Men’s Basketball Preview: Southern Plays Host to State Friday Night

The game tips off at 9 p.m. on ESPN2.

Georgia Southern (16-10, 7-6) vs. Georgia State (19-7, 10-3)
Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 - Hanner Fieldhouse (3,897) – 9 p.m.
Series: GS leads 42-19, L2
Last Meeting: 1/20/18, L 66-83 (away)
Television: ESPN2
Radio: GS Sports Network (pregame show starts a half hour before tipoff) - WMCD 107.3 FM (Statesboro), 630 AM WBMQ (Savannah), 1370 AM WLOP (Jesup)
Promotions: White Out - wear white!; NCAA Championship Trophy will be on display; Free fan banners from Coca-Cola (while they last); Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport "Fly Like a Winner" t-shirt promotion - Stand up and cheer loud for these t-shirt tosses... the fan who catches the shirt marked "WINNER" on the front of a shirt will win two round-trip airline tickets; Halftime - All-Star basketball teams from the Bulloch County Parks and Recreation Department; Canned Food Drive to replenish the Statesboro Food Bank following the holiday season.

Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Twitter Updates

Georgia Southern	Georgia State
Roster	Roster
Stats	Stats
Schedule	Schedule

Probable GS Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#13 Quan Jackson

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern caps its three-game homestand against Georgia State Friday, Feb. 16, in Hanner Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2, and as a result, will tip off at 9 p.m.
• It's the second of two scheduled meetings between the Eagles and Panthers this season. State won the first contest 83-66 in Atlanta Jan. 20. Southern's leading scorer, Tookie Brown, missed the contest with an injury.
• Georgia Southern is 19-6 in Hanner Fieldhouse in its last 25 contests there, 47-18 in four-plus years under Mark Byington and 26-9 in Sun Belt games. The Eagles are 7-3 in Hanner this season and play their final two regular-season contests at home March 1 and 3.
• GS is 2-3 in its last five and coming off a 102-91 loss to Louisiana in Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday. The Eagles are tied for third with Texas State and UTA in the Sun Belt standings. The top-4 teams receive a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament March 7-11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Nine teams are vying for the third and fourth positions. Louisiana leads the league and Georgia State is in second.
• Georgia State saw its 10-game win streak come to an end Saturday at as the Panthers fell to ULM 90-82 in overtime.
• The Panthers are 8-4 on the road and 4-2 in road league games.
• Georgia State enters the game ranked first in the league in field goal percentage defense (39.8), turnover margin (+3.8) and blocked shots (4.7) and is second in scoring defense (66.4) and third in steals (7.5). The Panthers' scoring defense is ranked 43rd in the NCAA, while the field goal percentage defense is 13th.
• Sophomore guard and Sun Belt Player of the Year candidate D'Marcus Simonds has scored in double-figures in 43 straight games and is ranked No. 18 in the country in scoring. He is coming off a 39-point, 12-rebound performance against ULM, and this will be his first trip to Hanner Fieldhouse. He missed the contest in Statesboro last season because of an injury.

The Series
• Georgia Southern leads the all-time series, which began in 1948, 42-19, but the Panthers are 10-5 in the last 15 meetings and have won five of the last seven.
• Georgia Southern is 26-5 against the Panthers at home and have not lost to State in Hanner since 1996.
• 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.
• Four of the Eagles' last five 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. • Southern won all seven meetings before the Eagles began the Division I era in 1971-72.

