IRVING, Texas – After one of the best non-conference seasons in school history, Georgia Southern Men's Basketball opens league play on Tuesday night against UT Arlington in the Sun Belt Conference debut for the Eagles. Tipoff for the first league game of the year is set for 8:15 p.m. (ET) and can be heard on the Georgia Southern Sports Network from Learfield Sports. The Eagles are back home this weekend for Community Day with special $5 tickets available for the first home Sun Belt game as Texas State comes to Hanner Fieldhouse.

DATE: Tuesday, December 30th, 2014
TIME: 8:15 p.m. (ET)
LOCATION: College Park Center – Arlington, Texas
VIDEO: UTAMavs.com (Premium)
RADIO: Georgia Southern Sports Network from Learfield Sports
Play-by-Play – Chris Blair - @CSBRadio
Analyst – AJ Henderson - @AJHenderson_SID
Metter/Swainsboro – 103.7 WMBZ-FM
Statesboro – 106.5 WZBX-FM
Savannah/Hilton Head/Brunswick – 102.1 WZAT-FM
Jessup – 1370 WLOP-AM
Worldwide – GSEagles.com
LIVE STATS: UTAMavs.com
TWITTER UPDATES: @GSAthletics_MBB 

SERIES HISTORY: GS Leads 1-0
LAST MEETING: 12-29-1972 | Home | Win | 73-69

GEORGIA SOUTHERN EAGLES (7-2)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | Media Guide | Game Notes

UT ARLINGTON (6-4)
Schedule/Results | Roster | Stats | Media Guide | Game Notes

ONE OF BEST NON-CONFERENCE SEASONS
Georgia Southern's 7-2 non-conference start ranks as the second-best non-conference season in program history.

Pl.        Year                 Record            Pct.      Notes
1.         1984-85           12-1                 .923     TAAC Regular Season Champs
2.         2014-15           7-2                   .778     ???
            2003-04           7-2                   .778     -
4.         1992-93           6-2                   .778     -
5.         1988-89           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance
            1987-88           7-3                   .700     NIT Appearance
7.         1985-86           9-4                   .692     -
8.         2005-06           9-5                   .643     SoCon South Champs / NIT
            1991-92           9-5                   .643     TAAC Champs / NCAA Tourney
10.       2006-07           7-4                   .636     -
            2002-03           7-4                   .636     -
            2001-02           7-4                   .636     SoCon South Champs

WIEDEMAN REACHES 1,000/700
Trent Wiedeman joined an exclusive club in the Stetson game, reaching 1,000 career points and 700 career rebounds. Crossing the threshold was special because Wiedmean crossed both marks on the same play. He grabbed an offensive rebound, put it back for a deuce and was fouled on the play. He added the free throw for 1,000/700 with 16:17 left in the first half.

HEWITT MOVES INTO TOP-20
In the Eagles' loss to UCF on December 2nd, Jelani Hewitt moved into the top-20 in career scoring at Georgia Southern. He now sits in 16th with 1,471 career points. He needs just 48 more points to Don "Whitey" Verstaete's 10th place career total of 1,519.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD
The Eagles will travel 12,283 miles in the 30 games scheduled for the 2014-15 schedule. That total is just 168 miles less than halfway around the Earth. Georgia Southern's farthest games away from home last season, played in Cancun (840 mi.), are closer than two of the Eagles' opponents at Texas State (971 mi.) and UT Arlington (893 mi.).

Season miles to date..................................3,343 mi.
Statesboro to Arlington………......................893 mi.
2014-15 total season mileage..................12,283 mi.
2013-14 total season mileage....................9.216 mi.

STARTERS SCORE THE BALANCE AGAINST USF
The Eagles' scoring against USF came exclusively from the starting lineup for the first time in 659 games. The last time the bench went scoreless was on March 20, 1992 in the NCAA Tournament against Oklahoma State.

SEASON TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Season tickets for the 2014-15 season are available now by contacting the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office. With 13 doubleheaders on the schedule, fans can get the same seat for men's and women's games for just $120. For more information, contact the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GSU-WINS.

THE COACH
Head Coach Mark Byington enters this game with a 29-25 career record with a 22-21 mark at Georgia Southern in his second season in Statesboro.

THE WEATHER
An influx of arctic air will cool temperatures by nearly 10 degrees to an expected high of 48 on Tuesday with a low of 28 under mostly sunny skies.

UP NEXT
The Eagles are back at home this weekend as Texas State comes to the friendly confines for the first time since 1965. The Eagles and Bobcats square-off at 7 p.m. (ET).

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 and twitter.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets call 1-800-GSU-WINS.