Ethan Smith, News Editor

Georgia Southern’s basketball team has had an up-and-down season thus far, but the overall confidence from players, coaches and fans has picked up as of late.

After an 8-5 non-conference campaign which featured victories over George Mason, Pepperdine and Florida Atlantic, the Eagles have been steady throughout Sun Belt Conference play, posting a 5-3 record which places the Eagles in fourth place in the conference.

Most recently, the Eagles avenged their loss against Texas State by coming out victorious last Saturday 74-58 in a great all-around performance. Senior Guard Tookie Brown led all scorers with 17 points, while Freshman Guard Elijah McCadden added 15 points of his own.

As for this Saturday, the Eagles face their toughest in-conference opponent in the form of Georgia State. The rivals from Atlanta have been impressive this season, posting a 15-6(6-2) record with wins over Georgia, Alabama and Texas State, whom the Panthers are tied with atop the Sun Belt Conference.

Junior Guard D’Marcus Simonds, a perennial NBA prospect, has been nothing short of spectacular for Georgia State, averaging 18.6 PPG along with 5.1 RPG and 3.7 APG. Simonds has a solid supporting cast, with Senior Guard Devin Mitchell hitting 48% of his threes and three other teammates averaging over 10 PPG.

The Eagles and Panthers have not met this season, but this would be the perfect game for Georgia Southern to springboard towards the top of the Sun Belt standings. Both teams are coming off victories at home, and this matchup will be in Atlanta for the first of two meetings this season. Catch the Eagles face off against Georgia State at 1:00pm on Saturday, Feb 2 on ESPN+ or Eagle Sports Network.