ATLANTA-- Georgia State travels to Jacksonville State for the first contest against the Gamecocks since the 2008-09 season, and the first under the leadership of head coach Jonas Hayes, on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 p.m. ET. 

SERIES NOTES: Georgia State and Jacksonville State are meeting for the 20th time in program history. The Panthers are 9-10 in the series after falling to the Gamecocks 80-73 in over time on Nov. 22, 2008. 

Overall: 9-10

At home: 6-4

On the road: 3-6

Neutral: 0-0

PANTHERS IN THE SUN BELT

> Led by Nik McMullen, who leads the conference and ranks 58th nationally in rpg, the Panthers lead the conference in offensive rebounds per game averaging 16.0. 

> Georgia State also ranks top ten in the Sun Belt in rebounds per game (4th/ 43.00),assist/turnover ratio (8th/ 1.00) and free throw percentage (7th/ 68.1), rebound margin (6th/2.0). 

> Three Panthers (Cesare Edwards, Zarique Nutter and Nick McMullen) scored double-doubles in the season opener against Ball State (Nov. 4) to lead the Sun Belt and rank 21st in the nation for double-doubles. 

KEY RETURNERS: In a rebuild off-season for the Panthers' basketball team, head coach Jonas Hayes retained five returners from the 2023-24 squad, including Toneari Lane, Malik Ferguson, DK Dut, Brevyn Coleman and Aaron Oh.

> The Panthers key returner Toneari Lane is second on the Panthers' leaderboard with 14.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg and four assists. 

> Lane, the team's second-leading scorer last season at 13.1 ppg, led the Sun Belt in the 2023-24 season in 3-point percentage (.331) and 3-pointers per game (2.7). His 82 3-pointers are the eighth-highest season total in GSU history.

> Sophomore returnee Malik Ferguson started in eight games for the Panthers, averaging 4.4 ppg, 0.5 rpg and totaled 35 points on the season.   

VETERAN TRANSFER SQUAD: Head coach Jonas Hayes and his staff have rebuilt the GSU roster with addition of seven transfers and four freshmen. 

> The transfer squad brings experienced veteran players including Justin Archer (graduate, Radford), Cesare Edwards (senior, Missouri State), Zarique Nutter (senior, Northern Illinois), Darnell Evans (senior, Caldwell) and Nick McMullen (senior, UNC-Asheville). 

> Senior Cesare Edwards is the Panthers' leading scorer with 15.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg and three assists. 

> The forward ranks third in the Sun Belt with 8.5 rpg.  He also ranks sixth in the conference for field goals with 14. 

> In the Panthers' season opening win over Ball State (Nov. 4), Edwards led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds to score his first double-double of the season. 

> Edwards is no stranger to head coach Jonas Hayes Staff. Before transferring to Missouri State, Edwards participated on the Xavier team that coach Hayes led before coming to GSU. 

> The 6-10 center played in 33 games in his single season at Missouri State, Averaging 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while playing 18 minutes per game

> Northern Illinois transfer Zarique Nutter is third Georgia State's scoreboard with 13.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg and eight assists. 

>  Along with two other Panthers, Nutter leads the Sun Belt and ranks 21st in the nation for double-doubles. 

> Nutter leads the Panthers with 4.0 assists per game, ranking third overall in the Sun Belt. He also ranks top 10 in the conference in offensive rebounds (2nd/4.0), rebounds per game (9th/ 7.5) and free throws (7th/ 10). 

> Nutter scored a double-double in the Panthers' season-opener against Ball State (Nov. 4), totaling 16 points and 12 rebounds in the 71-66 victory. 

> At NIU, nutter averaged 13.7 points and 5.2 rebounds over the last two seasons. He was the Huskies second-leading scorer last season. 

> Senior Nick McMullen is fourth on the Panthers' leaderboard with 10.0 ppg. He leads the team in rebounds with 15, which ranks fourth in the Sun Belt. His 7.5  defensive rebounds  per game leads the Sun Belt and ranks top 50 overall in the nation. 

>  In the Panthers' season-opener against Ball State (Nov. 4), McMullen scored a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. 

> McMullen joins the Panthers squad after two seasons at UNC-Asheville, where he participated on the 2023-24 team who made an NCAA appearance. McMullen averaged 9.0 points and 4.1 rebounds in two seasons (69 games) at UNC Asheville while shooting 57.9 percent from the field. 

> Justin Archer, a Graduate transfer who comes to GSU after two seasons at Radford, averages 8.1 points and 7.5 rebounds while shooting 66.9 percent from the field over 64 games in his career. 

> Darnell Evans is a prolific scorer who joins the GSU program after two seasons at Division II Caldwell (N.J.) University, where he was a two-time, first-team All-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference selection. 

> Evans averaged 21 points, along with 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game in two seasons at Caldwell.

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 61 percent of its games with a record of 248-162.

> Georgia State's 248 victories are more than Mercer, the next best team in the state with 241 wins during that time. The Panthers also outpace Georgia Southern (211), Georgia (206), Georgia Tech (198) and Kennesaw State (123).

> 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).