Men's Basketball | 2/22/2016 10:09:00 AM

Georgia Southern (12-14, 8-8) vs. Georgia State (14-11, 7-9)
Tuesday, Feb. 23 - Hanner Fieldhouse (4,325) – 6 p.m.
Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets | Season Promotions | Gameday Guide: Basketball
Television: ESPN2 (Roy Philpott and Craig Robinson)
Radio: 103.7 WBMZ-FM (Statesboro/Metter/Swainsboro), 102.1 WZAT-FM (Savannah), 1370 WLOP-AM (Jesup)
Promotions: True Blue Week Stamp Card Promotion continues; Whiteout – Wear white to the game!; Sign Making Station will be set up for fans to get creative and show their True Blue spirit on the national broadcast; Fans will be able to enjoy multiple music groups at the game, including DJ Nino, the University Singers, Statesboro High School Drumline and as always, the loud and proud Hoop Troop; Free white out t-shirts will be handed out to students (while supplies last); Free pizza for students while supplies last; Two students will win $1,000, courtesy of the Georgia Lottery; Join GUS in the student section at 5:30 p.m. for the Dab Video on national television.
Series Record: GS leads 40-17, L3
Last meeting: 1/19/2016, L 69-66 OT (A)
Probable Starters:
#1 Devonte Boykins
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller
#14 Coye Simmons

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

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

Layup Line
• Georgia Southern plays host to Georgia State Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Roy Philpott and Craig Robinson calling the action.
• One point in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series is on the line.
• The Eagles are in the middle of a four-game homestand and a stretch in which Georgia Southern plays four games in eight days.
• It's the second meeting of the season against the Panthers. Georgia State topped Georgia Southern 69-66 in overtime Jan. 19 in GSU Sports Arena.
• Georgia Southern is in sole possession of fifth place in the Sun Belt standings, one game out of fourth and three games back of second. Georgia State is a game behind the Eagles and tied for sixth.
• Georgia Southern has a three-game lead on the two teams tied for ninth in the league - Texas State and Appalachian State - for the final Sun Belt Championship spot. The top-8 teams make the Sun Belt Championship March 9-13 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. 
• Without taking tiebreakers into consideration, the Eagles' magic number (combo of wins and/or opponent losses) to clinch a Sun Belt Tournament spot is three over Texas State and Appalachian State.
• Georgia Southern is 3-2 in its last five contests and coming off a 75-61 loss to first-place Little Rock Saturday night. The Eagles have won eight of their last 13, including five at home.
• The Eagles are 28-12 under head coach Mark Byington in Hanner Fieldhouse and posted a 13-2 record in the building last season. The Eagles are 8-4 this season.
• Georgia Southern freshman Tookie Brown is ranked in the top-10 in the Sun Belt in scoring (4th, 18.0 ppg), assists (8th, 3.2 apg), steals (2nd, 1.8) and assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.5). He ranks eighth among freshmen in NCAA Division I scoring.
• The last Sun Belt freshman to average over 18 points a game was Charlotte's Henry Williams in the 1989-90 season. For historical perspective, Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington was 14 years old in 1989, and assistant coach Larry Dixon played against Williams during his college career.
• Brown has scored 20-plus points in nine games and reached double figures in 25 of 26 contests, including the last 24.
• Brown (18.0 ppg) is half of the third-highest scoring freshman duo in the country. He and Ike Smith (11.6 ppg) combine to average 29.6 points a game.
• Eagle sophomore Mike Hughes is one of four Sun Belt players ranked in the league's top-10 in scoring (10th, 14.3) and top-20 in rebounding (17th, 4.9). Hughes is averaging 17.3 points and 5.1 rebounds in Sun Belt games.
• Georgia State is 1-4 in its last five and coming off a 69-61 home win over Arkansas State Saturday.
• The Panthers are 3-8 on the road and 1-6 in league road games.
• Georgia State ranks third in the Sun Belt in scoring defense (21st in the country) and fourth in field goal percentage defense.
• Jeremy Hollowell leads the Panthers in scoring with 14.8 points a game, and Kevin Ware averages 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Hollowell is averaging 18.5 points and 7.3 rebounds in the last four games.

