Men's Basketball | 11/10/2016 3:00:00 PM

Georgia Southern (0-0) at NC State (0-0)
Friday, Nov. 11 - PNC Arena (19,700) – Raleigh, N.C. - 7 p.m.
Live Audio | Live Video | Live Stats
Television: ACC Network Extra
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup), 100.9 WLYU (Lyons)
Series Record: GS trails 3-0, L3
Last meeting: Dec. 12, 2009, L 75-57
Probable Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#11 Shawn O'Connell

Georgia Southern Information:
[2015-16 Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [Game Notes (PDF)]

NC State Information:
[2015-16 Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern opens its 87th season and 46th Division I campaign of men's basketball Friday when the Eagles travel to NC State. 
• The Eagles are 2-1 under head Coach Mark Byington in season openers.
• The game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra and can be seen online on WatchESPN.com.
• It's the first meeting between the teams since 2009, a 75-57 Wolfpack win in Reynolds Coliseum.
• 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.
• Georgia Southern won its lone exhibition contest 106-51 against Lees-McRae Nov. 3.
• NC State was picked to finish sixth in the ACC preseason poll, and Dennis Smith Jr. was named the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year. Smith was the No. 4 overall recruit and the top point guard in the 2016 class.
• The Wolfpack return two double-figure scorers from last year's team in Abdul-Malik Abu (12.9 ppg) and Maverick Rowan (12.9 ppg). The Pack will also return Torin Dorn, the Conference USA Player of the Year in 2014-15, who sat out last season as a transfer from Charlotte and Terry Henderson, who was injured in the opening minutes of NC State's first game last season. NC State welcomes a six-member freshman class, headlined by five-star recruits Smith and Omer Yurtseven.
• NC State hosted a pair of exhibition games and topped Lynn 100-66 Nov. 3, and Barton 112-60 Nov. 7.

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 Holder 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 - Last year, Georgia Southern set new school records with 3-pointers made (282) and attempted (834) in a season. 
• The Eagles made 10 or more triples in a contest 13 times, hitting nine from long distance on four more occasions. 
• Georgia Southern averaged 26.9 (28th nationally) attempts and 9.1 makes (27th nationally) a game. 
• Three Eagles were in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made per game - Mike Hughes (4th, 2.2), Jake Allsmiller (6th, 2.1) and Tookie Brown (14th, 1.6).

More Team Storylines
• Georgia Southern's last win over an ACC opponent was an 83-78 victory at Virginia Tech in 2013.
• The Eagles' next win will be the 1,200th in the history of the program, which began play in 1926-27.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. The stretch starts tonight and ends Dec. 20 at Winthrop. GS does play three contests in Savannah (55 miles East) during that time.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 108th career game today and his 97th 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 36-5 in games when leading at half and 44-1 when leading with five minutes to go. 
• Georgia Southern led the Sun Belt and ranked 11th in the country in turnover margin (+3.4). The Eagles recorded less than 10 turnovers in 10 games and averaged 11.6 per game.
•  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. 
• 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.
• Eleven different Eagles scored 10 or more points in a game last season.
• Georgia Southern is 22-6 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 28 contests there and 30-12 under Mark Byington.
• Georgia Southern used 11 different combinations of starting lineups.
• The Eagles lost their first Sun Belt game after leading at halftime at Georgia State Jan. 19 (17-1).
• 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.

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.