Men's Basketball 11/24/2020 1:00:00 PM

Downtown vs. Midtown: Panthers Face Yellow Jackets Wednesday Night

ATLANTA-After months of preparation and a two-week delay, Georgia State will open the regular season making its shortest trip of year to face crosstown foe Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion on Wednesday night at 9 p.m.

Led by second-year head coach Rob Lanier, the Panthers will welcome a solid core of four returning starters, while welcoming in six newcomers (three transfers/three freshmen) looking to lead Georgia State to a fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years.

It will mark the 20^th time at Georgia State and Georgia Tech meet on the court and the first of a three-game series that will see the Panthers return to McCamish Pavilion next season, before welcoming the Yellow Jackets to the new GSU Convocation Center in 2022-23.

The Panthers are looking to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets and earn their first win ever over an ACC opponent.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5/GSU App (Pregame at 8:45 p.m.) PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh)
Television: RSN/Fox Sports South, PbP: Tom Werme, Color: Brian Oliver
Live Stats: GeorgiaStateSports.com

Game Notes

Despite the close proximity of the two schools (less than 3 miles), this will mark the first time since 2008 that Georgia State and Georgia Tech meet on the basketball court.
The Panthers did top the Yellow Jackets 65-58 in an exhibition game on Oct. 28, 2017, in a game dubbed the 'A-Town Showdown for Hurricane Relief.'
The Panthers are looking for their first regular season win against an ACC opponent. This will mark the second-straight year GSU has played a member of the ACC, falling to No. 2 Duke last year. That marked the first time facing an ACC opponent since a 2014 loss at Clemson in the Postseason NIT.
Georgia State assistant coaches Cliff Warren and Chris Kreider both worked at Georgia Tech under Paul Hewitt. Warren was on the Tech staff from 2000-05 before becoming the head coach at Jacksonville while Kreider was a graduate assistant from 2007-09.
Since returning to the Sun Belt in 2013-14, Georgia State has finished in the top two of the final regular season conference standings five times in seven seasons.
During that same time, GSU has won more games (153) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.
Georgia State has won seven-straight regular season openers entering Wednesday night.
Georgia State is under the leadership of second-year head coach Rob Lanier. His 19 wins in his first year at the helm is the third-most by a first-year head coach in program history.
Junior Kane Williams was selected to the All-Sun Belt Preseason First Team this preseason after earning All-Sun Belt Second Team honors to end the 2019-20 season.
Williams enters the season just 44 points shy of 1,000 for his career which would make him the 23rd Panther to reach the career milestone.
Junior Justin Roberts was selected to the All-Sun Belt Preseason Second Team this preseason after earning All-Sun Belt Third Team honors to end the 2019-20 season.
Georgia State was selected to win the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference this year in the annual preseason poll by the coaches and media.
After redshirting last year per NCAA transfer rules, Ryan Boyce, Eliel Nsoseme, and JoJo Toppin are all eligible this year. Boyce spent a 1.5 seasons at Memphis before transferring to GSU last January. Nsoseme played two years at Cincinnati and Toppin one season at Georgia before coming to Atlanta.
Georgia State welcomes three freshmen to the team this year. Evan Johnson, Collin Moore, and Kaleb Scott make up one of the most talented recruiting classes in program history.

Following Wednesday night's game, Georgia State will return home to face Toccoa Falls on Friday in the GSU Sports Arena at 4 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on the GSU Mobile App.

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