Men's Basketball | 12/19/2016 9:25:00 AM

Georgia Southern (6-5) at Winthrop (6-3)
Tuesday, Dec. 20 - Winthrop Coliseum (6,100) – Rock Hill, S.C. - 11 a.m.
Live Audio | Live Video | Live Stats
Radio: 105.5 FM WIFO (Jesup), 100.9 FM WLYU (Lyons), 103.7 FM WBMZ (Metter), 900 AM WJLG (Savannah)
Series Record: Winthrop leads 3-0
Last Meeting: 12/19/15, L 88-81 (Hanner)
Probable Starters:
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller
#14 Coye Simmons

Georgia Southern Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule] [Game Notes]

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

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern finishes its four-game road trip at Winthrop Tuesday. It's Education Day, and 2,500 middle and elementary school kids will be in attendance.
• The contest will tip off at 11 a.m., marking the first time an Eagles' game started before noon since a 60-44 victory over Wofford in the 2013 Southern Conference Tournament. That contest tipped off at 11:30 a.m. in Asheville.
• Georgia Southern's current roadie covers 4,120 miles of travel as the Eagles go from Minnesota to Ft. Myers to Miami to South Carolina and back home.
• GS is 3-2 in its last five and coming off a 75-68 win at FIU Thursday.
• The current road trip caps a stretch in which the Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. Three of those games were in Savannah (two in Savannah Invite and one at Savannah State), and the Eagles won all three.
• GS is 3-4 on the road this season. This will be the Eagles' second game in the Winthrop 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.
• Winthrop is 3-2 in its last five and has won 20 of its last 26 games, dating back to last season.
• The Eagles are coming off an 86-79 victory at Hampton Saturday afternoon. Keon Johnson led Winthrop with 24 points, his third straight contest with 20-plus in the scoring column.
• The Eagles were the unanimous choice to win the Big South and Johnson was named Preseason Player of the Year in the conference's Preseason Coaches Poll. Xavier Cooks was also named preseason first-team all-league.
• Winthrop has won 23 of its last 25 games in Winthrop Coliseum and is 32-4 in its last 36 games at home.

The Series vs. Winthrop
• This is the fourth meeting between GS and Winthrop, and Winthrop has won the previous three.
• Winthrop won the lone meeting in Rock Hill 78-53 Dec. 8, 2000.
• Winthrop posted an 88-81 victory over GS last December in Hanner Fieldhouse. 
• Keon Johnson scored 30 points, including 19 in the second half, to lead Winthrop.
• Tookie Brown tallied 25 points, four assists and two steals for Georgia Southern. Ike Smith collected 13 points and eight rebounds, and Devince Boykins netted a career-high 13 points to go with four rebounds.
• Johnson was 6 of 9 from 3-point range for Winthrop, and Xavier Cooks notched 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jimmy Gavin scored 20.
• Winthrop shot 52 percent in the second half after the teams were tied 36-36 at halftime, and the Eagles made 20 of 21 from the free-throw line. Georgia Southern outrebounded Winthrop 50-34 and used 22 offensive boards to score 24 second-chance points.
• Georgia Southern scored five straight points in a 9-3 run and tied the game 59-59 on a pair of Brown free throws with 9:56 to play. Winthrop outscored Georgia Southern 19-6 over the next six and a half minutes of game time to open a 13-point cushion. Johnson scored the first seven points of the run, and Cooks capped it with a pair of free throws. Brown hit a 3-pointer from the wing, Jonathan Sanks got a steal in the backcourt and a layup, and Brown scored a layup to trim the margin to six points with 49 seconds left. Gavin, Joshua Davenport and Johnson each made two free throws to seal the win for Winthrop.

More Team Storylines
• Last year, Georgia Southern set new school records with 3-pointers made (282) and attempted (834) in a season. GS ranks fifth in the SBC in threes per game (8.4) this season, and the Eagles have made 10 or more threes four times.
• The Eagles picked up the 1,200th win in the history of the program, which began play in 1926-27, when they topped Coastal Georgia 92-43 Nov. 14.
• GS held Coastal Georgia to 23.1 percent shooting from the field, the lowest for an opponent since holding North Georgia to 22.7 percent in 2003.
• The Eagles play 10 of their first 12 games away from home. The stretch ends Dec. 20 at Winthrop. GS played three contests in Savannah (55 miles East) during that time and won all three.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 119th career game today and his 108th 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 38-6 in games when leading at half and 49-3 when leading with five minutes to go, but two of those losses in each category have some this season.
•  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. The Eagles are averaging 75.0 this year and scored over 80 four times.
• 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.
• Georgia Southern is 24-7 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 31 contests there and 31-13 under Mark Byington.
• Georgia Southern used 11 different combinations of starting lineups last year. GS has used four this season.
• The Eagles are 17-1 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime.

Next Up
• Georgia Southern returns home to take on NAIA Fisk University Thursday. 
• It's a doubleheader with the GS women's team, and the men's game tips off at 4 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• Fans can enjoy photos and candy canes with Santa Claus, participate in an Ugly Sweater Contest, take a jab at the Fruit Cake Eating Contest and enjoy their favorite holiday music. • • Fans are also asked to bring a new, unwrapped toy to donate to the Toys for Tots Foundation.

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.