Men's Basketball 1/24/2018 7:56:00 PM

Men's Basketball Preview: Alabama-Huntsville/North Alabama

No. 14 VALDOSTA STATE at ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE
WHAT: Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball WHEN: Thursday, January 25th, 2018 at 8:30 p.m. EST WHERE: Huntsville, Ala. - Kelly Court at Spragins Hall Audio Link \| Video Link \| Stats Link \| Game Notes

No. 14 VALDOSTA STATE at NORTH ALABAMA
WHAT: Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball WHEN: Saturday, January 27th, 2018 at 4:00 p.m. EST WHERE: Florence, Ala. - Flowers Hall Audio Link \| Video Link \| Stats Link \| Game Notes

No. 14 VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS 17-2, 10-1 GSC NEWS \| SCHEDULE \| STATISTICS \| ROSTER
POURING IT ON - Coach Mike Helfer's squad has been an offensive juggernaut thus far in their 2017-18 campaign. The Blazers are averaging 94.6 points per game. The average has Valdosta State ranked third in the country on the NCAA Division II scoring leaderboard, and the Blazers are averaging over 10 points more per game than the GSC's second best scoring team (West Georgia, 84.0 ppg) LEAGUE MOMENTUM - Following a loss to West Florida in early December, the Blazers turned the Gulf South Conference portion of their schedule in a positive direction, beginning with a 139-135 triple overtime win over Montevallo on December 16th. The point total set a new school mark for points scored in single game, which broke the previous mark of 136 scored by the Blazers in a loss to Troy State during the 1991-92 season. Valdosta State ended the 2017 calendar year with yet another home victory over West Alabama on December 18th and carried the momentum into the 2018 calendar year, and VSU has now ripped off 10 consecutive wins. FROM DOWNTOWN - The Blazers are now ranked among the top ten teams in the country from long range, when measured by three pointers made per game. Valdosta State is now averaging 11.9 three-pointers per game, a number which jumped significantly after the Blazers hit 35 threes in two games over the weekend wins over Auburn Montgomery and West Georgia. Individually, Beau Justice (47.0 percent) and Winston Morgan (45.5 percent) hold the top two spots on the GSC leaderboard in three-point field goal percentage. JUSTICE SERVED - Junior guard Beau Justice earned his third career Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honor this week, following back-to-back career high performances. Justice poured in 32 points against AUM, before dropping 40 on West Georgia just two days later. In the win over UWG, Justice connected on 10-of-11 from the three point line and hit nine consecutive shots from beyond the arc. Only two players in the Gulf South Conference rank higher than Justice and his average of 20.9 points per game. A key factor in Justice's offensive production is his efficiency at the free throw line. He has missed just eight of the 100 free throws he has taken this season, and his 91.0 percentage at the stripe leads the GSC.

No. 14 VALDOSTA STATE BLAZERS

17-2, 10-1 GSC
NEWS | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS | ROSTER

POURING IT ON - Coach Mike Helfer's squad has been an offensive juggernaut thus far in their 2017-18 campaign. The Blazers are averaging 94.6 points per game. The average has Valdosta State ranked third in the country on the NCAA Division II scoring leaderboard, and the Blazers are averaging over 10 points more per game than the GSC's second best scoring team (West Georgia, 84.0 ppg)
LEAGUE MOMENTUM - Following a loss to West Florida in early December, the Blazers turned the Gulf South Conference portion of their schedule in a positive direction, beginning with a 139-135 triple overtime win over Montevallo on December 16th. The point total set a new school mark for points scored in single game, which broke the previous mark of 136 scored by the Blazers in a loss to Troy State during the 1991-92 season. Valdosta State ended the 2017 calendar year with yet another home victory over West Alabama on December 18th and carried the momentum into the 2018 calendar year, and VSU has now ripped off 10 consecutive wins.
FROM DOWNTOWN - The Blazers are now ranked among the top ten teams in the country from long range, when measured by three pointers made per game. Valdosta State is now averaging 11.9 three-pointers per game, a number which jumped significantly after the Blazers hit 35 threes in two games over the weekend wins over Auburn Montgomery and West Georgia. Individually, Beau Justice (47.0 percent) and Winston Morgan (45.5 percent) hold the top two spots on the GSC leaderboard in three-point field goal percentage.
JUSTICE SERVED - Junior guard Beau Justice earned his third career Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honor this week, following back-to-back career high performances. Justice poured in 32 points against AUM, before dropping 40 on West Georgia just two days later. In the win over UWG, Justice connected on 10-of-11 from the three point line and hit nine consecutive shots from beyond the arc. Only two players in the Gulf South Conference rank higher than Justice and his average of 20.9 points per game. A key factor in Justice's offensive production is his efficiency at the free throw line. He has missed just eight of the 100 free throws he has taken this season, and his 91.0 percentage at the stripe leads the GSC.

