What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State will look to continue its 13-game home court winning streak on Saturday hosting South Alabama at 2:30 p.m.
* The Panthers held their eighth opponent under 40 percent shooting Thursday as teams are shooting just 38.8 percent agianst GSU this year.
* At 9-3, the Panthers are tied for the second-best 12-game start in program history. Georgia State is 31-1 in the GSU Sports Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season.
ATLANTA-Georgia State will look to continue its 13-game home court winning streak on Saturday hosting South Alabama at 2:30 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. It will mark the second of five-straight home games for the Panthers.
Georgia State is off to a 9-3 start and is 2-1 in the Sun Belt. The 9-3 mark is tied for the second-best 12-game start in program history as the Panthers currently stand No. 42 in the NCAA RPI.
Saturday’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 former Panther Rodney “Truck” Turner and 680 The Fan’s Brandon Leak. The game will also appear on ESPN3 with Sam Crenshaw and former Panther Jihad Ali calling the action. Live statistics and live audio will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com and on most mobile devices.
The Panthers, which have won the last two Sun Belt Conference regular season titles since returning to the league, have put together an impressive 34-7 mark in conference games since their return. Georgia State is 56-16 in their last 72 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013 and has won 15-of-19 games dating back to last season.
“We saw a lot of great things and a lot of bad things against Troy last night,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “I started to see some of the things that I want out of our offense in the first half and our defense continued to play at a great level. However, I also saw us lose our killer-instinct that has made us a championship program.”
The Panthers won their 13th straight with a 72-68 win over Troy, building a 26 point first half lead before hanging on to win by four. The streak is tied for the 18th longest streak in the nation. Georgia State is 31-1 in the GSU Sports Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Georgia State has built its winning with defense. The Panthers are allowing opponents to score just 61.1 points per game, third in the Sun Belt and No. 12 in the country. Teams are shooting just 38.8 percent from the floor and 29.9 percent from 3-point range against the Panthers this year.
On the other end, Georgia State has turned the ball over just 139 times, fifth fewest in the country, while forcing 168.
The Panthers are led by redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell who is averaging 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and senior Kevin Ware, scoring 13.1 points and adding 4.2 rebounds per contest. Hollowell knocked down four 3-pointers in the first eight minutes of the game on Thursday against Troy, while Ware made more 3-pointers (3) in the first half than he had made all season (2).
Senior Markus Crider has played in 111 career games entering Saturday and could easily break the school record of 126 by Jihad Ali by the end of the year. He is averaging 7.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in Sun Belt play.
Senior T.J. Shipes has also stepped in Sun Belt action averaging 5.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, shooting 66.7 percent from the floor and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.
Redshirt-sophomore Isaiah Williams rounds out the starting line-up and in the last five games is averaging 11.6 points per game, including a season-high 14 against Troy on Thursday.
Hunter, in his fifth year with the Panthers, has won 96 games and could eclipse Bob Reinhart’s school-record of 107 career wins by the end of the year. Hunter owns three of the six single-season best win totals in school history.
South Alabama (6-8, 1-2) is led by Ken Williams who is averaging 14.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Georgi Boyanov is nearly averaging a double-double a game with 9.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest. The Jaguars earned a 64-58 win over Georgia Southern on Thursday night.
Following Satuday’s game, Georgia State will continue its five-game home-stand facing UL Monroe on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The game will serve as coach Hunter’s annual ‘Barefoot for Bare Feet’ game to raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet. Tickets for that game are available by calling 404-413-4020 or by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com.
Quick Notes:
• Georgia State continues a five-game home-stand hosting South Alabama, an opponent the Panthers have won five-straight over.
• Georgia State’s 9-3 start is tied for the second-best in program history.
• Georgia State is 31-1 in the comfy confines of the GSU Sports Arena since the 2013-14 season, with the only loss coming in double-overtime.
• The Panthers currently ride an 13-game home court winning streak, third-longest in school history and tied for 18th in the nation.
• Since returning to the league, GSU is 34-7 in Sun Belt regular season games, going 17-1 (2013-14), 15-5 (2014-15) and 2-1 (2015-16).
• Georgia State’s 7-2 non-conference record is the third-best in program history.
• Defensively, GSU is giving up just 61.9 points per game, the 12th best mark in the NCAA.
• The Panthers have turned the ball over only 139 times this season, fifth fewest 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 56-16 (.777) since Dec. 14, 2013.
• As of Friday, Georgia State is ranked No. 42 in the NCAA RPI. The Panthers peaked at No. 36 on Jan. 3.
• Georgia State currently stands No. 42 in the NCAA RPI. South Alabama is No. 262.
• 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 74 wins, just 13 shy of the school-record set just last year by Ryann Green.
• Georgia State will continue its five game home-stand on Thursday facing UL Monroe at 7:30 p.m., on ESPN3.
