Gameweek - South Alabama and Georgia Southern

Men's Basketball 2/8/2021 1:08:00 PM

Panthers Return Hosting South Alabama Tuesday

ATLANTA-Following two weeks off due COVID-19 protocols, the Georgia State men's basketball team will return to the court on Tuesday hosting South Alabama at 2 p.m., inside the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State (8-4, 2-3 Sun Belt) has missed its last four games due to positive COVID-19 test results within the program, but now looks to start a stretch of three games this week on Tuesday. The Panthers and South Alabama (11-8, 5-5 Sun Belt) were originally scheduled to play on Jan. 29 and 30 but will now play just once in Atlanta this season.

Having broken the century mark three times already this season, the Panthers enter Tuesday's game averaging 83.1 points per game which ranks No. 10 in the NCAA. Georgia State is also top 20 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio and turnover margin.

The Panthers are currently ranked No. 14 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, the highest of any Sun Belt Conference team despite having seven games postponed this season.

Senior Corey Allen leads the Panthers averaging 15.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He is making 3.17 3-pointers per game, ranked No. 16 in the nation, while shooting 48.7 percent from beyond the arc, which is third in the NCAA.

Junior Justin Roberts is averaging 14.4 points per game, while senior Kane Williams, who became the 23^rd Georgia State player to score 1,000 career points earlier this year, is averaging 12.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest.

Redshirt-junior Eliel Nsoseme is averaging a double-double of 12.2 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Only a handful of Panthers in program history have averaged a double-double for the season. He is fourth in the nation averaging 4.5 offensive rebounds per game and No. 14 in rebounds per contest.

Broadcast Information

Radio: GSU App/TuneIn Radio, PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh
Television: ESPN+, PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh
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, returns to the court after missing two weeks due to COVID-19 protocols.
• The match-up between the Panthers and Jaguars will be the first of three games against each other this month.
• Georgia State has won the last five meetings and 13 of the last 15 in the series. South Alabama has not won in Atlanta since 1982, but there was an over 20-year gap in the series.
• Georgia State enters the game ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, the highest ranked Sun Belt Conference team in the poll.
• GSU is off to its fifth-best start in program history (8-4), despite losing its last two games.
• 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. 10 in the NCAA averaging 83.1 points per game, while holding an assist/turnover ratio of 1.45 which ranks No. 18 in the NCAA. GSU averages 16.9 assists per game which ranks 21st in the country.
• Eliel Nsoseme is No. 4 in the NCAA averaging 4.50 offensive rebounds per contest and No. 14 averaging 10.4 rebounds per game. He grabbed 20 rebounds against Mercer and has recorded a pair of double-doubles.
• Corey Allen is No. 16 in the nation knocking down 3.17 3-pointers per game. He has drilled 38 so far this year, while shooting 48.7 percent from deep (No. 3 in the NCAA).
• Allen is currently ranked among the top 50 active scorers in the nation with 1,467 points.
• Kane Williams is one of four active Sun Belt players with career totals of at least 1,000 points (1,097), 250 rebounds (335) and 250 assists (341). There are 59 active NCAA Division I players with those milestones.
• Williams, an All-Sun Belt Preseason First Team member, enters with 1,097 career points, 37 shy of Ryan Harrow for 16th on GSU's all-time list. He is the 23rd Panther to reach the milestone.
• GSU's win over Georgia Tech on opening night gave the Panthers 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 (161) 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.
• GSU was selected to win the East Division of the Sun Belt this year in the annual preseason poll by the coaches and media.

Following the game on Tuesday, Georgia State will remain at home and host in-state rival Georgia Southern on Thursday at 6 p.m., at the GSU Sports Arena.

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