What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State will look for an eighth-straight win hosting UL Monroe on Monday night at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena.
* Earlier this year, the Panthers earned a 73-65 overtime win at ULM, snapping the Warhawks' 18-game home court winning streak.
* The Panthers seven-game winning streak is the eighth-longest in the country and tied for the fifth-longest in program history.
ATLANTA-Looking for a ninth-straight win, Georgia State will travel to face Appalachian State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., in the Holmes Convocation Center. The Panthers currently sit in a tie for first place in the Sun Belt standings and have won nine of their first 10 games of 2017.
Georgia State (16-7, 9-2 Sun Belt) swept a home series with Louisiana and UL Monroe last weekend to open the second half of conference play. The Panthers will now look to sweep the season series from Appalachian State (6-16, 1-10 Sun Belt) for the first time.
Saturday’s contest can be heard live on 1340 The Fan 3 and 1230 The Fan 2 with Dave Cohen, now in his 34th year as the Voice of the Panthers, being joined by 680 The Fan’s Brandon Leak. The game will also air on the WatchESPN platform. Live statistics and live audio will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com and on most mobile devices.
Earlier this year, Georgia State earned an 83-72 win over the Mountaineers in Atlanta as freshman D’Marcus Simonds scored 25 points and the Panthers shots 56.9 percent from the floor.
The Panthers eight-game winning streak is currently tied for the eighth-longest in the country. It is also tied for the third-longest in program history. Georgia State has also won four-straight on the road which is tied for the 10th-longest streak in the country.
Georgia State has won three of the last four meetings with Appalachian State. The Panthers have won 50 conference games since the start of the 2013-14 season, the most in the league.
Simonds, who missed the first three games of Sun Belt play due to an injury has been rolling since his return just over a month ago. He has scored 19 or more points in five of the last seven games and is tied for the team-high averaging 17.5 points per game in conference play. For the season, he is averaging 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, while shooting 58.9 percent from the floor.
“This is the time of year that we need to start playing our best basketball,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “I think we have started to see glimpses of it, but we have definitely not played our best game. We have two important road games this weekend, starting at Appalachian State on Saturday. They are a much better team than their record may indicate and we are going to have to play at our best to get an important win.”
Senior Jeremy Hollowell, an All-Sun Belt Preseason Second Team member, continues to lead the Panthers averaging 15.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He scored the 1,000th point of his career at Troy earlier this year and now has scored 807 points in a Georgia State uniform.
He is one of six Panthers scoring 6.0 or more points per game, as 10 members of the team average at least 11 minutes per game. Hollowell has scored 20 or more points in a game seven times this year.
Sophomore Malik Benlevi has easily been Georgia State’s most improved player since last year. In Sun Belt games, Benlevi is averaging 11.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 55.8 percent from the floor.
Junior Isaiah Williams is adding 8.0 points and dishing out 2.1 assists per game. He leads the team with 47 assists and is shooting 36.5 percent from 3-point range.
Sophomore Jeff Thomas is also having a remarkable season as he is shooting 41.6 percent from 3-point range which is currently the seventh-best mark in program history.
Senior Willie Clayton enters play on Saturday just three points shy of 1,000 for his career. He could join a select group of active players on Saturday who with more than 1,000 points and 800 rebounds.
Notes:
· Georgia State is first in the Sun Belt and No. 19 in the NCAA averaging 8.3 steals per game.
· Despite several players in their first year at Georgia State, the Panthers starting line-up doesn’t lack experience. Both Jeremy Hollowell (115) and Willie Clayton (119) played in their 100th career games during non-conference play.
· Georgia State is No. 39 in the NCAA forcing 15.43 turnovers per game.
· Freshman D’Marcus Simonds is No. 5 in the Sun Belt averaging 1.6 steals per game and No. 19 in scoring.
· Senior Willie Clayton has 849 career rebounds, ranked No. 12 in the NCAA among all active players.
Following Saturday’s game, Georgia State continue its road trip at Coastal Carolina on Monday night at 7 p.m.
Quick Notes:
• Georgia State and Appalachian State will meet for the eighth time on Saturday. GSU has won three of the last four meetings.
• Since rejoining the Sun Belt, GSU is 50-19 in conference regular season games, the most wins of any school in the league.
• Georgia State’s eight-game winning streak is the longest since an eight-game streak during the 2013-14 season. It is currently tied for eighth-longest in the NCAA.
• The winning streak is tied for the third-longest in program history. The school-record is 14.
• Georgia State has also won four-straight on the road which is currently the 10th-longest streak in the country.
• Senior Isaiah Dennis has been a part of 82 wins at GSU, the fourth-most in program history.
• D’Marcus Simonds has scored 19 or more points in five of the last seven games, including a career-high tying 26 at Troy.
• Jeremy Hollowell scored his 1,000th career point at Troy on Jan. 28. He has scored 807 points at GSU.
• Senior Willie Clayton enters play just three points shy of 1,000 for his career.
• Georgia State finished non-conference play with 7 wins, tied for third most in program history.
• Georgia State made 15 3-pointers against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 21, tied for the sixth-most in a single game in program history.
• The Panthers 101-86 win at Louisiana marked the first time the Ragin’ Cajuns have given up 100 points at home since 1990.
• The win over Middle Tennessee in mid-December marked the second time in three seasons defeating an NCAA RPI Top 10 team.
• Ron Hunter enters play with 119 wins at GSU, the most in program history.
• Hunter is one of seven coaches to be the all-time winningest coach at multiple NCAA D1 schools.
• Senior Jeremy Hollowell has scored 20 or more points in a game seven times this year and is averaging a team-high 15.8 points per game.
• D’Marcus Simonds and Jeremy Hollowell are averaging a team-best 17.5 points per game in SBC play.
• Willie Clayton has two double-doubles this year and has 19 for his career.
• Freshman D’Marcus Simonds was named MVP of the Cancun Challenge in November.
• Georgia State is 79-34 (.699) since Dec. 14, 2013.