The Series
• Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which began in 1948, 40-17, but the Panthers are 8-3 in the last 11 meetings and have won the last three.
• Georgia Southern is 23-5 against the Panthers in Hanner Fieldhouse and has won the last two.
• Georgia State topped the Eagles 38-36 in the Sun Belt Championship last season. It was the lowest-scoring Sun Belt game since the shot clock era began.
• The Eagles' last three wins in the series have all been by four points or less, and two were in overtime.
• Georgia Southern was 16-3 against the Panthers from 1985-1992, when both schools were members of the TAAC.
• The Eagles are 23-5 against Georgia State at home and have won the last two.
• Last Meeting - 1/19/2016 - GSU Sports Arena: Georgia State's Jeremy Hollowell hit two free throws with 34.7 seconds left to send the game to overtime and made two more with 14 seconds remaining in the extra session to seal a 69-66 win for the Panthers over Georgia Southern.
• Tookie Brown missed a long 3-point try to tie it for Georgia Southern as the buzzer sounded. With the Eagles trailing by four points late in overtime, Jake Allsmiller was fouled on a 3-point try from the corner and made all three to make it a one-point game, and Devonte Boykins stole the ball as Georgia State crossed halfcourt. 
• Aubrey McRae, who just entered the game for the first time, scooped it up and took it all the way to the basket, but his runner was off the mark. The Panthers inbounded to Hollowell, who was fouled and made both for the 69-66 cushion.
• Georgia State scored on its first four possessions of overtime to open a six-point advantage and led 65-59 with 1:45 to go. Ike Smith and Coye Simmons scored on Georgia Southern's next two possessions to cut the margin to 65-63 with 1:02 to play.
• Smith fouled Kevin Ware, who missed two free throws, but the Panthers got the offensive board and got the ball back to Ware, who was fouled again. This time, the senior canned a pair with 39.3 to play to put the Panthers ahead 67-63.
• With Georgia Southern leading 55-53, Simmons was whistled for a holding call on Hollowell as the Panthers were inbounding under their own basket with 34.7 left in regulation. Hollowell sank both free throws, and Mike Hughes' long triple for the Eagles was off the mark. The Panthers got the ball ahead to Isaiah Dennis, and his 3-pointer from the wing swished through the net but did not beat the buzzer.
• Smith led four Eagles in double figures with career highs of 23 points and nine rebounds for Georgia Southern, and Hughes recorded 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. Allsmiller scored 11, and Tookie Brown tallied 10 points and four assists.
• T.J. Shipes posted 14 points and 13 rebounds for Georgia State, and Markus Crider collected 14 points and seven rebounds. Hollowell finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Isaiah Williams and Ware each scored 10.
• Last Meeting in Hanner - 2/5/2015: Mike Hughes posted 15 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots as Georgia Southern posted a 58-54 win over Georgia State before a sellout crowd.
• Hughes hit a pair of free throws to put Georgia Southern ahead 53-49 with 1:26 to play. The Eagles got a defensive stop, and then pulled down two offensive rebounds on their next trip down the floor to maintain possession. The last came on a held ball after a scrum of players diving all over the floor, and when the whistle blew with 28 seconds left, the possession arrow pointed in favor of Georgia Southern.
• Georgia State was forced to foul Jelani Hewitt, and the senior made it a six-point lead. The Eagles got another stop and Hewitt went 1-of-2 from the stripe for a 56-49 cushion with 20 seconds to go. The Panthers had one last gasp at it when Kevin Ware hit a triple to make the score 57-54 with three seconds to play. Hewitt was fouled with 1.8 on the clock and made 1-of-2 from the line to seal the win.
• Hewitt finished with 13 points, a game-high nine rebounds, five assists and four steals. Trent Wiedeman contributed eight points, five rebounds and two blocked shots for the Eagles.
• Ryan Harrow tallied 17 points and four assists to pace Georgia State, while Markus Crider added 14 points and seven rebounds. R.J. Hunter contributed 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Georgia Southern, which trailed by six points at halftime, rallied from a 39-30 deficit midway through the second half. Curtis Diamond, Hewitt and Hughes all hit 3-pointers in a 13-4 Eagle run, and a pair of Wiedeman free throws gave the Eagles a 43-41 lead with 6:26 to play. It was their first lead since early in the first half.
• A Jake Allsmiller 3-pointer from the corner extended the cushion to 49-44 with 3:47 left. The teams traded buckets before Hunter hit a triple from the wing to pull the Panthers to within two points with 1:45 to go. But Hunter fouled Hughes trying to go for a steal on the Eagles' next trip down the floor.

