Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Men’s Basketball Preview: Eagles Open Two-Game Homestand Saturday

Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Men's Basketball Huddle
Tim Cowie

Men's Basketball | 12/17/2015 3:34:00 PM

Georgia Southern (3-5) vs. Winthrop (6-3)
Saturday, Dec. 19 - Hanner Fieldhouse (4,325) – 4 p.m.

Live Video | Live AudioLive Stats | Season Promotions | Gameday Guide: Basketball
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup)
Promotions:  Local Heroes Night – Military personnel, firemen, police officers and EMS receive free general admission and their family can receive discount $5 general admission tickets; Donate new, unwrapped Toys for Toys for Tots.
Series: GS Trails 2-0
Last meeting: 12/3/2000, L 58-73 (away)
Probable Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#1 Devonte Boykins
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown

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

Winthrop Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [@WUEagles]

Layup Line
• Georgia Southern returns home for its final two non-conference contests this season, starting with a match-up at Winthrop Saturday.
• The game against the Eagles starts a stretch in which Georgia Southern plays six of its next eight contests at home.
• Georgia Southern is coming off a 99-65 loss at No. 6 Duke Tuesday night.
• Georgia Southern is 22-8 under head coach Mark Byington in Hanner Fieldhouse and posted a 13-2 record in the building last season. The Eagles are 2-0 this year.
• 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.
• Winthrop has lost its last two and is coming off a 72-60 setback at Alabama. The Eagles' three losses this season are at NC State, Georgia and Alabama. Winthrop is 2-3 on the road.
• The Eagles were picked third in the Big South Preseason Poll. Keon Johnson was named preseason first-team All-Big South, and Xavier Cooks was named to the second team. Johnson leads the Eagles in scoring with 19.6 points a game.

The Series
• This is the third meeting between the two teams, and Winthrop leads the all-time series 2-0.
• Winthrop won the first meeting 80-72 Dec. 2, 1999, in Hanner Fieldhouse and the second 73-58 Dec. 3, 2000, in the Winthrop Coliseum.

Quick Hitters
Devonte Boykins has been named one of 154 nominees for the NABC AllState Insurance Good Works Team. 
• The Eagles are averaging 82.5 points a game this season and have scored 80-plus points in four games, including three of their last five. Georgia Southern scored 80-plus points in just six contests last year.
• Georgia Southern's strength of schedule ranks third in the Sun Belt and 152nd in the country. 
• Eleven different Eagles have scored 10 or more points in a game this season.
• Georgia Southern is 15-2 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 17 contests there. The Eagles have just two contests in Hanner for the rest of the calendar year - vs. Winthrop today and Stetson Dec. 22.
• 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).

Apples and Trees
• Five Eagle student-athletes' fathers played and/or coached college basketball.
Jake Allsmiller's dad, Brian, played at Vanderbilt (1978-81); Devonte and Devince Boykins' father, Robert, played at Johnson C. Smith (1992-95); Shawn O'Connell's father, Dave, played at Duke (1973-76); Jason Burnell's dad, Frank, is the head coach at Edward Waters College in Florida and is in his fifth season. He played at Stetson from 1981-85.
Aubrey McRae's father, Travis, coached him at Glenn Hills High School.
Boarding the Mothership
• Twelve Georgia Southern games will be broadcast on the ESPN family of Networks this season.
• Games at No. 4 Duke (12/15) and Georgia State (2/23) will air on ESPN2. 
• Seven Sun Belt contests will be broadcast live on ESPN3, and the Eagles' game at USC Upstate Nov. 27 was shown on ESPN3.
• The matchups at Ole Miss and Auburn were shown on the SEC Network +.

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.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Jake Allsmiller

#10 Jake Allsmiller

G
6' 5"
Sophomore
Devonte Boykins

#1 Devonte Boykins

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Mike Hughes

#2 Mike Hughes

G
6' 3"
Sophomore
Aubrey McRae

#12 Aubrey McRae

G
6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
Shawn O

#11 Shawn O'Connell

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
Tookie Brown

#4 Tookie Brown

G
5' 11"
Freshman
Jason Burnell

#13 Jason Burnell

F
6' 7"
Freshman
Devince Boykins

#5 Devince Boykins

G
6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
Ike Smith

#3 Ike Smith

G
6' 4"
Freshman
Montae Glenn

#0 Montae Glenn

F
6' 8"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jake Allsmiller

#10 Jake Allsmiller

6' 5"
Sophomore
G
Devonte Boykins

#1 Devonte Boykins

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Mike Hughes

#2 Mike Hughes

6' 3"
Sophomore
G
Aubrey McRae

#12 Aubrey McRae

6' 3"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Shawn O

#11 Shawn O'Connell

6' 8"
Redshirt Freshman
F
Tookie Brown

#4 Tookie Brown

5' 11"
Freshman
G
Jason Burnell

#13 Jason Burnell

6' 7"
Freshman
F
Devince Boykins

#5 Devince Boykins

6' 4"
Redshirt Senior
G
Ike Smith

#3 Ike Smith

6' 4"
Freshman
G
Montae Glenn

#0 Montae Glenn

6' 8"
Freshman
F