GEORGIA STATE (0-0) at BELMONT (0-0)
Monday, Nov. 6  |  7:30 p.m. ET  | Curb Event Center

TV: ESPN+
RADIO: Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5 and the GSU athletics mobile app

THE TIPOFF: With head coach Jonas Hayes entering his second season at the helm, Georgia State opens the 2023-24 season at Belmont, a 20-win team last season, Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Nashville.

> Hayes' GSU second squad features four returning lettermen, including Preseason All-Sun Belt selections Dwon Odom and Brenden Tucker, along with eight newcomers (six transfers and two freshmen).

> With Odom, Tucker and Jamaine Mann, the Panthers return three players who scored in double figures last season.

> Odom, the junior guard from Alpharetta, is the Panthers' top returning scorer at 13.1 ppg, along with 4.5 rpg and 3.7 apg (7th in the Sun Belt). He was named to the Preseason All-Sun Belt second team.

> Tucker, the senior from Lawrenceville and Preseason All-Sun Belt third-team selection, averaged 12.9 points and 3.1 rebounds.

> Mann added 10.3 ppg and leads the GSU returnees with 5.1 rpg and 33 3-pointers.

> In its exhibition game, Georgia State defeated Morehouse 92-66 behind a double-double from newcomer Jay'Den Turner, the graduate transfer from Queens who contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds. Wake Forest transfer Lucas Taylor and returnee Brenden Tucker added 17 points each. 

> Georgia State's home opener is Friday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. vs. Northern Illinois in the Capitol Challenge at the GSU Convocation Center. Visit GeorgiaStateSports.com/tix for season and single-game tickets.

ADDING EXPERIENCE: Head coach Jonas Hayes and his staff have rebuilt the GSU roster with addition of six transfers and two freshmen. 

> The six-pack of transfers includes experienced graduate transfers Leslie Nkereuwem (Longwood) and Jay'Den Turner (Queens). That duo combined to play in 219 games with 1,657 points and 1,124 points between them over the last four seasons. 

> Nkereuwem  averaged 8.4 points and 3.1 rebounds at Longwood in 2022-23.

> Last season at Queens, Turner led the Atlantic Sun Conference with 7.5 rebounds per game while scoring 8.4 ppg.

> Sophomore Toneari Lane averaged 10.3 points 2.4 rebounds in 34 games at Winthrop last season, while sophomore Rickey Bradley Jr. started 27 of 31 games at VMI, averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds.

SERIES VS. BELMONT: Georgia State and Belmont are meeting for the second straight year after the Bruins won 68-66 last season in Atlanta. Dwon Odom led the Panthers with 24 points on 10-for-18 shooting, and Jamaine Mann added 17 points. The Panthers trailed 68-61 win 1:25 left, but Odom drew a foul on a steal attempt with 52 seconds left and made both free throws to make it 68-66. After Belmont missed the front end of a one-and-one with six seconds left, Odom drove down the court all the way to the basket, but his shot in traffic didn't fall.

> Last year's meeting was the first since 2004-05, when both were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Belmont earned a 67-61 win in the 2005 A-Sun Tournament.

> The Bruins have won four in a row and lead the series 7-5. Georgia State's last win was a 72-70 overtime victory on Feb. 28, 2004 in the last meeting in Nashville.

> Both teams have been in two different conferences since then. Georgia State moved to the Colonial Athletic Association and then to the current Sun Belt Conference in 2013-14. Belmont made a stop in the Ohio Valley Conference before joining the Missouri Valley last year.

SEASON OPENERS: Georgia State has won its season opener in 10 straight seasons since opening the 2012-13 with a 74-55 loss at Duke. But only once since that Duke game has Georgia State opened the season on the road, the 122-120, four-overtime win at Georgia Tech in 2020-21. 

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 62 percent of its games with a record of 234-146.

> Georgia State's 234 victories are more than Mercer, the next best team in the state with 226 wins during that time.

> The Panthers also easily outpace Georgia Southern (203), Georgia (195), Georgia Tech (185) and Kennesaw State (108).

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

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 two in that time.

> Georgia State has finished first or second in the league standings in six of the last 10 years, including regular-season titles in 2014, 2015 and 2019 and the East Division crown in 2021.

3-POINT STREAK: Georgia State has made at least one 3-point field goal in 861 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.

ATL MADE: The Georgia State roster features nine players from the Metro Atlanta area: Matt Davis (Alpharetta, Ga./TSF Prep); Toneari Lane (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson HS); Julian Mackey (Grayson, Ga./TSF Prep); Jamaine Mann (Hampton, Ga./Dutchtown HS); DK Manyiel (Greenforest Christian, Decatur, Ga.); Leslie Nkereuwem (Lawrenceville, Ga./Discovery HS); Dwon Odom (Alpharetta, Ga./St. Francis HS); Aaron Oh (Buford, Ga./Mill Creek HS); Brenden Tucker (Lawrenceville, Ga./Dacula HS)

> In addition, Malik Ferguson is from Grovetown HS in the Savannah area for a total of 10 Peach State products.

> Second-year head coach Jonas Hayes     is an Atlanta native grew up just minutes from the Georgia State campus, playing at Douglass High School and then the University of Georgia. 
 
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The home court for Panther basketball is the 7,500-seat GSU Convocation Center, an impressive multi-purpose facility that opened in the fall of 2022 as a key addition to the Georgia State campus for hosting graduation, freshman convocation, academic programs, performances and other events as well as men's and women's basketball games.
    
> Located at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Fulton Street in the Summerhill neighborhood, just a few hundred yards from Center Parc Stadium, the new venue replaced the 3,854-seat GSU Sports Arena that housed the program from 1973 through the 2021-22 season.