Team Storylines
• The Eagles are led in scoring by freshman Tookie Brown. The last time a freshman led Georgia Southern in scoring was the 1999-2000 season, when the school's all-time scoring leader, Julius Jenkins, led the Eagles with 15.5 points a game. Elton Nesbitt averaged 15.7 points a game to lead the Eagles in scoring as a newcomer to the program in 2003-04, but it was his sophomore season after spending a year at Compton Community College.
• Brown and fellow rookie Ike Smith average 29.6 points a game combined, making them the third-highest freshmen scoring duo in the country. Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley of Florida State (31.9 ppg) lead the nation, and Rice's Marcus Evans and Marquez Letcher-Ellis are second (30.8).
• Georgia Southern's seven freshmen and redshirt freshmen combine for 41.5 points a contest, the third-highest total in the country.
• Three Eagles are in the top-15 in the Sun Belt in 3-pointers made per game - Mike Hughes (8th, 2.0), Jake Allsmiller (4th, 2.1) and Tookie Brown (15th, 1.7).
• Tookie Brown, Ike Smith and Mike Hughes all scored 20-plus points in the win over UT Arlington Feb. 4. The last time three Eagles scored 20-plus points in a game was Jan. 16, 2014, an 88-81 overtime over Furman in Hanner Fieldhouse. Angel Matias (21), Jelani Hewitt (21) and Tre Bussey (26) all scored 20-plus points.
• Georgia Southern's 11 blocked shots against UT Arlington Feb. 4 were one shy of the school record, set against Texas San Antonio in 1989.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 103rd career game today and his 92nd at Georgia Southern .
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 34-5 in games when leading at half and 43-1 when leading with five minutes to go.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 18 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 11-7.
• The Eagles are averaging 76.8 points a game this season and have scored 80-plus points in nine games and 100-plus in three contests. Georgia Southern scored 80-plus points in six contests last year.
• The Eagles have played every team in the league at least once and posted a 4-6 record through the first half of conference play.
• Eleven different Eagles have scored 10 or more points in a game this season.
• Georgia Southern is 20-6 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 26 contests there.
• Georgia Southern posted a 4-6 record in the non-conference portion of its schedule.
• 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.
• Devince Boykins is the lone scholarship senior on the Eagles' roster, but this is his first year in the program.
• 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.
• Three student-athletes who redshirted last season - Jonathan Sanks, Aubrey McRae and Shawn O'Connell - are making their debuts this season.
• Georgia Southern has used 10 different combinations of starting lineups this season.
• The Eagles lost their first Sun Belt game after leading at halftime at Georgia State Jan. 19 (15-1).
• 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.
• The Eagles played their Sun Belt opener on the road for the second straight season. Georgia Southern is 0-2 all-time in Sun Belt openers.
• The Eagles played six of their first eight games on the road, a stretch that included contests at Ole Miss, Auburn and No. 6 Duke.
• 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).

Next Up
• Georgia Southern plays its home finale when the Eagles welcome longtime rival Appalachian State to Hanner Fieldhouse Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
• Promotions: Senior Night – Join us as we honor the senior players for their hard work and determination in the classroom and on the court; Langston Chapel Middle School Step Team will perform.

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