Men's Basketball 3/15/2022 6:19:00 PM

No. 16 Seed Georgia State Faces No. 1 Seed Gonzaga Thursday in Portland

ATLANTA-Returning to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time since 2015, No. 16-seed Georgia State will face overall No. 1-seed Gonzaga on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. ET, at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore.

Georgia State (18-10) will be looking to advance out of the first round of the tournament for the third time in program history and become just the second No. 16-seed in tournament history to top a No. 1-seed.

It will mark the second time in program history that Georgia State and Gonzaga (26-3) have met on the court, though the first time in nearly 30 years, before both teams changed the course of their programs.

The Panthers enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in the country having won 10-straight games and 12 of the last 13 after winning the automatic bid from the Sun Belt Conference just over a week ago. Georgia State has also won eight-straight road/neutral court games.

The Bulldogs are making their 23^rd-consecutive NCAA Tournament which is the third-longest stretch in the country. During that time, Gonzaga has five trips to the Elite 8, two Finals Fours, and two appearances in the national championship game.

Despite missing non-conference play due to an injury, senior Eliel Nsoseme, who earned Sun Belt All-Tournament Team honors, quickly returned to his junior self, averaging 9.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. He has recorded double-doubles in three-straight contests and has six on the season in just 16 starts.

Senior Corey Allen leads the Panthers in scoring averaging 14.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game with a team-high 65 3-pointers. He scored 29 points in back-to-back games of the Sun Belt Conference Championship to earn Tournament MOP honors.

Senior Kane Williams, who currently is in third place on Georgia State's all-time scoring list with 1,577 points, is the school career record holder in games played, starts, minutes played, wins, free throws made, and free throws attempted. He is averaging 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 80.8 percent from the free throw line having made 82 of his last 96 attempts over the last 13 games.

Senior Justin Roberts is adding 11.2 points per game and shooting 76.9 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.

Junior Jalen Thomas rounds out the starting line-up averaging 7.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He has a team-high 46 blocked shots and 114 for his career which ranks fifth in program history.

Broadcast Information

Radio: WRAS-FM 88.5 (Radio only, no digital stream); PbP: Dave Cohen
Television: TNT; PbP: Andrew Catalon, Color: Steve Lappas, Sideline: Andy Katz

Game Notes
• Georgia State will make its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fourth since 2015.
• The Panthers are 2-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. This will be Georgia State's second time as a No. 16 seed.
• Georgia State and Gonzaga will be meeting for just the second time overall and the first since 1994.
• Georgia State owns two wins in the NCAA Tournament. In 2015, No. 14-seed Georgia State shocked No. 3-seed Baylor 57-56 by scoring the final 13 points of the game, capped by a R.J. Hunter 30-foot 3-pointer with 2.6 seconds to play. GSU also won its first game of the 2001 NCAA Tournament as a No. 11-seed by topping No. 6-seed Wisconsin 50-49.
• In both NCAA Tournament wins, Georgia State trailed by double figures at one point in the game.
• Georgia State will be playing a game in the state of Oregon for the first time in program history and just fifth against a current member of the West Coast Conference.
• GSU has won 10-straight games which is the 4th-longest winning streak in the country. It is also tied for the third-longest winning streak in program history. Georgia State has also won 12 of its last 13 games with its lone loss coming by just four points. The Panthers have also won eight-straight road/neutral court games.
• Georgia State has a 26-12 (.686) record in the month of March since the start of the 2013-14 season.
• Georgia State will be making its second appearance on TNT and of interesting note, in two of the previous three NCAA Tournament appearances, including the win over Baylor, Andrew Catalon and Steve Lappas were on the call.
• Georgia State, the most successful team in the Sun Belt since returning to the league for the 2013-14 season with 107 league wins during that time, missed five games this year due to COVID-19 protocols.
• Georgia State is under the leadership of third-year head coach Rob Lanier. His first three-season .646 winning percentage (53-29 record) is the best of any GSU head coach in their first three years leading the program.
• Super seniors Corey Allen and Kane Williams earned All-Sun Belt Third Team honors as voted on by the league's coaches.
• Three of Georgia State's Top 25 scorers all-time are currently on the team. Kane Williams is in third with 1,577 points, Corey Allen is No. 17 with 1,129 points, and Justin Roberts is tied for 23rd with 1,017 career points. Allen became the 24th Panther to score 1,000 career points on Feb. 10, and Roberts became No. 25 on March 5.
• Between Georgia State and Gonzaga, six players with be on the court with at least 1,100 career points. Joining Georgia State's trio will be the trio of Rasir Bolton, Drew Timme, and Andrew Nembhard.
• Allen has 1,980 career points scored (two years at UD) which is No. 27 among career active scorers in the country. He is also among the top 10 active 3-point shooters with 336 treys.
• Kane Williams has now moved into the top 20 in Sun Belt Conference history with 490 assists. He is also in the top 5 all-time in free throws made and free throw attempts.
• Williams broke Terrence Brandon's school record of 531 career free throw attempts last year and now has 711. He broke R.J. Hunter's school record of 448 made free throws on Jan. 20 and now has 529 makes.
• Jalen Thomas is 5th on GSU's all-time blocked shots list (114), more than halfway to Zavian Smith's record of 182.
• GSU is 14th in the country is turnovers forced (16.57) and 5th in turnover margin at +4.7. GSU also ranks No. 15 with 8.9 steals per game, which is first in the Sun Belt. Leading GSU is Williams who is ranked No. 61 (1.86 spg) in the NCAA.
• The Panthers rank No. 35 in the nation in fewest turnovers (332) and 25th in fewest fouls (441).
• GSU has won 56-straight games dating back to 1999 when scoring 90 or more points.
• Georgia State is 13-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
• Since 2013-14, GSU has won more games (187) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

With a win on Thursday, Georgia State would advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament and face the winner of No. 8 Boise State and No. 9 Memphis on Saturday.

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Players Mentioned

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

Eliel Nsoseme: F; 6' 9"; Junior

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

Eliel Nsoseme
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F

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

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

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