CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina continues its four-game homestand Saturday afternoon, welcoming Sun Belt Conference foe Georgia State for a 1 p.m. tip-off inside the HTC Center.
Both teams enter the match-up at 1–2 in league play. The Chanticleers are looking to bounce back following an 82–81 overtime loss to Georgia Southern on New Year's Day, while the Panthers return to action after an 84–80 road setback at Marshall on Wednesday.
Coastal Carolina has been strong at home against Georgia State, winning three straight meetings at the HTC Center and holding an 8–3 advantage in the series when playing in Conway. The Chanticleers are 3–1 at home this season, while Georgia State has struggled away from home, posting a 1–8 mark in true road games, with its lone victory coming at App State, 70–63, two weeks ago.
Despite Thursday's setback, Coastal has established itself as one of the Sun Belt's top defensive teams. The Chanticleers have held opponents under 40 percent shooting in seven of their eight wins this season and rank among the top 30 nationally in defensive rebounds per game, total rebounds per game, field-goal percentage defense, and three-point field-goal percentage defense. Coastal leads the Sun Belt in three-point percentage defense at 29.1 percent and also paces the league in rebounding at 42.2 boards per game.
Offensively, the Coastal scoring trio of
Joshua Beadle,
Rasheed Jones, and
AJ Dancler continue to pace the Chants with each averaging more than 14 points per game and ranking among the top 20 scorers in the Sun Belt. The threesome combined for 57 of Coastal's 81 points against Georgia Southern.
Georgia State enters Saturday's contest having won three of its last five games after opening the season 1–9. The Panthers are led by fourth-year head coach Jonas Hayes, who guided Xavier to the 2022 NIT Championship as an interim coach before taking over at Georgia State. Jelani Hamilton leads the Panthers offensively at 17.0 points per game, with Micah Tucker adding 12.7 points per contest. Jonah Chappelle ranks ninth in the Sun Belt in rebounding at 6.6 per game.
The Panthers are one of the nation's most efficient free-throw shooting teams, ranking 18th nationally and second in the Sun Belt at 77.5 percent, though they rank near the bottom of the conference in three-point shooting at 30.2 percent.
The teams split last season's series, continuing a trend that has seen Coastal Carolina and Georgia State split the season series in each of the last four years. Last season's meeting at the HTC Center saw the Chanticleers pull away late for an 80–74 win.
