#StateNotSouthern Round 2 Set for Saturday in Statesboro

ATLANTA-Having won four-straight games and six of the last seven, the Georgia State men's basketball team will close out the road portion of the 2021-22 schedule at in-state rival Georgia Southern at Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Georgia State (12-10, 6-5 Sun Belt) has quickly become one of the best defensive teams in the country and after an 0-4 start to league play, have quickly climbed into fifth place in the league standings. The Panthers have three regular season games to play and are looking to finish in the top four of the conference standings to secure a bye into the quarterfinals in Pensacola, Fla., in just over two weeks.

The Panthers topped Georgia Southern (11-13, 4-9 Sun Belt) 79-63 on Thursday night giving the Eagles their fourth-straight loss. Georgia State has won six of the last eight meetings in the series including two-straight in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Since returning from injury, senior Eliel Nsoseme has been heating up while averaging 8.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He has three double-doubles in his first 10 starts back including one on Thursday night against the Eagles finishing with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Senior Corey Allen leads the Panthers averaging 14.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with a team-high 49 3-pointers. He is tied for sixth in Georgia State history with 182 career 3-pointers.

Senior Kane Williams, who currently stands in fourth place on Georgia State's all-time scoring list with 1,506 points is just nine points shy of Rodney Hamilton for third. He can also tie Hamilton for the most games started in a career on Saturday with 105. Williams is already the all-time wins leader, free throws made, and free throws attempted leader in program history. He is averaging 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 80.9 percent from the free throw line having made 53 of his last 60 attempts over the last seven games.

Senior Justin Roberts is adding 11.9 points per game and shooting 77.0 percent from the free throw line. Along with Williams and Allen, he is one of three Panthers in the starting line-up with at least 1,000 points for his career.
Roberts is now just 39 points of becoming the 25^th 1,000-point career scorers in GSU program history after Allen became the 24th.

Broadcast Information

Radio: GSU Mobile App; PbP: Dave Cohen
Television: ESPN+; PbP: Daniel Waugh, Color: Jared Denk, Sideline: Amy Zimmer

Game Notes
• Georgia State and Georgia Southern will be meeting for the second of two-straight games and the 64th time overall. The Panthers have only faced one other opponent more times - Mercer.
• The Panthers have won four-straight games and six of seven after topping Georgia Southern 79-63 before a sell-out crowd in the GSU Sports Arena on Thursday night.
• Georgia State has held its last three opponents to a combined 162 points, an average of just 54.0 ppg.
• Georgia State has won four-straight road games which is tied for the 12th-longest streak in the country.
• GSU has won 104 regular season Sun Belt games since the start of the 2013-14 season, the most in the league, while finishing in the top two of the final regular season conference standings six times.
• Georgia State has a 41-25 (.621) record in the month of February since the start of the 2013-14 season.
• Head coach Rob Lanier earned his 100th career win on Jan. 27, at Louisiana.
• Three of Georgia State's Top 28 scorers all-time are currently on the team. Kane Williams is 4th with 1,506 points, Corey Allen is No. 22 with 1,030 points, and Justin Roberts is No. 28 with 961 career points. Allen became the 24th Panther to score 1,000 career points on Feb. 10.
• Allen has 1,881 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 95 wins in four-plus seasons.
• Williams has now moved into the top 20 in Sun Belt Conference history with 461 assists. He is also in the top 5 all-time in free throws made and just 10 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 675. He broke R.J. Hunter's school record of 448 made free throws on Jan. 20 and now has 500 makes.
• Jalen Thomas is 7th on GSU's all-time blocked shots list (102), halfway to Zavian Smith's school record of 182.
• Allen has moved into a tie for seventh place on GSU's career 3-pointers list with 182 (Malik Benlevi).
• Georgia State is ranked 13th in the country is turnovers forced (17.27) and seventh in turnover margin at +5.2. The Panthers also rank No. 16 with 9.2 steals per game, which is first in the Sun Belt Conference. Leading the Panthers is Nelson Phillips who is ranked No. 111 in the NCAA averaging 1.70 steals per game.
• The Panthers rank No. 29 in the nation in fewest turnovers (265) and 25th in fewest fouls (353).
• Freshman Ja'Heim Hudson is ranked No. 123 in the country averaging 2.50 offensive rebounds per contest, which is helping GSU to 13.50 offensive rebounds per game which is ranked 9th 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 (181) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

Following the game on Saturday, Georgia State will return home for the final two games in the GSU Sports Arena beginning with ULM on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+ and can be heard on WRAS-FM 88.5.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

#14 Chris Clerkley: F; 6' 8"; Senior

Eliel Nsoseme: F; 6' 9"; Junior

#10 Nelson Phillips: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#2 Justin Roberts: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

#25 Jalen Thomas: F; 6' 10"; Freshman

#12 Kane Williams: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson: F; 6' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#14 Chris Clerkley
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

Eliel Nsoseme
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F

#10 Nelson Phillips
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Justin Roberts
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#25 Jalen Thomas
: 6' 10"; Freshman
: F

#12 Kane Williams
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: F