Troy (6-6, 1-2) vs. Georgia Southern (8-6, 2-3)
W.S. Hanner Fieldhouse, Statesboro, Georgia; Saturday, 3 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Georgia Southern looks for its eighth straight win in the head-to-head series over Troy. In its last seven wins against the Trojans, Georgia Southern has won by an average of 13 points. Troy’s last win in the series came on March 10, 2017, a 90-70 victory.
LEADING THE CHARGE: Zay Williams and Nick Stampley have led the Trojans. Z. Williams is averaging 11 points and 7.6 rebounds while Stampley is putting up 10.3 points and seven rebounds per game. The Eagles have been led by Zack Bryant and Eric Boone, who are scoring 14.2 and 11.8 per game, respectively.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS: The Eagles have given up only 68.8 points per game across five conference games, an improvement from the 79 per game they allowed to non-conference foes.BRILLIANT BRYANT: Z. Bryant has connected on 31.4 percent of the 35 3-pointers he’s attempted. He’s also converted 84.1 percent of his free throws this season.
SCORING THRESHOLDS: Georgia Southern is 5-0 when it limits opposing offenses to 65 or fewer points, and 3-6 when opponents exceed 65 points. Troy is 5-0 when holding opponents to 64 points or fewer, and 1-6 on the year when teams score any more than 64.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Eagles have recently created buckets via assists more often than the Trojans. Georgia Southern has an assist on 41 of 74 field goals (55.4 percent) across its previous three contests while Troy has assists on 34 of 72 field goals (47.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Georgia Southern is ranked second among Sun Belt teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 36.3 percent. The Eagles have averaged 12.9 offensive boards per game.
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