Defending Champions Open Sun Belt Play Thursday vs. James Madison

GEORGIA STATE (7-5, 0-0) vs. JAMES MADISON (9-4, 0-0)
Thursday, Dec. 29 | 7 p.m. | GSU Convocation Center

WATCH: ESPN+
LISTEN: Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5 and the GSU Athletics app.

THE TIPOFF: Georgia State, the 2022 Sun Belt Conference champion, opens conference play by hosting James Madison Thursday at 7 p.m. at the GSU Convocation Center.

> James Madison (9-4) is one of the four Sun Belt newcomers, but Georgia State and JMU were former conference mates in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Dukes lead the nation in scoring at 93.2 points per game.

> Georgia State (7-5) ended 2022 with back-to-back wins over Rhode Island (75-66), in which they shot a season-best 12-for-25 from 3-point range, and Toccoa Falls (91-52) as Joe Jones III came off the bench with career highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds.

> The Panthers are 7-3 at the GSU Convocation Center.

> Sophomore guard Dwon Odom is the Panthers' leading scorer with 15.3 ppg and second-leading rebounder at 5.3 pg. He also leads the team in assists (43/3.6) and steals (13) and is second in blocked shots (9).

> Odom, the No. 8 scorer in the Sun Belt Conference, has reached 20 points four times, including a career-high 27 in the win over UNC Asheville and 24 vs. Belmont.

> Sophomore forward Ja'Heim Hudson averages 10.4 points and leads GSU in rebounding (8.2/6th in Sun Belt) and blocked shots (13).

> Sophomore guard Evan Johnson is No. 6 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio with 27 assists and just seven turnovers.

> Georgia State features four players averaging in double figures: Dwon Odom (15.3), Brenden Tucker (10.9), Evan Johnson (10.7) and Ja'Heim Hudson (10.4), while Jamaine Mann is just off the pace with 9.8 ppg.

SERIES NOTES: Georgia State and James Madison are meeting for the first time as Sun Belt Conference foes after competing in the Colonial Athletic Association from 2005-06 through 2012-13.

> Georgia State leads the series 9-5, and the Panthers have won four in a row and seven of the last eight meetings.

> The teams last met on Feb. 23, 2013, when Georgia State earned a 66-62 victory at Harrisonburg.

> James Madison's last win in the series was a 79-67 home victory in 2010-11.

SHINING IN THE SUN BELT: Since returning to the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013-14 season, Georgia State has been the league's most successful program:

> GSU has won four Sun Belt Tournament titles since 2014 (2015, 1018, 2019, 2022). No other program has more than one in that time.

> Georgia State has finished first or second in the league standings in six of the last nine years, including regular-season titles in 2014, 2015 and 2019 and the East Division crown in 2021.

> The Panthers lead all Sun Belt teams in overall wins (194) and conference wins (107), ahead of Louisiana (188/98).

> Since 2013-14, GSU has a .659 winning percentage in all games, including a .677 mark in Sun Belt contests.

CHARITY CASE: Georgia State ranks No. 2 in the Sun Belt in free throw shooting at 74.8 percent.

> Individually, Dwon Odom is third in the Sun Belt in free throws made, fifth in attempts and No. 4 in percentage at 83.3 percent (45-for-54).

STEPPING IN: With injuries juggling the lineup early in the season, two Panthers have stepped in and stepped up.

> Kalik Brooks, the former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship prior to the season, has started six games and is averaging 5.3 points and 2.8 rebounds. He is shooting 45 percent (14-31) from 3-point range

> Brooks averaged 9.3 points in the three-game Capitol Classic, including a career-high 12 points vs. UNC Asheville. He contributed eight points at Auburn, nine vs. Rhode Island, and nine last game vs. Toccoa Falls.

> Sophomore guard Danny Stubbs, who played only 18 minutes all of last season, is averaging 4.5 points while playing about 22 minutes a game. He scored a career-high 16 points in the win over UNC Asheville, including 6-of-7 free throws in the final minute to help seal the win, and then added 11 points vs. Belmont and 10 vs. Middle Georgia.

CLOSE CALLS: Georgia State lost three non-conference games by a total of five points. The Panthers fell 62-61 to Eastern Kentucky on a half-court, buzzer-beater and 59-57 to Georgia Tech on a basket with four seconds left. In the 68-66 loss to Belmont, GSU had the ball with a chance to tie the game or take the lead in the final seconds.

> In both of its losses to Power 5 teams, Georgia State held a second-half lead.

> In a 59-57 loss to Georgia Tech at the GSU Convocation Center, Georgia State built a 42-35 lead with 12 minutes to play. Tech took its first lead of the second half with six minutes left, and GSU trailed by eight with three minutes to go but rallied. The Panthers tied the game on Brenden Tucker's 3-point play with 26 seconds left, but Tech managed the winning basket with four seconds to play.

> At No. 19/18 Auburn, the Panthers built a six point lead late in the first half and held the advantage until 13 minutes left. GSU stayed within striking distance until the end, trailing 59-54 with four minutes left and 69-63 with 42 seconds to play before falling 72-64.

NEW ERA: First-year head coach Jonas Hayes takes over a Georgia State program that is coming off a berth in the 2022 NCAA Tournament as the Sun Belt Conference champion and is the winningest program in the conference and the state of Georgia over the last decade.

The Atlanta native grew up just minutes from the Georgia State campus, playing at Douglass High School and then the University of Georgia.

Hayes spent the last four seasons at Xavier, first as assistant coach and then as interim head coach. He was elevated on March 16, 2022 and led the Musketeers to four straight wins, defeating Florida, Vanderbilt and St. Bonaventure before a 73-72 victory over Texas A&M in the NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden.

PRIDE OF THE PEACH STATE: Georgia State is the winningest Division I college basketball team in the state of Georgia since the 2011-12 season.

> Since the start of 2011-12, Georgia State has won 64 percent of its games with a record of 231-130.

> Georgia State's 231 victories are more than Mercer, the next best team in the state with 219 wins and a .570 winning percentage during that time.

> The Panthers also easily outpace Georgia Southern (193), Georgia (184), Georgia Tech (177) and Kennesaw State (90).

> Georgia State has made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last decade; the other five Division I programs have combined for three NCAA appearances in that time (Georgia-1, Georgia Tech-1, Mercer-1).

842 AND COUNTING: Georgia State has made at least one 3-point field goal in 842 straight games, dating back to the 1994-95 season. The last team to hold the Panthers without a trey was Stetson on Feb. 18, 1995. The streak is among the top 25 in the nation.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#21 Kalik Brooks: G; 6' 5"; Freshman

#23 Joe Jones III: C; 6' 9"; Freshman

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#0 Evan Johnson: G; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#20 Danny Stubbs: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Dwon Odom: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#5 Brenden Tucker: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#2 Jamaine Mann: G; 6' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#21 Kalik Brooks
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: G

#23 Joe Jones III
: 6' 9"; Freshman
: C

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#0 Evan Johnson
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Danny Stubbs
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Dwon Odom
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#5 Brenden Tucker
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#2 Jamaine Mann
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G