Panthers Host Toccoa Falls Saturday Night

The Panthers will be partnering with GSU Student Civic Engagement and the Atlanta Mission for the game.

ATLANTA-Facing its third in-state foe this season and the first of two-straight from the Peach State, the Georgia State men's basketball team will host Toccoa Falls on Saturday night at 6 p.m., in the final home non-conference game in the GSU Sports Arena.

The Panthers will be partnering with the Georgia State University Student Civic Engagement and the Atlanta Mission for the game.

The Office of Civic Engagement is having a hygiene drive, and the hygiene kits will be created for people in need supported by the International Rescue Committee and local shelters distributed by our students on January 17, for Martin Luther King Jr., "Make It a Day On, Not Day Off." They are in desperate need of toiletries for our hygiene kit service project.

The Atlanta Mission will also be onsite, and they are looking to collect gift cards or donations to purchase gift cards. These gift cards are used to help homeless get back on their feet as they transition back to work. The options to assist are below:

Gift cards brought to the game
- From fast food, grocery, and public transportation in $5.00-$10.00 increments
Give Link in lieu of gift cards
- https://give.atlantamission.org/GSU

Georgia State (5-4) is looking to bounce back following a tough loss on the road at Mississippi State on Tuesday and will face a Toccoa Falls (9-8) squad for the second-straight year. Last season the Panthers earned a 105-60 win over the Eagles to move to 2-0 early in the season.

Senior Justin Roberts continues to lead the Panthers in scoring averaging 15.0 points per game. Fellow senior Corey Allen is second on the team averaging 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while Kane Williams is adding 14.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Roberts and Allen are both now within 175 points of becoming the 24^th and 25^th 1,000-point career scorers in GSU program history.

Williams became the program's all-time wins leader last week with 88 and is now just 21 points shy of sixth place on the Georgia State career scoring list with 1,354 points. He already has more free throw attempts than any other player in program history, is second in free throws made, and just three appearances shy of playing in more games than any other player in program history.

After missing last season due to an injury Nelson Phillips has returned strong and is averaging 9.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. The redshirt-junior is shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 45.2 percent from 3-point range.
Georgia State enters the game No. 27 in the NCAA in turnovers forced at 17.56 per game, No. 23 in turnover margin at +4.9, and No. 45 in the country averaging 9.1 steals per game.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5; PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh
Television: ESPN+; PbP: Dave Cohen, Color: Lamont McIntosh

Game Notes

Georgia State and Toccoa Falls will be meeting for a second-straight season after GSU won by 45 last year.
Georgia State will be playing its final non-conference home game in the GSU Sports Arena as the program prepares to move into a new convocation center next season.
This will be the Panthers third of four matchups with an in-state opponent in non-conference play. Georgia State is currently 1-1 in those games.
With the win on Dec. 6, senior Kane Williams became the all-time wins leader in GSU program history (88) moving ahead of Ryann Green and Chris Clerkley.
The Panthers tied a school-record with 21 steals in the win over Brewton-Parker on opening night. Georgia State also allowed just 10 first half points, a school record and tied for the fewest in the NCAA this year.
Third year head coach Rob Lanier is closing in on 100 wins for his career (98). He previously spent four years as the head coach at Siena.
GSU earned the top spot in the annual Sun Belt Conference Preseason Poll as selected by the coaches.
Seniors Corey Allen (1st Team), Kane Williams (Second Team) and Eliel Nsoseme (Second Team) were all selected to the All-Sun Belt Preseason Teams before the start of the season.
Kane Williams broke Terrence Brandon's school record of 531 career free throw attempts last year and now has 599. He is second all-time with 435 made free throws, trailing only R.J. Hunter's school record of 448.
Williams is current in 7th on GSU's all-time scoring list with 1,354 career points. He is currently 21 points behind Chavelo Holmes for sixth and is 465 points behind R.J. Hunter's school record of 1,819.
Corey Allen has 1,702 career points scored which is among the top 30 career active scorers in the country. He has scored 851 of those points at GSU. He just missed a triple-double with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists against Voorhees.
Senior Justin Roberts now has 963 career points including 834 in a Panther uniform. He and Allen are looking to become the 24th and 25th 1,000-point scorers in program history.
Georgia State has won 55-straight games dating back to 1999 when scoring 90 or more points.
Georgia State is ranked No. 45 in the country with 9.1 steals per game and No. 23 with a +4.9 turnover margin.
Georgia State is under the leadership of third-year head coach Rob Lanier. His first two-season .648 winning percentage (35-19 record) is the best of any GSU head coach in their first two years leading the program.
Since returning to the Sun Belt in 2013-14, Georgia State has finished in the top two of the final regular season conference standings six times in eight seasons.

During that same time, GSU has won more games (174) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

Following the game on Saturday, Georgia State will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule traveling just across town to play Georgia Tech on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The game can be seen on Bally Sports South and heard on WRAS-FM 88.5.

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