CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina University men's basketball program will be back home to face Southern Mississippi on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. ET, and Georgia State on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. ET at the HTC Center.
LAST TIME OUT
The Chanticleers fell at Sun Belt Conference leading Appalachian State 88-59 in its last outing.
John Ojiako picked up his 11th double-double of the season with 18 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Freshman
Jacob Meyer matched Ojiako with 18 points of his own with 14 of those coming in the first half.
THE SERIES
vs. Southern Mississippi
The Eagles joined the Sun Belt Conference for its inaugural season last year, but this will be the first meeting on the hardcourt between the two teams.
vs. Georgia State
Coastal Carolina holds a slim 8-7 lead in the series with the Panthers winners of four of the last six games. Last season each team won on its home court with GSU winning 100-66 in Atlanta, and the Chants defeating GSU 77-68 in Conway.
ABOUT THE CHANTS
CCU enters the game with a 5-13 record overall and 2-5 in Sun Belt Conference action.
Ojiako continues to have an outstanding season for the Chanticleers. He leads the Sun Belt Conference and is one of the national leaders with 11 double-doubles on the season. He is averaging 13.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
Meyer is coming off an 18-point performance at Appalachian State and is averaging 12.8 points per game, while
Kylan Blackmon is scoring at an 11.8 points per game clip.
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
After a slow start this season, Southern Mississippi enters Wednesday's action 11-8 overall and tied for second in the conference with a 5-2 record.
The Eagles are one of the hottest teams in the Sun Belt Conference having won five of its last six games including an impressive 81-71 win over then 19th-ranked James Madison, and in its last outing, a 64-63 win over Troy. A game in which they trailed the first-place Trojans by 18 points.
Last season's conference newcomer of the year Austin Crowley leads the team in scoring at 15.8 points per game. The Eagles also have Victor Hart (13.3), Donovan Ivory (12.7), and Andre Curbelo (12.0) averaging in double figures.
ABOUT GEORGIA STATE
The Panthers enter the week at 9-9 overall and tied for fifth in the conference with a 4-3 record.
GSU is in the midst of a four-game road trip in which they lost at Appalachian State (68-76) and at Georgia Southern (70-86) to start the current trip, and will play at Marshall on Wednesday night before Saturday's action at CCU.
The Panthers have four players in double-figures led by Lucas Taylor's 14.8 points per game. Other double-digit scorers are Toneari Land (13.7), Dwon Odom (11.1), and Jay'Den Turner (10.1), with Turner also leads the team in rebounding at 9.3 per game.
CCU games against Southern Miss and Georgia State can be heard on WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM and can be watched live on ESPN+. Links for both along with live stats can be found 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.