Team Storylines
• Fourteen of GS's 25 games have been decided by six points or less, and the Eagles are 7-7. Eleven have been one-possession games, and the Eagles are 5-6. GS is 3-5 in games decided by two points or less.
• Georgia Southern ranks 20th in the nation in offensive rebounds, and Montae Glenn ranks fourth in the country. The Eagles are fourth in the SBC in rebounding and first in offensive rebounds, and their rebound average of 39.1 is a 4.4 rebound per game improvement from last year (34.7).
• GS is averaging 76.0 points a game, and the Eagles have scored over 80 points eight times, over 90 four times and over 100 twice. GS ranks fifth in the SBC in scoring and third in scoring margin.
• The Eagles have been without leading scorers and first-team Preseason All-Sun Belt selections Ike Smith or Tookie Brown for six games this season.
• Georgia Southern ranks second in the SBC in fewest turnovers, second in turnover margin and fourth in turnovers forced. The Eagles have posted 10 turnovers or less in nine contests.
• Georgia Southern's top-3 seasons in 3-pointers made and attempted have all come during Mark Byington's tenure. GS has made 10-plus triples in a game 10 times this season.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 167th career game today and his 156th at Georgia Southern. He is eight wins shy of 100 for his career, and his 51 wins in his first three seasons at Georgia Southern were 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 59-14 in games when leading at half and 71-8 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS reached double-digit wins before the new year for the first time in school history. The Eagles' 10th victory of the season was an 86-80 decision at Troy Dec. 30.
• The Eagles will be wearing green shoelaces for the rest of the season to promote Mental Health Awareness.
• During the month of February, the Eagles will participate in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. The conference and its member schools encourage fans, corporate partners and media to join the excitement by joining your favorite team to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The winner of the Sun Belt Conference's challenge will be crowned the league's 3-Point Champion, and all participating schools are entered into the national contest for a chance to earn the national 3-Point College Champion honor.
• Entering the 2017-18 campaign, GS joined UTA and Louisiana as the only three teams to reach double digit wins in conference play in each of the last three seasons and has the third most victories (36) against league competition during that time.
• Since joining the Sun Belt in 2014, 35 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 21-14.
• The Eagles are 29-7 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime. GS is 33-3 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS has a combined record of 40-22 in Sun Belt games played in January and February since joining the league in 2014-15.
• GS went 9-4 in non-conference games. The last time the Eagles won nine non-conference games was in the 2005-06 season.
• Georgia Southern played six straight contests on the road in December and posted a 3-3 record. The last time the Eagles played six straight true road games was December of 1963, and the Eagles were 1-5 that year.
• The Eagles capped the non-conference portion of their schedule with four straight games on the road, a trip that encompassed 14 days, 11 cities and 7,500 miles. The Eagles played at George Mason (Dec. 12), CSU Bakersfield (Dec. 16), Kennesaw State (Dec. 19) and ETSU (Dec. 22) and went 2-2.
• The Eagles have opened Sun Belt Conference play on the road in three of their four years in the league. GS started its league schedule with five of seven on the road.
• The Eagles' 85-83 victory at Wake Forest was their first over an ACC opponent since topping Virginia Tech 83-78 on the road in 2012. Byington was an assistant coach for the Hokies at the time.
• Georgia Southern's 120 points against Bluefield State were the most in a game since 1974.
• GS started the season 5-0 for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
• The Eagles' 74-51 win at George Mason Dec. 12 was the Eagles' largest margin of victory on the road since an 86-61 win at Furman in 2006.
• GS returned the Sun Belt's top two scorers in juniors Ike Smith (19.6 ppg) and Tookie Brown (17.1 ppg). The 2017 first-team All-Sun Belt selections are the fourth-highest scoring returning duo in the country. They were the third-highest freshman scoring duo in the country in 2015-16 (1-Rice's Marcus Evans and Marquez Letcher-Ellis, 2- FSU's Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley).
• All Sun Belt Conference match-ups are doubleheaders with the women's teams with the exception of the Georgia State contest Feb. 9, in Hanner Fieldhouse on ESPN2 at 9 p.m.
• WSAV-CW in Savannah will televise the Eagles' Saturday home games for the remainder of the season. All Saturday home games tip off at 5 p.m.

Next Up
• Georgia Southern plays its final two road contests of the regular season as the Eagles make their swing through the Lonestar State.
• GS takes on UTA Thursday at 8 p.m. ET and Texas State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN3.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Tookie Brown: G; 5' 11"; Junior

#0 Montae Glenn: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#2 Mike Hughes: G; 6' 3"; Senior

#13 Quan Jackson: G; 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

#3 Ike Smith: G; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#4 Tookie Brown
: 5' 11"; Junior
: G

#0 Montae Glenn
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#2 Mike Hughes
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

#13 Quan Jackson
: 6' 4"; Redshirt Freshman
: G

#3 Ike Smith
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned