First Place Up For Grabs at South Alabama This Weekend

ATLANTA-With first place up for grabs in the Sun Belt Conference East Division, Georgia State will travel to Mobile, Ala., to face South Alabama in a two-game series at the Mitchell Center starting on Friday night.

Georgia State (12-5, 6-4 Sun Belt) has won four-straight games to move into second place in the East Division standings, 1.5 games behind South Alabama (16-8, 10-5 Sun Belt) which has won eight-straight games entering play.

The series will open on Friday night with a 9 p.m. ET, tip live on ESPN2, followed by a 7 p.m. ET tip on ESPN+ on Saturday night. Both games will also air on WRAS-FM 88.5. It will mark Georgia State's 18^th time appearing on national television since the start of the 2013-14 season, including the 10^th time appearing on 'The Deuce.'

Georgia State's 12-5 mark is tied for the fourth-best start to a season in program history and has come despite nine games being postponed or cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols.

The hottest player on the team right now might be the youngest in the starting line-up, Jalen Thomas. Thomas was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Wednesday after scoring a career-high in three-straight games, capped by a 22-point performance against Appalachian State on Tuesday.

Playing equally well is junior Justin Roberts who just missed back-to-back double-doubles with double digit scoring performances and nine assists in each game of the Troy series over the weekend. He was named the College Sports Madness Sun Belt Player of the Week for his efforts on Monday. For the season he is averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Eliel Nsoseme has been 'Mr. Consistent' this year averaging a double-double of 11.9 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He is also fourth in the nation averaging 4.27 offensive rebounds per game and No. 23 in rebounds per contest.

Senior Corey Allen leads the Panthers in scoring averaging 15.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He eclipsed 1,500 points for his career over the weekend and is among the top 50 active scorers in the country.

Senior Kane Williams, who became the 23^rd Georgia State player to score 1,000 career points earlier this year, is averaging 12.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest. He is now just four points shy of Shellord Pinkett for 14^th and 21 points shy of Thomas Terrell for 13^th on the all-time scoring list.

Having broken the century mark three times already this season, the Panthers enter the weekend averaging 80.8 points per game which ranks No. 20 in the NCAA. Georgia State is also 18th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio and No. 39 in field goal percentage.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5, PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh
Television: ESPN2 (Fri.), PbP: Chris Cotter, Color: Mark Wise
Television: ESPN+ (Sat.), PbP: J.D. Byars, Color: Pat Greenwood
Live Stats: GeorgiaStateSports.com

Game Notes
• Georgia State, the most successful team in the Sun Belt since returning to the league for the 2013-14 season with 94 league wins during that time, has missed 9 games this year due to COVID-19 protocols, including one to South Alabama.
• Georgia State and South Alabama are currently the top two teams in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. If the Panthers win both games with the Jaguars, GSU would win the East based on winning percentage.
• Friday night's contest will mark the 18th national televised game for GSU since the start of the 2013-14 season. All 18 of those games have been either on the road or at neutral sites. This will mark the 10th time appearing on ESPN2 during that time.
• Georgia State's 12-5 mark is tied for the fourth-best 17-game start in program history.
• Following a third-straight career-high in scoring, sophomore Jalen Thomas was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week on Monday. He finished the week averaging 17.7 points per game while shooting just under 70 percent.
• Georgia State enters the weekend No. 23 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
• Georgia State has scored 100 or more points in three games this year, matching the school record for times going over the century mark in a season (1988-89 and 1991-92).
• GSU is currently ranked No. 20 in the NCAA averaging 80.8 points per game, while holding an assist/turnover ratio of 1.44 which ranks No. 18 in the NCAA. GSU is shooting 47.4 percent from the floor which ranks No. 39 in the nation.
• Eliel Nsoseme is No. 4 in the NCAA averaging 4.27 offensive rebounds per contest and No. 23 averaging 9.9 rebounds per game. He grabbed 20 rebounds against Mercer and has recorded three double-doubles.
• Corey Allen is shooting 42.4 percent from deep which ranks No. 23 in the NCAA. He is currently ranked No. 43 among active scorers in the nation with 1,545 points.
• Kane Williams is one of four active Sun Belt players with career totals of at least 1,000 points (1,169), 250 rebounds (355) and 250 assists (362). There are 59 active NCAA Division I players with those milestones.
• Williams, an All-Sun Belt Preseason First Team member, enters with 1,169 career points, 4 shy of Shellord Pinkett for 14th and 21 shy of Thomas Terrell for 13th on GSU's all-time list. Williams is also just 9 free throw attempts shy of Terrence Brandon's school record of 531 career attempts. He is second all-time with 376 made free throw attempts.
• GSU's win over Georgia Tech, the Panthers earned their first win ever over an ACC opponent and third over a Power 5 opponent in the last three years. GSU set school records for points scored (123), combined points (243), fouls (37), combined fouls (65) while playing the first triple and quadruple overtime game in school history.
• Also in the win over Tech, four Panthers (Allen, Nsoseme, Roberts, and Williams) each scored 20 or more points marking the first time in program history that feat has been accomplished in a game.
• In Georgia State's win over Carver, the Panthers set school records for field goals made (51) and assists (34) while seven players scored in double figures, tying a school record.
• 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 (165) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.
• 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.

Following the games, Georgia State will open the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Pensacola, Fla., next Friday or Saturday depending on seeding. The Panthers could be anywhere from the No. 1-seed to the No. 4-seed in the East Division following this weekend's games.

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