It will be a battle between Sun Belt opponents when the Georgia Southern Eagles (4-8) welcome the South Alabama Jaguars (5-8) to W.S. Hanner Fieldhouse. Action starts at 7:30 pm ET on Thursday, Jan. 7.
The Eagles got blown out by UT Arlington 92-72 in their last game. Mike Hughes was the team’s leading scorer, contributing 24 points. The Jaguars are coming off an awful 89-67 loss to Arkansas State in their last outing. Ken Williams had a game-high 23 points.
Tookie Brown has really been playing well recently for the Eagles, averaging 20.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.2 steals, and 2.6 three-pointers over the last five games.
This one might be a mistake-prone game for the South Alabama offense, which ranks 272nd in the nation in miscues (TO% of 20.1%). It’s matched up against the ball-hawking Georgia Southern defense, which causes the 24th-most turnovers in the nation (22.9%).
Georgia Southern is favored by a slight two-point margin in its matchup against South Alabama. According to the oddsmakers, the Over/Under (O/U) is currently 146 points. The Eagles are looking to improve on their records of 4-8 Straight Up (SU) and 1-5 Against The Spread (ATS). The Eagles come into the game with the nation’s fifth-ranked home scoring offense, averaging 93.8 points per game on their own court.
As for their opponent, the Jaguars have records of 4-7 ATS and 5-8 SU.
This game marks the first time these teams will play this season. The last time the conference rivals played, Georgia Southern won, but the win was not enough to overtake South Alabama in the head-to-head series. Its record is now 2-3 SU. Additionally, South Alabama leads the matchup ATS with a record of 4-1.
Predictions: SU Winner – GaSo, ATS Winner – GaSo, O/U – Over
Notes
Georgia Southern is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games.
Georgia Southern is 18-4 SU in its last 22 games at home.
Neither the Georgia Southern Eagles nor the South Alabama Jaguars have won a game against any team in the Sun Belt Conference. Both teams hold records of 0-2 SU in these matchups.
Georgia Southern averages 93.8 points per home game, ranking fifth in the country. South Alabama, on the other hand, allows 73.5 points per away game, one of the worst teams this season (ranked 138th).
On average, Georgia Southern has 74.5 possessions per game and scores 1.070 points on each possession. South Alabama has both fewer possessions (71.4) and scores fewer points during those possessions (.974).
The South Alabama Jaguars average an effective field goal percentage of 45.8% this season. The Georgia Southern Eagles have an abysmal record of 2-7 when opponents have an eFG% of 45.8% or greater.
On average, the Georgia Southern Eagles attempt 28.0 three point field goals per game and the South Alabama Jaguars attempt 20.0. In games where they attempt at least 20 threes, both teams have losing records; Georgia Southern is 4-7 and South Alabama is 2-6.
Georgia Southern ranks 27th in offensive rebounding. South Alabama ranks 214th in defensive rebounding.
The Georgia Southern Eagles make an average of 9.3 steals per game, ranked 14th in the nation. When the South Alabama Jaguars allow 9 or more steals, they are undefeated (2-0).