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE CHARGERS 12-7, 5-6 GSC NEWS \| SCHEDULE \| STATISTICS \| ROSTER
SERIES HISTORY - The longstanding rivalry between the Chargers and the Blazers has been evenly matched throughout the years, as VSU holds a narrow 27-26 series lead over UAH. Valdosta State's last win over the Chargers came at Spragins Hall, where the Blazers took down their hosts in an instant classic for an overtime road win. The Chargers took two out of three from VSU last year and narrowly defeated VSU in the Gulf South Conference Championship. MAKING IT RAIN - Despite Valdosta State's standing as the 10th best three point shooting team in the country, the league lead belongs to the Chargers. UAH is currently ranked fifth in the country in three point shots made per game (12.6), and the team is ranked 14th in the nation with a shooting percentage of 41.5 percent. LAST TIME OUT - The Chargers enter Thursday's game on the heels of a pair of losses to West Georgia and North Alabama. The former was a triple overtime heartbreaker, in which the Wolves used their home court advantage to edge out UAH 122-118. Prior to the losses UAH had won three straight, a streak that began with a convincing 71-51 win over the nationally ranked Christian Brothers Bucs.

ALABAMA-HUNTSVILLE CHARGERS

12-7, 5-6 GSC
NEWS | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS | ROSTER

SERIES HISTORY - The longstanding rivalry between the Chargers and the Blazers has been evenly matched throughout the years, as VSU holds a narrow 27-26 series lead over UAH. Valdosta State's last win over the Chargers came at Spragins Hall, where the Blazers took down their hosts in an instant classic for an overtime road win. The Chargers took two out of three from VSU last year and narrowly defeated VSU in the Gulf South Conference Championship.
MAKING IT RAIN - Despite Valdosta State's standing as the 10th best three point shooting team in the country, the league lead belongs to the Chargers. UAH is currently ranked fifth in the country in three point shots made per game (12.6), and the team is ranked 14th in the nation with a shooting percentage of 41.5 percent.
LAST TIME OUT - The Chargers enter Thursday's game on the heels of a pair of losses to West Georgia and North Alabama. The former was a triple overtime heartbreaker, in which the Wolves used their home court advantage to edge out UAH 122-118. Prior to the losses UAH had won three straight, a streak that began with a convincing 71-51 win over the nationally ranked Christian Brothers Bucs.

NORTH ALABAMA 10-8, 5-6 GSC NEWS \| SCHEDULE \| STATISTICS \| ROSTER
SERIES HISTORY - The long, storied history between these two programs takes us into the 75th all-time matchup between the Blazers and the Lions on Saturday. UNA holds a slight 39-36 edge in the series, but the Blazers have won three of the last four matchups. Last time the two teams met at Flowers Hall was on February 18th of 2017, when VSU scored four points in the final 7.6 seconds of the game to overcome a 1-point deficit and take down the Lions 77-74. Josh Lemons, now a Graduate Assistant coach for VSU's program, scored a team-high 16 points in the game. LAST TIME OUT - The Lions have some momentum heading into the weekend thanks to a big GSC road win over UAH last Saturday. The Lions edged out the Chargers 75-72 to bounce back from an 89-96 loss to Warhawks of AUM two days prior. The Lions are 3-4 in the month of January.

NORTH ALABAMA

10-8, 5-6 GSC
NEWS | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS | ROSTER

SERIES HISTORY - The long, storied history between these two programs takes us into the 75th all-time matchup between the Blazers and the Lions on Saturday. UNA holds a slight 39-36 edge in the series, but the Blazers have won three of the last four matchups. Last time the two teams met at Flowers Hall was on February 18th of 2017, when VSU scored four points in the final 7.6 seconds of the game to overcome a 1-point deficit and take down the Lions 77-74. Josh Lemons, now a Graduate Assistant coach for VSU's program, scored a team-high 16 points in the game.
LAST TIME OUT - The Lions have some momentum heading into the weekend thanks to a big GSC road win over UAH last Saturday. The Lions edged out the Chargers 75-72 to bounce back from an 89-96 loss to Warhawks of AUM two days prior. The Lions are 3-4 in the month of January.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#12 Beau Justice: G; 6' 2"; Junior

#3 Winston Morgan: G; 6' 0"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#12 Beau Justice
: 6' 2"; Junior
: G

#3 Winston Morgan
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

Players Mentioned

#12 Beau Justice

#3 Winston Morgan

Players Mentioned

#12 Beau Justice

#3 Winston Morgan