Georgia Southern (9-5, 3-0) vs. Appalachian State (8-6, 2-1)
Holmes Convocation Center, Boone, North Carolina; Saturday, 4 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Two guards will be on display as Ike Smith and Georgia Southern will battle Justin Forrest and Appalachian State. The senior Smith is averaging 15.4 points over the last five games. Forrest, a junior, has scored 26 percent of the team's points this season and is averaging 21 over his last five games.
SENIOR STUDS: Appalachian State's Forrest, O'Showen Williams and Hunter Seacat have collectively scored 47 percent of the team's points this season, including 52 percent of all Mountaineers scoring over the last five games.
RAMPING IT UP: The Mountaineers have scored 70.3 points per game against conference opponents so far, an improvement from the 64.3 per game they managed against non-conference foes.SOLID SMITH: Smith has connected on 34.6 percent of the 81 3-pointers he's attempted and has made 9 of 27 over the last three games. He's also converted 65.5 percent of his foul shots this season.
ASSIST-TO-FG RATIO: The Eagles have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Mountaineers. Appalachian State has 34 assists on 69 field goals (49.3 percent) across its previous three matchups while Georgia Southern has assists on 38 of 76 field goals (50 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: Georgia Southern as a team has made 9.1 3-pointers per game this season, which is tops among Sun Belt teams. The Eagles have averaged 11 3-pointers per game over their last three games.
