Men's Basketball | 1/29/2017 4:45:00 PM

Georgia Southern (14-7, 7-1) at Troy (11-11, 3-5)
Monday, Jan. 30 - Trojan Arena (5,200) – Troy, Ala. - 8 p.m. ET
Television: ESPN3
Live Video | Live Audio  | Live Stats
Radio: 105.5 FM WIFO (Jesup), 100.9 FM WLYU (Lyons), 103.7 FM WBMZ (Metter), 900 AM WJLG (Savannah)
Series Record: GS leads 13-6, W3
Last meeting: W, 86-82,1/7/17 (Hanner)
Probable Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller

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

Troy Information:
[Stats] [Roster] [Schedule]

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern travels to Troy Monday for an 8 p.m. ET contest on ESPN3.
• It's the second meeting between the teams this season. Georgia Southern topped the Trojans 86-82 back on Jan.7 in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• GS suffered its first loss of the calendar year Saturday, falling at South Alabama 78-66. The setback snapped an eight-game win streak, the Eagles' longest since the 2005-06 season. GS is 10-2 in its last 12.
• Georgia Southern is 5-6 on the road this season, and the Eagles won their first two conference road games for the first time since the 2002-03 season. GS is now 2-1 in road league games.
• The Eagles started 7-0 in league play for the first time since the 1991-92 season.  GS won its first nine games in the Trans America Athletic Conference that year. The Eagles  sit atop the Sun Belt standings with a 7-1 record. 
• Georgia Southern features the Sun Belt's top two scorers in sophomores Ike Smith (19.3 ppg) and Tookie Brown (18.7 ppg). They were the third-highest freshman scoring duo in the country last year (1-Rice's Marcus Evans and Marquez Letcher-Ellis, 2- FSU's Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley).
• Troy is 2-3 in its last five and coming off a 78-72 home loss to Georgia State Saturday. 
• The Trojans are 5-3 at home and 1-2 in home Sun Belt games.
• Troy is tied for eighth in the league standings with a 3-5 record.
• Jordan Varnado leads the Trojans in scoring (15.4/gm) and rebounding (7.0/gm), and Wesley Person averages 14.4 points a game. Person is the son of Wesley Person Sr. and nephew of Chuck Person, both standouts at Auburn who went on to have successful NBA careers.

The Series vs. Troy
• Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which began in 1932, 13-6 and has won the last three.
• GS is 2-3 on the road and 3-2 since joining the Sun Belt.
• Each of the last six meetings have been decided by six points or less.
• Eight of the Eagles' wins were recorded before 1964 as the teams played 13 times between 1932 and 1964.
• The series was renewed in 1991 with the Eagles earning a 102-94 home win.

More Team Storylines
• Georgia Southern has no seniors in its rotation and starts three sophomores and two juniors. Walk-ons James Holder and Dominique Bullock are the team's lone seniors.
• GS is averaging 79.3 points a game this season, the most since the 2004-05 campaign, when the Eagles scored at an 80.8 clip. The Eagles have scored over 80 12 times, including six straight games from 12/20-1/14, and have scored over 90 five times, two in a row Jan. 21 and 23. It's the first time the Eagles scored 90-plus points in back-to-back Division I games since Feb. 11 and Feb. 13, 2006.
• Georgia Southern ranks 53rd nationally and second in the Sun Belt in fewest turnovers and ranks 52nd nationally and second in the SBC in turnovers per game. The Eagles have logged single-digit turnovers in five games and posted a season-low six vs. Troy (1/7).
• The Eagles are off to their best start in league play since the 1991-92 season.
• GS is ranked 13th in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25.
• Last year, Georgia Southern set new school records with 3-pointers made (282) and attempted (834) in a season. GS ranks second in the SBC in threes per game (9.0) this season, and the Eagles have made 10 or more threes nine times.
• GS is 10-2 since changing its starting lineup following an 86-49 loss at Minnesota Dec. 9.
• The Eagles have shot 50 percent or better in a half in 17 games this season, including 60 percent or better twice. The Eagles have shot 50 percent or better in both halves of a game twice (GSU, 12/31 and CCU, 1/23). The Eagles have shot 50 percent or better in five games. 
• GS ranks second in the Sun Belt in free throws. The Eagles have attempted 30-plus free throws in five games and made 20-plus free throws in six contests.
• GS has a combined record of 29-12 in Sun Belt games played in January and February since joining the league in 2014-15.
• Georgia Southern plays conference games the rest of the way on Saturdays and Mondays.
• Georgia Southern returned all five starters and 11 lettermen from last season's squad. Ninety-four percent of the Eagles' scoring and rebounding is back in uniform.
• 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.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 129th career game today and his 118th at Georgia Southern. His 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern are the best of any coach in the modern era. He posted a 7-4 record at College of Charleston in 2012, filling in as the interim coach for Bobby Cremins.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 43-8 in games when leading at half and 54-4 when leading with five minutes to go.
• Georgia Southern is 30-7 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 37 contests there and 37-13 under Mark Byington.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 24 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 17-7.
• The Eagles are 22-2 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime. GS is 24-0 when leading with five minutes to go.
• Georgia Southern's comeback from 16 points down at ULM (1/16) is the Eagles' largest since a 17-point rally vs. UTA March 5, 2015.
• 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 Southern played six non-conference games against five teams that are currently in the top-105 in the NCAA RPI (Akron - 42, FGCU - 89, Minn - 24, NC State - 67, Winthrop - 101).
• 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.
• 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.
• Georgia Southern used 11 different combinations of starting lineups last year. GS has used six this season.

Next Up
• The Eagles return home for two games against the Sun Belt schools from the Pelican State. GS meets ULM Saturday (5 p.m.) and Louisiana Monday (7 p.m.).
• Promotions for Saturday: Pack the House in Pink - Join us in the fight against Breast Cancer. Make sure you wear pink to the game to show your support! Rocket Stars Show at Halftime - The tumbling and jumping gymnastics group, the Rocket Stars, will be performing at halftime of both games! Junior Eagle Club Day - All members of the Junior Eagle Club are invited to the games for a fun appreciation party!
• Promotions for Monday: Glowstick Night - Free glowsticks for fans! Make sure you wave your glowsticks high when the lights go out for the starting lineup! Student Pizza Eating Contest (Halftime) - Students will be able to register at the beginning of the spring semester for this contest. The winner will receive adidas gear and $50 cash!

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.