Men's Basketball | 12/28/2016 9:41:00 PM

Georgia Southern (7-6, 0-0) vs. Georgia State (7-5, 0-0)
Saturday, Dec. 31 - Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) – Statesboro, Ga. - 12:30 p.m.
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Radio: 105.5 FM WIFO (Jesup), 100.9 FM WLYU (Lyons), 103.7 FM WBMZ (Metter), 900 AM WJLG (Savannah)
Promotions: Fans will have a chance to win one of four New Year's Eve Holiday Getaways by registering online and attending the games. The winners will be announced at halftime of the men's game. It's also the annual White Out games and a New Year's Party in Hanner. Ticket specials for Saturday's game: $8 adult general admission and $5 youth tickets. That includes admission to both games.
Series Record: Southern leads 41-17, W1
Last meeting: W, 54-52, 2/23/16 (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]

Georgia State Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern opens Sun Belt Conference play against longtime rival Georgia State Dec. 31 in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• The game is the second end of a doubleheader with the women's team, and tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
• Fans will have a chance to win one of four New Year's Eve Holiday Getaways by registering online and attending the games. The winners will be announced at halftime of the men's game. 
•  It's also the annual White Out games and a New Year's Party in Hanner. Ticket specials: $8 adult general admission and $5 youth tickets. That includes admission to both games.
• One point is on the line in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, which State leads 5-2.
• The game is part of a four-game homestand for the Eagles, which includes Georgia Southern's first three Sun Belt Conference contests.
• Georgia Southern is 3-2 in its last five and coming off a 106-58 win over Fisk Dec. 22 in Hanner Fieldhouse. The Eagles have not played a game in eight days, their longest layoff of the season.
• Georgia Southern is 2-1 at home this season. The Eagles are 32-13 under head coach Mark Byington in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• GS finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-6 record, its first winning record in non-conference play since 2014-15 when the Eagles went 8-3. It's just the second time in the last eight seasons that the Eagles were above .500 in non-conference games.
• Georgia State is 3-2 in its last five and coming off a 74-65 home loss to UMass Wednesday.
• The Panthers are 1-4 on the road this season.
• Georgia State was picked third in the Sun Belt Preseason Poll, and Jeremy Hollowell was named preseason second-team all-conference.  

The Series vs. Georgia State
• Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which began in 1948, 41-17, but the Panthers are 8-4 in the last 12 meetings and have won three of the last four.
• Georgia Southern is 24-5 against the Panthers in Hanner Fieldhouse and has won the last three.
• Georgia State topped the Eagles 38-36 in the 2015 Sun Belt Championship. It was the lowest-scoring Sun Belt game since the shot clock era began.
• The Eagles' last four wins in the series have all been by four points or less, and two were in overtime. Three of the last nine meetings have been decided in overtime.
• Georgia Southern was 16-3 against the Panthers from 1985-1992, when both schools were members of the TAAC.
• Last Meeting and last meeting in Hanner - 2/23/2016: Mike Hughes tallied 21 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and Georgia Southern held Georgia State to one field goal in the final five minutes to grind out a 54-52 win over the Panthers.
• A Jake Allsmiller free throw gave the Eagles the two-point lead with 21.4 seconds remaining. Hughes almost had a steal with eight seconds left, but the ball went out of bounds off of the Eagles. After a Panther timeout, Isaiah Williams tried a runner in the lane that came off the front rim, and the ball went out of bounds off the Panthers with 2.8 left. Georgia Southern inbounded to Hughes, who eluded two defenders trying to foul and ran out the clock.
• Hughes scored 18 points in the first half and finished the night 7 of 15 from the floor and 4 of 8 from 3-point range for Georgia Southern. Ike Smith collected 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Tookie Brown chipped in eight points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
• Williams posted 22 points, five rebounds and two steals for Georgia State, and Jeremy Hollowell tallied 14 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Ware recorded 11 points and four boards.
• After Williams put Georgia State ahead 50-47 with a 3-pointer from the wing with 5:32 left, Georgia Southern held the Panthers to 1 of 7 from the field for the remainder of the game. Smith hit a triple from the wing to tie the game, and Hughes took a charge on the Panthers' ensuing possession. Smith was fouled on the Eagles' next trip down the floor and made two for a 52-50 lead.
• Hughes added a free throw with 1:40 to play, and Coye Simmons blocked a shot attempt by T.J. Shipes at the other end. After Allsmiller's 3-pointer was off the mark for the Eagles, Williams drove the lane for a bucket to trim the lead to 53-52 with 28.1 to go. The Panthers fouled Allsmiller, who made 1 of 2 from the charity stripe, setting the stage for Williams' final shot attempt.
• Georgia State clamped down on Hughes and the Eagles in the second half and held Georgia Southern to 24 percent shooting from the field. The Eagles made up for it at the foul line where they outscored the Panthers 13-4 in the game.

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 (9) this season, and the Eagles have made 10 or more threes five 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 played 10 of their first 12 games away from home. The stretch ended Dec. 20 at Winthrop, which also capped a four-game road trip that covered 4,120 miles of travel as the Eagles went from Minnesota to Ft. Myers to Miami to South Carolina and back home. 
• GS played three contests in Savannah this season and won all three. The Eagles defeated Florida A&M (83-72) and Radford (65-64) in the Savannah Invitational and won 94-75 at Savannah State.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 121st career game today and his 109th 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 38-7 in games when leading at half and 49-4 when leading with five minutes to go, but three 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 78.1 this year and scored over 80 six 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 25-7 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 32 contests there and 32-13 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 plays host to Troy Saturday, Jan. 7, in Hanner Fieldhouse. It's a doubleheader with the women's team, and tipoff is set for 5 p.m.
• It's Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day. Georgia Southern Faculty and Staff can purchase discount $5 general admission tickets for the whole family (up to 4 members). Plus, the concession stand will be offering $5 combos, including hot dog, chips and a fountain drink.

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.