What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State will open a two-game stretch in Arkansas on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. ET facing Arkansas State live on ESPN3.
* Georgia State stands 12-5 and 5-3 in the Sun Belt, tied with the Red Wolves for third-place.
* Head coach Ron Hunter enters play with 99 wins in his four-plus years at Georgia State and could become just third head coach to reach 100 wins on the sidelines.
ATLANTA-Georgia State will continue a stretch of three-straight road games traveling west to face Arkansas State at the Convocation Center on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET. The game will feature two of the three teams currently tied for third-place in the Sun Belt.
Georgia State is off to a 12-5 start and is 5-3 in the Sun Belt, just a half-game out of second-place after winning each of the last two regular season titles. The 12-5 mark is the second-best 17-game start in program history and only trails a 15-2 start during the 2000-01 season that led to an NCAA tournament appearance.
Thursday’s contest can be heard live on 1340 The Fan 3 and WRAS-FM 88.5 with Dave Cohen, now in his 33rd year as the Voice of the Panthers, being joined by 680 The Fan’s Brandon Leak. The game will also air on ESPN3. Live statistics and live audio will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com and on most mobile devices.
Georgia State is coming off a tough 76-67 loss at Appalachian State last Thursday as junior Isaiah Dennis scored a career high 18 points. After trailing by 16 at the half, the Panthers scored a season-high 45 points in the second half and closed the gap to just six with a minute to play.
“The Saturday off and extra time to practice has done us a lot of good,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Our team looks refreshed after a tough stretch of four games in seven days. Our guys are hungry to get back out on the road to face a very good Arkansas State team.”
Hunter enters play on Thursday night with a 99-52 record at Georgia State and can become just the third coach in program history to record 100 wins. Hunter owns three of the six single-season best win totals in school history.
Despite the loss the last time out, the Panthers are 37-9 mark in conference games since their return to the Sun Belt. Georgia State is 59-18 in their last 77 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013 and has won 18-of-24 games dating back to last season.
Georgia State has built its winning this year with defense. The Panthers are allowing opponents to score just 62.8 points per game, third in the Sun Belt and No. 17 in the country. Teams are shooting just 39.7 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from 3-point range against the Panthers this year.
On the other end, Georgia State has turned the ball over just 200 times, 18th-fewest in the country, while forcing 238.
The Panthers are led by redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell who is averaging 14.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game and senior Kevin Ware, scoring 13.1 points and adding 3.8 rebounds per contest.
Senior Markus Crider played in his 116th career game last Thursday and stands ninth on the all-time Georgia State list. He is averaging 8.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is one of three Panthers shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor.
Dennis, who was inserted in to the starting line-up last week, is shooting a team-best 65.1 percent from the floor and averaging 5.5 points per game. Senior T.J. Shipes rounds out the starting line-up and is averaging 6.0 points and 6.9 rebounds in Sun Belt play.
Arkansas State (9-10, 5-3 Sun Belt) is led by Devin Carter who is averaging 17.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. All-conference performer Anthony Livingston is adding just under a double-double per contest with 14.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. After opening Sun Belt play 5-1, the Red Wolves dropped a pair of games in Texas to UT Arlington and Texas State last weekend.
Following Thursday’s game, Georgia State will close out the road trip at first-place Little Rock on Saturday. The game will air live on ESPN3 at 7 p.m. ET.
Quick Notes:
• Georgia State faces two of the top teams in the Sun Belt when traveling to Arkansas beginning Thursday at Arkansas State.
• Georgia State owns a 6-1 all-time record against the Red Wolves, including a 5-0 (by an avg. 13.6 ppg) mark since returning to the Sun Belt.
• Georgia State’s 12-5 start is tied for the second-best start in program history and only behind a 15-2 start during the 2000-01 season.
• At 5-3 in the Sun Belt, the Panthers enter play Thursday tied for third place, but just a half-game out of second-place.
• Last time out, Georgia State fell 76-67 at Appalachian State as junior Isaiah Dennis scored a career-high 18 points.
• Since returning to the league, GSU is 37-9 in Sun Belt regular season games, going 17-1 (2013-14), 15-5 (2014-15) and 5-3 (2015-16).
• Georgia State’s 7-2 non-conference record is the third-best in program history.
• Defensively, GSU is giving up just 62.8 points per game, No. 17 in the NCAA.
• GSU turned the ball over only 200 times this season, No. 18 in the NCAA.
• Georgia State was one of just 20 programs in the country to have won 25 or more games in each of the last two seasons.
• Georgia State is 59-18 (.766) since Dec. 14, 2013.
• Georgia State currently stands No. 123 in the NCAA RPI. Arkansas State is No. 220.
• Georgia State, the two-time defending Sun Belt champions, was selected to finish second this year in the conference preseason poll.
• Markus Crider and T.J. Shipes have been a part of 77 wins, just 11 shy of the school-record set just last year by Ryann Green.
