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Georgia Southern University Athletics

Ike Smith
Ike Smith and the Eagles play ULM in the Sun Belt Tourney quarterfinal round Friday.

Men's Basketball Marc Gignac

Men’s Basketball Preview: Eagles Meet ULM in Sun Belt Quarters Friday

Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN3.

Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship
No. 3 Georgia Southern (20-11, 11-7) vs. No. 6 ULM (16-14, 9-9)
Friday, March 9, 2018 - Lakefront Arena (10,000) – 8:30 p.m. ET
Series: GS trails 7-11, L1
Last Meeting: 2/8/18, L 64-66 OT (Hanner)
TV: 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)
Live Audio | Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter Updates
Georgia Southern ULM
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 enters the Sun Belt Tournament as the third seed for the second straight season after posting an 11-7 conference record. It's the third time the Eagles have finished in the top-3 in their four seasons in the league.
• Georgia Southern has reached 20 wins for the second time in four years and joined Louisiana and UTA as the only three Sun Belt schools to reach double-digit conference wins in each of the last four seasons.
• GS will meet No. 6 ULM Friday, March 9, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Georgia Southern fell 66-64 in overtime to ULM Feb. 8 in Hanner Fieldhouse in the teams' only meeting this season.
• The first-round, quarterfinal and semifinal games are set for live coverage on ESPN3 with Sunday's championship game slated for live coverage on ESPN2. All games will be available on the WatchESPN app.
• GS is 4-1 in its last five and coming off an 89-83 victory over Troy Saturday evening.
• Seventeen of GS's 31 games have been decided by six points or less, and the Eagles are 10-7. Eleven have been one-possession games, and the Eagles are 5-6. GS is 3-5 in games decided by two points or less.
• Tookie Brown was named first-team All-Sun Belt for the third consecutive season. The junior is the 17th player in the 42-year history of the Sun Belt to earn first-team accolades in three seasons and becomes the first Eagle to accomplish the feat in Georgia Southern history.
• Georgia Southern makes its 38th appearance in a Division I conference tournament this year, and the Eagles are playing in their 22nd-straight conference tournament. Georgia Southern is 29-33 all-time in conference tourneys, 1-3 in the Sun Belt Tournament, 19-11 as the higher seed, 4-6 as the third seed and 11-20 in quarterfinal games.
• Georgia Southern is 10-8 away from home this season and 2-1 in neutral site games, as they advanced to the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase in November before falling 70-67 to Towson.
• ULM is 3-2 in its last five and has won seven of its last nine overall, a stretch that started with the 66-64 overtime victory at Georgia Southern. Second-team All-Sun Belt selection Travis Munnings had 26 points and 20 rebounds in the contest, while third-team All-SBC pick Sam McDaniel tallied 23 points and nine rebounds and hit what would become the game-winning 3-pointer in overtime. Freshman of the Year Michael Ertel made a runner with 11.6 seconds left to send the contest into the extra period. The trio has combined to account for 62 percent of the Warhawks scoring this year.
• ULM is 4-10 away from home and coming off a 76-54 win over Arkansas State in the SBC Championship first round Wednesday night. It was the Warhawks' first neutral site game of the season.
• ULM is 6-10 all-time in the Sun Belt Tournament and has now won at least one game in each of the last four tournaments.

The Series vs. ULM
• ULM leads the all-time series, which began in 1976, 11-7 and won the only meeting this season, a 66-64 overtime decision in Hanner Fieldhouse Feb. 8.
• The Eagles are 1-0 against ULM in the Sun Belt Tournament, topping the Warhawks 44-43 in 2015.
• All three meetings in 2014-15, Georgia Southern's first campaign in the Sun Belt, were decided by four points or less, and the Eagles won two of them.
• The Eagles are 5-3 against ULM since joining the Sun Belt. Three of those games have been decided by two points or less, and the Eagles have won two of them.

Team Storylines
• Georgia Southern ranks 21st in the nation in offensive rebounds, and Montae Glenn ranks second in the country. The Eagles are fifth in the SBC in rebounding and second in offensive rebounds, and their rebound average of 38.2 is a 3.5 rebound per game improvement from last year (34.7). 
• Tookie Brown is shooting 53.8 percent from the field, which ranks 62nd in the country. The junior is one of only two players listed under 6-foot ranked in the top-100. He also ranks 18th nationally in free throw attempts and 29th in makes.
• GS is averaging 76.6 points a game, and the Eagles have scored over 80 points 12 times, including the last three games, over 90 four times and over 100 twice. GS ranks third 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, first in turnover margin and fourth in turnovers forced. The Eagles have posted 10 turnovers or less in 11 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 13 times this season.
• Mark Byington is coaching in his 172nd career game today and his 161st at Georgia Southern. He is four wins shy of 100 for his career, and his 89 wins in his first five 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.
• Byington signed a contract extension in February that will keep him at GS through 2022.
• This year's senior class features Byington's first crop of four-year players - Mike Hughes, Jake Allsmiller, Coye Simmons and Shawn O'Connell (R-Jr.). They have recorded 74 wins in their four years, the most since the 2007 class recorded 74.
• Under Byington, Georgia Southern is 62-14 in games when leading at half and 75-8 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 finished the regular season 8-7 in true road games and 10-8 away from home. The last time GS won eight true road games was in 2014-15.
• The Eagles will be wearing green shoelaces for the rest of the season to promote Mental Health Awareness.
• 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 22-13.
• The Eagles are 32-7 in Sun Belt games when leading at halftime. GS is 37-3 when leading with five minutes to go.
• GS has a combined record of 42-23 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.
• The Eagles' 31 regular-season games are tied for the most in school history with five other seasons. GS last played 31 regular season games in 2013-14.
• 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.

Next Up
• A win will send the Eagles to the semifinal round Saturday at 3 p.m. ET 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.


 
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Players Mentioned

Jake Allsmiller

#10 Jake Allsmiller

G
6' 5"
Senior
Tookie Brown

#4 Tookie Brown

G
5' 11"
Junior
Montae Glenn

#0 Montae Glenn

F
6' 8"
Junior
Mike Hughes

#2 Mike Hughes

G
6' 3"
Senior
Shawn O

#11 Shawn O'Connell

F
6' 8"
Redshirt Junior
Coye Simmons

#14 Coye Simmons

F
6' 8"
Senior
Ike Smith

#3 Ike Smith

G
6' 4"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jake Allsmiller

#10 Jake Allsmiller

6' 5"
Senior
G
Tookie Brown

#4 Tookie Brown

5' 11"
Junior
G
Montae Glenn

#0 Montae Glenn

6' 8"
Junior
F
Mike Hughes

#2 Mike Hughes

6' 3"
Senior
G
Shawn O

#11 Shawn O'Connell

6' 8"
Redshirt Junior
F
Coye Simmons

#14 Coye Simmons

6' 8"
Senior
F
Ike Smith

#3 Ike Smith

6' 4"
Junior
G