Georgia Southern is 0-10 in SoCon play, and has won just one game all season against a D1 opponent. They are ranked 340 out of 345 in RPI. They are 0-13 on the road on the season.
So what's to be scared of?
Well, their lone win was a two point win in overtime. Over Georgia State.
Yes, that Georgia State.
Yes, the one that beat the Mocs in the Dr Pepper Classic Championship Game in McKenzie Arena.
Uh-oh.
The Mocs should be at least a little nervous about that. A team that killed them with shooting...also shot over 50 percent against Georgia Southern. A team that held us to very average shooting allowed the Eagles to shoot 56 percent from the floor. A team that shot the ball well from three point range against us was held to 27.6% shooting from three point range against the Eagles.
What are the odds it happesn again? Probably not good. The Eagles have 9 freshman, 1 sophomore, 2 juniors, and 3 seniors on their roster. Two of the three seniors have not played this year. In other words, this team is very very young. They had a good recruiting class last year, and have a good one coming in this year. They are slowly going to improve.
But in the here and now, they are not very good. Ben Drayton III is their best player. He plays about 38 minutes a game. He is averaging 15.4 points per game, but is a terrible three point shooter, making less than 25 percent. He shoots nearly 49 percent from the floor though. For a 5-10 guard, he has great ability to make shots inside the three point line, but just can't make the long range jumper. He also leads the team in assists with 4.1 per game. He also averages 3.2 rebounds per game. Again- that's not bad for a 5-10 guard.
The Eagles have four players in double figures. Eric Ferguson, Rory Spencer, and Jelani Hewitt all average in double figures. Ferguson has 13.5 points per game, and 5.6 rebounds per game. Spencer averages 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds. Hewitt averages 10.0 points per game, and 3.9 rebounds, along with 2.7 assists.
Marvin Baynham played well coming off the bench against Davidson. He collected eight rebounds and had seven points. He has only had two other games where he played that well- Western Carolina on 1-5 (8 points, 7 rebounds), and College of Charleston on 12-4 (10 and 11).
Of course, Drayton is where it starts. He has scored in double figures in every game except for one (a 99-54 loss to Cincinnati). He also collected five steals against College of Charleston is the 65-61 loss to the Cougars at Georgia Southern last week. Drayton has a ton of potential.
The big advantage for the Mocs comes on the boards. The Mocs rank 15th in the country in rebounds per game. Georgia Southern ranks 321st. Georgia Southern also is 205th in scoring and 124th in field goal percentage. They normally start four guards, and play a slightly slower tempo.
KEYS TO THE GAME
--Rebound. The Mocs should be able to pound the glass in this game at will. The Eagles play a smaller lineup, and are not a particularly good rebounding team to begin with. The Mocs need to dominate on the glass.
--Focus. The huge four game road trip has not started yet for the Mocs. It starts Saturday. Put the Georgia State tape in and see how the Eagles beat them. That should catch the Mocs attention.
--Inside play. Can Georgia Southern withstand the pounding? Chris Early, DeAntre Jefferson, Jahmal Burroughs, and Jeremy Saffore are terrible match-ups for the Eagles to try to match up to. The Mocs need to completely dominate the inside game, and let that open up the outside shot.
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS WIN
--Be happy about the guaranteed winning record in SoCon play.
--Hope that Omar Wattad's back will be healthy enough for him to play a quality game this Saturday against Davidson.
--Start worrying about the road trip and what the Mocs record will be when they play Wofford and Furman at home in about two and a half weeks.
--Remember a time when Georgia Southern was actually one of the better South Division teams in the SoCon.
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS LOSE
--Try to remind myself that this team has been maddeningly inconsistent all season long. This is just another example of it.
--REALLY start worrying about the road trip and what the Mocs record will be when they play Wofford and Furman at home in about two and a half weeks.
--Wonder if Georgia Southern's performances against Davidson and College of Charleston just were the precursors for this performance and the start of a nice run in the second half of the SoCon schedule.
--Sigh, take a deep breath, go to bed, wake up mad in the middle of the night, take another deep breath, and remind myself that tomorrow is another day.
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Keegan Bell and Ben Drayton III will be an interesting match-up. They will have a shooting contest at some point.
--The Mocs inside game will complete dominate.
--The Mocs will jump out to a big early lead- but let Georgia Southern sneak back into the game, causing some anxious moments in the second half.
--Mocs 81, Georgia Southern 64. The Mocs will jump out to a 20 point lead again, and let Georgia Southern trim the lead to 8 early in the second half. But then the Mocs will get rolling again. This will be a relatively easy win, which means Wattad will play about 25 minutes, and rest his back so that he will be OK for the Davidson game. This will be the easiest win the Mocs have had all year against a D1 team.
GO MOCS!
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