us in the fight against Breast Cancer. Make sure you wear pink to the game to show your support. The tumbling and jumping gymnastics group, the Rocket Stars will be performing at halftime. The GS coaching staff will be raising money for autism through Coaches Powering Forward for Autism benefiting Autism Speaks. The coaches will be wearing the blue puzzle piece pin on their suit jackets during the game. This is part of college basketball's autism awareness weekend, an effort started by Towson head men's basketball coach Pat Skerry and USF assistant men's basketball coach Tom Herrion.

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Georgia Southern	Louisiana
Roster	Roster
Stats	Stats
Schedule	Schedule

Probable GS Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern continues its three-game homestand against Louisiana Saturday in Hanner Fieldhouse. The game will air on WSAV-CW/ESPN3 with tipoff set for 5 p.m.
• It's the only scheduled meeting between the Eagles and Ragin' Cajuns this season.
• Georgia Southern is 19-5 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 24 contests there, 47-17 in four-plus years under Mark Byington and 26-8 in Sun Belt games. The Eagles are 7-2 in Hanner this season and play five of their final seven regular-season contests at home.
• GS is 2-3 in its last five and coming off a 66-64 overtime loss to ULM in Hanner Fieldhouse Thursday night. The Eagles are tied for third with Texas State in the Sun Belt standings, though the Bobcats defeated the Eagles in the first of two meetings, 62-61 back on Jan. 25. The top-4 teams receive a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament March 7-11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
• GS dropped out of the CollegeInsider Mid-Major top-25 for the first time since November in the Jan. 29 poll, but the Eagles are still receiving votes as of Feb. 5. Saint Mary's is ranked first, Louisiana is fourth, ETSU is fifth and Georgia State is 16th. Missouri State is also receiving votes.
• Louisiana saw its 10-game win steak come to an end Thursday at Georgia State as the Panthers topped the Ragin' Cajuns 106-92. The loss also snapped a 16-game win streak in SBC games, dating back to last season.
• It was just the fourth loss of the season for Louisiana, and the others are at Ole Miss, at Clemson and to Wyoming on a neutral floor.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are 7-3 on the road and 5-1 in league road games.
• Louisiana has a half game lead over Georgia State for the top spot in the Sun Belt standings.
• Louisiana is the only school in the country ranked in the top-25 in the following categories: Scoring Margin (10th, 14.3), assists per game (6th, 18.3), won-lost percentage (13th, .833), rebound margin (21st, 6.9), steals per game (21st, 8.0) and scoring offense (19th, 84.0).

The Series
• Louisiana leads the all-time series, which began in the 1964-65 season, 5-4, and has won three of the last five, but the Eagles won both contests last season.
• Before the Eagles joined the Sun Belt in 2014-15, the teams had not met since 1992.
• Louisiana won both contests in 2015-16, and the teams split the series in 2014-15 with each winning on its home floor.
• The Eagles are 2-1 against the Ragin' Cajuns in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Team Storylines
• Fourteen of GS's 24 games have been decided by six points or less, and the Eagles are 7-7. Eleven have been one-possession games, and the Eagles are 5-6. GS is 3-5 in games decided by two points or less.
• Georgia Southern ranks 17th in the nation in offensive rebounds, and Montae Glenn ranks fourth in the country. The Eagles are second in the SBC in rebounding and first in offensive rebounds, and their rebound average of 39.6 is a 4.9 rebound per game improvement from last year (34.7).
• GS is averaging 75.4 points a game, and the Eagles have scored over 80 points seven times, over 90 three times and over 100 twice. GS ranks fifth in the SBC in scoring and third in scoring margin.
• The Eagles have been without leading scorers and first-team Preseason All-Sun Belt selections Ike Smith or Tookie Brown for six games this season.
• Georgia Southern ranks second in the SBC in fewest turnovers, second in turnover margin and fourth in turnovers forced. The Eagles have posted 10 turnovers or less in eight contests.
• Georgia Southern's top-3 seasons in 3-pointers made and attempted have all come during Mark Byington's tenure. GS has made 10-plus triples in a game nine times this season.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 166th career game today and his 155th at Georgia Southern. He is eight wins shy of 100 for his career, and his 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern were the best of any coach in the modern era. He posted a 7-4 record at College of Charleston in 2012, filling in as the interim coach for Bobby Cremins.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 59-14 in games when leading at half and 71-8 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS reached double-digit wins before the new year for the first time in school history. The Eagles' 10th victory of the season was an 86-80 decision at Troy Dec. 30.
• The Eagles will be wearing green shoelaces for the rest of the season to promote Mental Health Awareness.
• During the month of February, the Eagles will participate in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. The conference and its member schools encourage fans, corporate partners and media to join the excitement by joining your favorite team to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The winner of the Sun Belt Conference's challenge will be crowned the league's 3-Point Champion, and all participating schools are entered into the national contest for a chance to earn the national 3-Point College Champion honor.
• Entering the 2017-18 campaign, GS joined UTA and Louisiana as the only three teams to reach double digit wins in conference play in each of the last three seasons and has the third most victories (36) against league competition during that time.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 35 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 21-14.
• The Eagles are 29-7 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime. GS is 33-3 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS has a combined record of 40-21 in Sun Belt games played in January and February since joining the league in 2014-15.
• GS went 9-4 in non-conference games. The last time the Eagles won nine non-conference games was in the 2005-06 season.
• Georgia Southern played six straight contests on the road in December and posted a 3-3 record. The last time the Eagles played six straight true road games was December of 1963, and the Eagles were 1-5 that year.
• The Eagles capped the non-conference portion of their schedule with four straight games on the road, a trip that encompassed 14 days, 11 cities and 7,500 miles. The Eagles played at George Mason (Dec. 12), CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 16), Kennesaw State (Dec. 19) and ETSU (Dec. 22) and went 2-2.
• The Eagles have opened Sun Belt Conference play on the road in three of their four years in the league. GS started its league schedule with five of seven on the road.
• The Eagles' 85-83 victory at Wake Forest was their first over an ACC opponent since topping Virginia Tech 83-78 on the road in 2012. Byington was an assistant coach for the Hokies at the time.
• Georgia Southern's 120 points against Bluefield State were the most in a game since 1974.
• GS started the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
• The Eagles' 74-51 win at George Mason Dec. 12 was the Eagles' largest margin of victory on the road since an 86-61 win at Furman in 2006.
• GS returned the Sun Belt's top two scorers in juniors Ike Smith (19.6 ppg) and Tookie Brown (17.1 ppg). The 2017 first-team All-Sun Belt selections are the fourth-highest scoring returning duo in the country. They were the third-highest freshman scoring duo in the country in 2015-16 (1-Rice's Marcus Evans and Marquez Letcher-Ellis, 2- FSU's Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley).
• All Sun Belt Conference match-ups are doubleheaders with the women's teams with the exception of the Georgia State contest Feb. 9, in Hanner Fieldhouse on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.
• WSAV-CW in Savannah will televise the Eagles' Saturday home games for the remainder of the season. All Saturday home games tip off at 5 p.m.

Next Up
• Georgia Southern hosts Georgia State Friday at 9 p.m. in a national ESPN2 broadcast in Hanner. One point will be on the line in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, which State leads 8.5-0.5.
• Promotions: White Out – Join us for the annual white out game!

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Jake Allsmiller: G; 6' 5"; Senior

#4 Tookie Brown: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#0 Montae Glenn: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#2 Mike Hughes: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#3 Ike Smith: G; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#10 Jake Allsmiller
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

#4 Tookie Brown
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#0 Montae Glenn
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#2 Mike Hughes
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#3 Ike Smith
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned