Georgia Southern heads back out on the road and return to their Southern Conference schedule Thursday with a clash against the College of Charleston.
The game will be broadcast live on CSS at 7 p.m. and fans can listen to Chris Blair's call of the game on 102.9 FM and www.georgiasoutherneagles.com. Sirius Satellite Radio will be carrying Charleston's broadcast on channel 119.
Georgia Southern (20-9, 13-5) will be looking to return to their winning ways after their six-game winning streak was snapped Saturday at Austin Peay. The run of victories marked just the second time since 1991-92 that a GSU team had two winning streaks of six or longer in the same season (2005-06).
One more win will tie the most by a Jeff Price coached team since his arrival in Statesboro prior to the 1999-00 season. He has already guided the Eagles to their most SoCon victories ever in their 16th year of membership.
GSU can clinch the No. 3 seed in the SoCon Tournament with a win and either a Chattanooga or Appalachian State loss. App State plays at Davidson Wednesday night.
Charleston (12-16, 7-11) has lost three straight and four of its last five, all to league competition, and has dropped into a tie for third in the SoCon South. The Cougars are coming off a 75-67 defeat at UNC Greensboro. All three losses in their recent skid have been by eight points or less.
“It’s always a big game for both teams,” said Eagles head coach Jeff Price. “I’m sure you’re going to see a really intense basketball team from their standpoint, a team that has a revenge factor on their minds and I’m sure they’re going to bring everything they have.”
Scoring in double-digits in 17 of his past 18 games is Charleston guard Andrew Goudelock. The freshman made his last appearance off the bench in the Jan. 10 meeting with Georgia Southern and has started ever since. He is tied for the team lead in scoring at 13.4 points per game.
“He’s just a really explosive scorer,” Price said. “He’s a guard with a scorer’s mentality. He’s a tremendous 3-point shooter and he’s gotten a lot better at putting it on the floor, getting to the basket and becoming a complete player. He’s gotten more experience throughout the year — he really doesn’t play like a freshman anymore.”
The Cougars possess a solid backcourt with Goudelock and sophomore Tony White, Jr. which complements the frontcourt duo of Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott. White went for a game-high 26 points vs. GSU Jan. 10 and Johnson ranks second in the Southern Conference in rebounding at 8.8 per game, including 9.2 in league contests.
“Jermaine Johnson’s playing really well right now,” said Price. “You can look at the numbers and see they are getting him the ball and he’s being aggressive offensively. So obviously when he’s playing that well inside and you’ve got two or three guys who can really shoot from outside — Dustin Scott’s capable of having a big game also — with an in-and-out combination like that they’re very a talented team.”
Georgia Southern will counter with its forward pair of Louis Graham and Matthew Fields. Fields has recorded three straight double-doubles and set a new career high Saturday with 14 rebounds. He tied his personal best of 18 points against Charleston earlier this season and is shooting 72.4 percent from the floor in his last 10 games. Graham was held to 17 points at Austin Peay, tying his lowest total in nine games. Fifteen of his 17 markers came after halftime.
The game will be broadcast live on CSS at 7 p.m. and fans can listen to Chris Blair's call of the game on 102.9 FM and www.georgiasoutherneagles.com. Sirius Satellite Radio will be carrying Charleston's broadcast on channel 119.
Georgia Southern (20-9, 13-5) will be looking to return to their winning ways after their six-game winning streak was snapped Saturday at Austin Peay. The run of victories marked just the second time since 1991-92 that a GSU team had two winning streaks of six or longer in the same season (2005-06).
One more win will tie the most by a Jeff Price coached team since his arrival in Statesboro prior to the 1999-00 season. He has already guided the Eagles to their most SoCon victories ever in their 16th year of membership.
GSU can clinch the No. 3 seed in the SoCon Tournament with a win and either a Chattanooga or Appalachian State loss. App State plays at Davidson Wednesday night.
Charleston (12-16, 7-11) has lost three straight and four of its last five, all to league competition, and has dropped into a tie for third in the SoCon South. The Cougars are coming off a 75-67 defeat at UNC Greensboro. All three losses in their recent skid have been by eight points or less.
“It’s always a big game for both teams,” said Eagles head coach Jeff Price. “I’m sure you’re going to see a really intense basketball team from their standpoint, a team that has a revenge factor on their minds and I’m sure they’re going to bring everything they have.”
Scoring in double-digits in 17 of his past 18 games is Charleston guard Andrew Goudelock. The freshman made his last appearance off the bench in the Jan. 10 meeting with Georgia Southern and has started ever since. He is tied for the team lead in scoring at 13.4 points per game.
“He’s just a really explosive scorer,” Price said. “He’s a guard with a scorer’s mentality. He’s a tremendous 3-point shooter and he’s gotten a lot better at putting it on the floor, getting to the basket and becoming a complete player. He’s gotten more experience throughout the year — he really doesn’t play like a freshman anymore.”
The Cougars possess a solid backcourt with Goudelock and sophomore Tony White, Jr. which complements the frontcourt duo of Jermaine Johnson and Dustin Scott. White went for a game-high 26 points vs. GSU Jan. 10 and Johnson ranks second in the Southern Conference in rebounding at 8.8 per game, including 9.2 in league contests.
“Jermaine Johnson’s playing really well right now,” said Price. “You can look at the numbers and see they are getting him the ball and he’s being aggressive offensively. So obviously when he’s playing that well inside and you’ve got two or three guys who can really shoot from outside — Dustin Scott’s capable of having a big game also — with an in-and-out combination like that they’re very a talented team.”
Georgia Southern will counter with its forward pair of Louis Graham and Matthew Fields. Fields has recorded three straight double-doubles and set a new career high Saturday with 14 rebounds. He tied his personal best of 18 points against Charleston earlier this season and is shooting 72.4 percent from the floor in his last 10 games. Graham was held to 17 points at Austin Peay, tying his lowest total in nine games. Fifteen of his 17 markers came after halftime.
