With just a little over ¾ of the season having been played, the Eagles are starting to notice a recurring early end to the season under three-year coach Brian Burg.

After being named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award, presented annually to the best first-year coach in Division I college basketball, Burg led Georgia Southern to a 13-win campaign in his first year.

Despite bringing a few Texas Tech players with him, Burg’s Eagles have yet to break.500 in the Sun Belt since taking over as head coach. The Eagles rank 9th in the conference with no shot of winning the Sun Belt this year but can still have a moral victory by finishing with a positive overall record.

Lockdown Defense

The Eagles’ defense has been monstrous, only allowing 65.6 points a game in 2021-22, which ranks as the sixth-best scoring defense in school history and third in the Sun Belt.

The Eagles also rank third in forcing turnovers and second in points per game allowed in the Sun Belt. Defensive rebounding has also been a strong-suit, only allowing 8 second-chance points per game.
“If we can’t do anything right during a game, by God, we will make sure to put all out pressure and effort on the defensive side of the ball.” “You aren’t really good or not good at perimeter defense, it’s just a matter of how badly your players want it,” said graduate manager Cavel Witter.

Struggles on Offense

The Eagles’ problems begin on the perimeter, where they shoot a whopping 30.2% from beyond the arc, causing the defense to disregard any long-range ability. When guards such as Tyren Moore and Kaden Archie penetrate, the defense is daring spot-up shooters to let it fly.

Foreign exchange student Andrei Savrasov is leading the team in points per game at only 12.8. The Eagles are yet to find the go-to scorer, someone that can get their number called at any time and, when it’s needed most, being able to go get a bucket. Only 2 players average double digits, and no one is even thinking of hitting the 20 ppg mark.

With 4 starters being seniors, the Eagles will need a strong recruiting class if they want to have any shot of having a winning season in 2024.
Losing close games

Losing Close Games

The Eagles have been competitive in twenty-two of their twenty-five games this season, losing by single digits in 8 games this season. This is partly because the Eagles cannot throw it in the ocean from the free-throw line, shooting a detrimental 63.5%.

When it comes down to crunch time in the final 5 minutes of games, the offense only contributes an average of 9 points while allowing 17 on the other end.

In road games, the Eagles have been unable to create that at-home atmosphere, dropping 9 of the twelve games.

Coming off a four game losing streak, the Eagles look to turn things around against a tough James Madison squad, whom the Eagles are looking to avoid dropping all regular season matchups against.

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