Men’s Basketball Preview: Eagles Play Final Road Game at Texas State

GS is fourth in the Sun Belt standings.

Georgia Southern (17-11, 8-7) vs. Texas State (14-15, 7-9) Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018 - Strahan Coliseum (7,200) – 5:30 p.m. ET Series: GS leads 5-2, L1 Last Meeting: 1/25/18, L 61-62 (Hanner) Television: ESPN3 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)
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Georgia Southern	Texas State
Roster	Roster
Stats	Stats
Schedule	Schedule

Probable GS Starters:
#0 Montae Glenn
#2 Mike Hughes
#3 Ike Smith
#4 Tookie Brown
#10 Jake Allsmiller

Setting the Scene
• Georgia Southern plays its final road game of the regular season at Texas State Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3.
• It's the second of two scheduled meetings between the Eagles and Bobcats this season. Texas State won the first meeting 62-61 Jan. 25 in Hanner Fieldhouse.
• GS is 1-4 in its last five and coming off an 83-63 loss at UTA Thursday night. The Eagles are in fourth place in the Sun Belt standings (ULM owns the tiebreaker against GS), and the top-4 teams receive a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Tournament March 7-11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. Texas State is tied for eighth, two games behind the Eagles in the loss column. Eight teams are vying for the third and fourth positions.
• The Eagles are 7-7 in true road games and 9-8 away from home.
• Fifteen of GS's 28 games have been decided by six points or less, and the Eagles are 8-7. Eleven have been one-possession games, and the Eagles are 5-6. GS is 3-5 in games decided by two points or less.
• The remainder of Georgia Southern's games this season will be broadcast on ESPN3.
• Texas State has lost its last seven games since topping the Eagles 62-61 in Hanner Jan. 25.
• The Bobcats are 7-5 at home this year but 3-4 in home Sun Belt games.
• Texas State leads the league in scoring defense, giving up 64.1 points a game, but the Bobcats have allowed 70-plus points in the last four contests.
• The Bobcats rank second in the conference in 3-point field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 31 percent from long distance.

The Series
• This will be the eighth meeting in the series, which began in 1965. The teams renewed the series in 2014-15 as members of the Sun Belt Conference, and both contests were settled by a combined six points. Six of the seven meetings in the series have been decided by six points or less.
• The Eagles' 40-36 win over Texas State (1/3/15) was their fewest points allowed since Dec. 5, 1987, when they held Savannah State to 36 points. It is the first 40-36 game in the shot clock era and ranks in a tie for 19th lowest scoring game for two teams combined and the lowest scoring Sun Belt game in the shot clock era.
• GS is 1-1 against Texas State in Strahan Coliseum.

Team Storylines
• Georgia Southern ranks 18th in the nation in offensive rebounds, and Montae Glenn ranks third in the country. The Eagles are fifth in the SBC in rebounding and first in offensive rebounds, and their rebound average of 38.8 is a 4.1 rebound per game improvement from last year (34.7).
• GS is averaging 75.8 points a game, and the Eagles have scored over 80 points nine times, over 90 four times and over 100 twice. GS ranks fourth 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 third 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-5 seasons in 3-pointers made and attempted have all come during Mark Byington's tenure. GS has made 10-plus triples in a game 11 times this season.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 169th career game today and his 158th at Georgia Southern. He is seven 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.
• Byington signed a contract extension in February that will keep him at GS through 2022.
• Under Mark Byington, Georgia Southern is 60-14 in games when leading at half and 72-8 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, 36 Georgia Southern games against Sun Belt schools have been decided by five points or less, and the Eagles are 22-14.
• The Eagles are 30-7 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime. GS is 34-3 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS has a combined record of 41-23 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).
• 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 returns home for the final two games of the regular season, starting with a contest against South Alabama. Tipoff is set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
• Promotions: Let the Madness Begin! - The month of march strikes madness in basketball fans and our marketing department! Get ready for some crazy giveaways and fun promotions. Halftime - Join us as we honor our Scholar Student-Athletes.

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

#10 Jake Allsmiller: G; 6' 5"; Senior

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#10 Jake Allsmiller
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

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

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

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

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

Georgia Southern University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned