Men's Basketball 3/6/2022 11:41:00 AM

March Madness Continues Sunday as Panthers Face App State in SBC Championship Semifinals

ATLANTA-Looking to advance to the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship Game for a second-straight year, the No. 3-seed Georgia State men's basketball team will face No. 2-seed Appalachian State on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Pensacola Bay Center.

Georgia State (16-10, 9-5 Sun Belt) has won eight-straight games and 10 of the last 11 games to remain one of the hottest teams in the country. The eight-game streak is tied for the fourth-longest in program history.

Appalachian State (19-13, 12-6 Sun Belt) enter the semifinals after earning a win over Georgia Southern on Saturday night. The Mountaineers ended Georgia State's eight-game winning streak last season in the conference tournament championship game with an 80-73 victory.

The Panthers have won nine of the last 10 neutral court conference tournament games and are looking for their sixth appearance in the Sun Belt Championship Game since 2014 with a win on Sunday night.

Saturday Highlights

Georgia State earned a 65-62 win over No. 6-seed Arkansas State in the tournament quarterfinals.
Senior Kane Williams scored a team-high 23 points, but it was his steal with less than five seconds to play that secured the win.
Senior Justin Roberts became the 25^th player in program history to score 1,000 or more points in a Panther uniform. He is one of three players on the team (Allen and Williams) with at least 1,000 career points.
Eliel Nsoseme notched is fourth double-double of the season and 10^th of his career. Nsoseme has recorded a double-double in three of four Sun Belt Conference Tournament games he has played in.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5; PbP: Dave Cohen
Television: ESPN+; PbP: Matt Stewart, Color: Nate Ross

Game Notes
• Georgia State, the most successful team in the Sun Belt since returning to the league for the 2013-14 season with 107 league wins during that time, missed five games this year due to COVID-19 protocols.
• Georgia State enters the Sun Belt Tournament as a No. 3-seed for the first time. Overall, this is the fifth time the Panthers have been a No. 3 seed in a conference tournament, first since 1999, and have combined for a 3-4 record as the seed.
• GSU is 34-34 all-time in conference tournaments, but 11-5 since returning to the Sun Belt for the 2013-14 season.
• Georgia State and Appalachian State will be meeting for the second year in a row. Last year the Mountaineers bested the Panthers 80-73 in the championship game to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 21 years.
• Georgia State is 11-7 all-time in conference championships in the state of Florida, winning a conference championship in 1991 in DeLand which led to the Panthers' first NCAA Tournament appearance.
• GSU has won 8-straight games which is the 8th-longest winning streak in the country. It is also tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in program history.
• Georgia State has also won 10 of its last 11 games with its lone loss coming by just four points.
• Georgia State has won six-straight road/neutral games which is tied for the fourth-longest streak in the country.
• Georgia State has a 24-12 (.667) record in the month of March since the start of the 2013-14 season.
• Super seniors Corey Allen and Kane Williams earned All-Sun Belt Third Team honors on Monday as announced by the league office. It marks the second time each of them have been honored with postseason awards.
• Three of Georgia State's Top 25 scorers all-time are currently on the team. Kane Williams is in third with 1,559 points, Corey Allen is No. 19 with 1,071 points, and Justin Roberts is 25th with 1,006 career points. Allen became the 24th Panther to score 1,000 career points on Feb. 10, and Roberts became No. 25 on Saturday.
• Allen has 1,922 career points scored (two years at UD) which is among the top 30 career active scorers in the country. He is also among the top 15 active 3-point shooters.
• Kane Williams is one of just two players in Sun Belt Conference history to combine for 1,500 points, 450 rebounds, 450 assists, and 200 steals. The other is former UT Arlington star Erick Neal.
• With the win on Dec. 6, senior 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 99 wins in four-plus seasons.
• Williams has now moved into the top 20 in Sun Belt Conference history with 481 assists. He is also in the top 5 all-time in free throws made and just four free throw attempts shy of the top 5.
• Williams broke Terrence Brandon's school record of 531 career free throw attempts last year and now has 701. He broke R.J. Hunter's school record of 448 made free throws on Jan. 20 and now has 520 makes.
• Jalen Thomas is 6th on GSU's all-time blocked shots list (111), more than halfway to Zavian Smith's record of 182.
• GSU is 14th in the country is turnovers forced (16.88) and 6th in turnover margin at +4.8. GSU also ranks No. 11 with 9.2 steals per game, which is first in the Sun Belt. Leading GSU is Williams who is ranked No. 49 (1.92 spg) in the NCAA.
• The Panthers rank No. 28 in the nation in fewest turnovers (314) and 16th in fewest fouls (412).
• Jalen Thomas is ranked No. 127 in the country averaging 2.48 offensive rebounds per contest, which is helping GSU to 13.42 offensive rebounds per game which is ranked 7th in the country.
• GSU has won 56-straight games dating back to 1999 when scoring 90 or more points.
• Since 2013-14, GSU has won more games (185) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

With a win on Sunday, Georgia State will advance to the championship game to face either No. 4-seed Troy or No. 8-seed Louisiana at 7 p.m. ET, live on ESPN2 and WRAS-FM 88.5.

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