PREVIEW: Eagles Set for Nationally Televised Showdown with South Alabama Saturday

Saturday, January 10

Mobile, AL

2 PM

Georgia Southern University

South Alabama

PREVIEW: Eagles Set for Nationally Televised Showdown with South Alabama Saturday

1/9/2026 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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STATESBORO – Georgia Southern men's basketball (12-5, 4-0 SBC) concludes a three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, traveling to Mobile, Alabama, to face off against South Alabama (11-5, 2-2 SBC) at the Mitchell Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPNU in front of a national audience.

THE OPENING TIP

The longest active winning streak in the Sun Belt Conference was extended on Saturday afternoon, as Georgia Southern won another gritty contest, this time on the road defeating Old Dominion, 93-86, at Chartway Arena. With the win over the Monarchs, Georgia Southern improved to 5-3 on the road this season, claiming their second road conference victory of the year. It pushes their winning streak to nine games, heading to South Alabama on Saturday.
For the first time since 2017, Georgia Southern has opened Sun Belt Conference play with a 4-0 record and posts its longest winning streak (9) since 2003, where the Eagles won 13-straight games that year.
With a nine-game active winning streak, Georgia Southern men's basketball is one of nine teams to hold an active winning streak longer than eight games. Ahead of the Eagles are Miami (Ohio) (16), Nebraska (15), Iowa State (15), Arizona (15), Vanderbilt (15), Michigan (14), BYU (11), UConn (11).
The Eagles cracked the mid-major top 25 poll for the first time in program history on Monday evening, as announced by CollegeInsider.com. Georgia Southern, winners of nine consecutive games, made their first appearance of the 2025-26 season. The voting panel, consisting of 31 mid-major coaches, pushed the Eagles from 47th in their polls to 22nd.
Georgia Southern men's basketball remained perfect in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday afternoon, defeating Old Dominion 93-86, behind three Eagles in double figures. Two of those Eagles, Spudd Webb and Shainen Carter, recorded double-doubles, as Webb scored 16 points and grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds, while Carter tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds. The third Eagle in double figures was Alden Applewhite, who poured in 17 points (13 in the first half) and grabbed eight rebounds for the Eagles who tallied a new season-high 47 in the contest. The double-double for both Webb and Carter were their first of the season, as Georgia Southern has now recorded seven double-doubles on the year. Georgia Southern built a 20-2 lead out of the gate, before ending the half with a 17-point advantage. ODU clawed their way back into the contest late, until Carter threw down two emphatic dunks and swatted six blocked shots, to extend the Eagles' winning streak to nine games and sweep the weekend road trip.
The Eagles have been one of the more prolific scoring teams in the Sun Belt Conference since joining the league during the 2014-15 season. In the 12 years since the Eagles' arrival, Georgia Southern has posted a 43-3 record when scoring 90-plus points in a game. For the 2025-26 season, The Eagles have secured an 8-0 record when tallying 90-plus points per game.
Senior forward Shainen Carter has been a paint eraser this season, collecting 31 blocks in 17 contests for the Eagles. In his most recent stanza, Carter tied the school record for blocks in a single game, registering six against Old Dominion on Saturday. Carter joins the likes of Avantae Parker (2024), Trey Dawkins (2019), Rory Spencer (2010), Louis Graham (2007), and Emmett Smith (1990). His 31 blocks are also sneaking up into the single season list, needing three more to tie Eric Ferguson (2011-12) for 12th most in a single season.