The Coastal Carolina men's basketball team will jump into Sun Belt Conference play with games against Georgia State on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 1-2. Friday's action is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. while Saturday's matinee will begin at 3 p.m. ET.
 
The Chants will enter conference action 6-1 overall and will showcase the top-scoring team in the Sun Belt at 96.1 points per game. DeVante' Jones leads the Chants and the Sun Belt in scoring averaging at 23.4 points per game and ranks eighth nationally in scoring.
 
It's not all Jones doing the scoring for CCU, as newcomers Deanthony Tipler (16.9), Essam Mostafa (15.3), and Tyrik Dixon (10.2) are all averaging double figures.
 
Mostafa has three double-doubles on the season and has pushed his rebounding average up to 10.4 per game. Jones and Ebrima Dibba are two of the top thieves in the conference. Jones has a team and Sun Belt-high 27 thefts while Dibba has 14. Dibba continues to be one of the most unselfish players in college basketball as he leads the team in assists with 42 despite not being the team's point guard.
 
Georgia State (6-1) enters the weekend as the pick to win the East Division in a preseason poll voted on by the conference's head coaches. With the 131 points the Panthers picked up in the poll, they were picked to finish second overall behind last season's regular-season champion Little Rock (140 pts.).
 
Like the Chants, the Panthers are a high-scoring team averaging 93.6 points per game, good for second in the Sun Belt just behind the Chants.
 
Georgia State has a balanced scoring attack led by Justin Roberts and his 16.1 points per game average. It's not all Roberts, as he has plenty of scoring help from Corey Allen (15.3), Eliel Nsoseme (13.6), and Kane Williams (13.1).
 
Nsoseme leads the team and is third in the conference at 10.6 rebounds per game and is shooting over 66 percent from the field. Allen leads the Sun Belt in three-point field goals (27) and in three-point field goal percentage (.563).
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ (subscription required). Live stats will also be available at www.GoCCUsports.com.
 
For complete coverage of CCU men's basketball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMBB (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.