National TV Audience Set for Men's Basketball at South Alabama Thursday

ATLANTA-Playing on national television for the second time this season, the Georgia State men's basketball team will travel to Mobile, Ala., to face South Alabama at the Mitchell Center live on ESPN2 on Thursday night at 9 p.m. ET.

Including this upcoming Saturday's game at Troy, Georgia State (6-6, 0-1 Sun Belt) will have had four of its first six Sun Belt Conference games cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols this season. However, the Panthers have also used the time off to get healthy including the return of Eliel Nsoseme last week as the heart of league play gets going.

The Panthers have been dominant in Sun Belt Conference play since returning for the 2013-14 season. Since that time, the Panthers have a won a league-best 98 regular season games, earned three regular season titles, a division title, and three runner-up finishes. Georgia State has gone 14-3 against South Alabama (10-5, 0-2 Sun Belt) since that time including taking both matchups in Mobile last year.

Senior Corey Allen leads the Panthers averaging 15.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game with a team-high 30 3-pointers while shooting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. The All-Sun Belt Preseason First Team member is also second on the team with assists and third in steals.

Senior Kane Williams, who enters the game just 16 points shy of moving into fifth place on GSU's all-time scoring list, became the all-time wins leader in program history earlier this month. With four more made free throws, Williams can also become the career leader in that category in program history. He is averaging 12.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Senior Justin Roberts is adding 13.1 points per game and shooting 75.0 percent from the free throw line, while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor.

Roberts and Allen are both now within 150 points of becoming the 24^th and 25^th 1,000-point career scorers in GSU program history.

Center Jalen Thomas is adding 6.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while his 3.09 offensive rebounds per contest is ranked No. 36 in the country.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5; PbP: Dave Cohen
Television: ESPN+; PbP: Jordan Bernfield, Color: David Padgett

Game Notes
• Georgia State and South Alabama, original members of the Sun Belt Conference, will be meeting for the first time this year and for the 36th time overall.
• GSU has won 98 regular season Sun Belt games since the start of the 2013-14 season, the most in the league, while finishing in the top two of the final regular season conference standings six times in eight seasons.
• Georgia State has a 47-17 (.734) record in the month of January since the start of the 2013-14 season.
• Head coach Rob Lanier is closing in on 100 wins for his career (99). He also spent four years as the head coach at Siena.
Covid and Injury Craziness
• For the first time this year, Georgia State could have all three All-Sun Belt Preseason honorees Corey Allen (1st Team), Kane Williams (Second Team) and Eliel Nsoseme (Second Team) in the starting line-up.
• # of Players who have started all 12 games (1): Kane Williams
• # of Players who have played in all 12 games (2): Kane Williams and Evan Johnson
• # of Players have have started 10 of 12 games (2): Kane Williams and Jalen Thomas
• # of Players who have logged at least 60 percent of a possible 485 minutes played (1): Kane Williams (74.2%)
• # of Players who have logged at least 50 percent of a possible 485 minutes played (5): Kane Williams, Justin Roberts, Jalen Thomas, Corey Allen, Nelson Phillips.
• # of Players who have had to start: 10
• With the win on Dec. 6, senior Kane Williams became the all-time wins leader in GSU program history moving ahead of Ryann Green and Chris Clerkley. He now has been a part of 89 wins in four-plus seasons.
• GSU earned the top spot in the annual Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll as selected by the coaches.
• Kane Williams broke Terrence Brandon's school record of 531 career free throw attempts last year and now has 608. He is second all-time with 444 made free throws, trailing only R.J. Hunter's school record of 448.
• Williams is current in 6th on GSU's all-time scoring list with 1,377 career points. He is currently 16 points behind Devonta White for fifth and is 442 points behind R.J. Hunter's school record of 1,819.
• Corey Allen has 1,755 career points scored which is among the top 30 career active scorers in the country. He has scored 904 of those points at GSU.
• Senior Justin Roberts now has 987 career points including 858 in a Panther uniform. He and Allen are looking to become the 24th and 25th 1,000-point scorers in program history.
• The Panthers tied a school-record with 21 steals in the win over Brewton-Parker on opening night. Georgia State also allowed just 10 first half points, a school record and tied for the fewest in the NCAA this year.
• Georgia State is ranked 19th in the country is turnovers forced (17.67) and 13th in turnover margin at +5.4. The Panthers also rank No. 23 with 9.7 steals per game.
• Junior Jalen Thomas is ranked No. 36 in the country averaging 3.09 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Georgia State has won 56-straight games dating back to 1999 when scoring 90 or more points.
• Georgia State is under the leadership of third-year head coach Rob Lanier. His first two-season .648 winning percentage (35-19 record) is the best of any GSU head coach in their first two years leading the program.
• Since 2013-14, GSU has won more games (175) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

Following the game on Thursday, Georgia State will return to action hosting Appalachian State on Jan. 20, at 7 p.m., on ESPN+ and WRAS-FM 88.5. The Panthers game this Saturday with Troy has been cancelled due to COVID issues within the Trojan program.

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