Men's Basketball | 1/26/2018 5:13:00 PM

ATLANTA – Coming off its first victory ever in Statesboro, the Texas State men's basketball team concludes its road trip in the Peach State on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. CT in the GSU Sports Arena against Georgia State.
 
The Bobcats enter the game with a 14-8 overall record and sit in second place in Sun Belt Conference play with a 7-2 mark while the Panthers are 15-6 on the season, 6-2 in conference play and have won six straight.
 
Stream on ESPN3, Sam Crenshaw and Rodney Turner will provide commentary of the contest. Brant Freeman will have the call on the radio with the game being broadcast on AM1300 The Zone out of Austin and KTSW 89.9 FM out of San Marcos. Fans can also listen to the game through the iHeartRadio and TuneIn Radio apps on their mobile device. Live stats will be available for the game with a link on the team's schedule page.
 
Nijal Pearson is coming off a 22-point performance in Thursday's victory. He increased his scoring average to 14.2 per game on the season to pace TXST. The sophomore also paces the team with 39 made three-pointers, 28 steals and 6.0 rebounds per game.
 
Entering the contest putting up 9.5 ppg is Immanuel King. The senior forward has team-highs in field goal percentage (58.8), rebounding (6.0) and blocks (18). He is currently tied for seventh on the Bobcats career blocks list with 56 rejections.
 
Both Tyler Blount (7.0) and Alex Peacock (7.3) are contributing seven points a contest. Blount has made 35 shots from beyond the arc and shooting a team best 41.2 percent on long distance attempts. Peacock is grabbing 5.2 rpg and has recorded 26 steals.
 
Tre'Larenz Nottingham continues to strive as the starting point guard. In the past five games, he is averaging 12.8 ppg on 43.8 percent shooting including 51.8 percent on three-pointers along with 3.4 assists 2.6 rebounds per game.
 
Scouting Georgia State
Georgia State is coming off an 81-75 win on Thursday over UTA. The Panthers are 8-1 at home this season with a 4-0 mark in conference play. The lone loss this season in the GSU Sports Arena was a 77-74 overtime contest against Liberty. Dating back to last season, GSU has won six straight at home with the last loss being to UTA (68-67) on Feb. 18, 2017.
 
D'Marcus Simonds heads into Saturday pacing the SBC and ranking 21st in the nation in scoring at 21.3 ppg. He also paces GSU in made field goals (165), made free throws (91), free throw percentage (72.2), assists (4.6), steals (44) and minutes (35.1). The sophomore is shooting 44.5 percent from the field but is 27-of-88 (30.7%) on three-pointers. Simonds is also averaging 5.7 rpg and has blocked 18 shots.
 
Coming in netting 11.2 ppg on 44.0 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from beyond the arc is Devin Mitchell. Of his 80 made shots, 53 have come from long distance.
 
Jeff Thomas is putting up 10.5 ppg with a team best 46.6 percent shooting. He is also 37-for-98 (37.8%) on three-pointers. The junior forward is grabbing 4.2 rpg and has rejected 14 shots.
 
Malik Benlevi is averaging 10.2 ppg with a team-high 45.4 three-pointer field goal percentage while connecting on 46.0 percent of his overall shots. Of his 75 made shots, 44 have come from beyond the arc. He comes in with a team-high 6.3 rpg and 21 blocks while also recording 2.1 apg and 34 steals.
 
Also with 21 rejections on the season is Jordan Sessions. He is second on the team with 5.9 rpg while recording 31 steals and putting up 6.9 ppg. Netting over six points a contest as well is Isaiah Williams at 6.7.
 
As a team, GSU ranks eighth in turnover margin (+5.0) and 17 in field goal percentage defense (39.3).
 
All-Time vs. Panthers
Georgia Southern leads the all-time series over Texas State 6-4. Since the Bobcats have joined the Sun Belt, the Panthers have won six of the eight meetings. The last time TXST defeated GSU was on Mar. 10, 2016 by the score of 63-61 in the first round of the SBC Tournament in New Orleans when Bobby Conley hits the game-winning three-pointer with 2.5 seconds remaining.
 
When playing in Atlanta, the Bobcats are 2-3 all-time with a 1-3 mark in conference play. The last win was on Jan. 5, 2015 by the score of 77-74 in double overtime.
 
For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.