VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 6 Valdosta State men's basketball team returns to the road for just its second true road game of the season Saturday at 4 p.m. ET at Tuskegee.  The Blazers are 7-0 on the year and 2-0 in Gulf South Conference play, while Tuskegee is 3-4 overall and 1-0 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. 
 
The game will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ with Mike Chason having the call, while there will be live video of the game.  Links for the game can be found at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.
 
VSU is coming off a pair of conference wins over Union (91-80) and Christian Brothers (84-71).  The Blazers shot .481 for the week on 62 of 129, while going 18 of 46 (.391) from beyond the arc and 33 of 43 (.767) from the line.  VSU averaged 35.5 rebounds per game, while recording 36 assists, 12 turnovers, six blocks and 16 steals.  VSU averaged 87.5 points for the week, while allowing 75.5.
 
The opposition shot .484 from the field on 60 of 124, while going 16 of 44 from beyond the arc (.364) and was 15 of 23 from the line (.652).  The opponents averaged 34.5 rebounds per game, while recording 27 assists, 26 turnovers, four blocks and six steals.  
 
Individually, senior Beau Justice paced four Blazers in double figures as he averaged 24.0 points per game earning his second Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor this season.  Justice was 17 of 32 from the field (.531) with four triples and went a team-best 10 of 12 from the line.  He averaged 7.5 rebounds per game, while recording five assists and two steals.
 
This is the second meeting with Tuskegee this season as the Blazers won 93-81 on Nov. 13 in Valdosta. In that game, Justice had a season-high 30 points on 8 of 16 from the field with four triples and 10 of 13 from the line, along with seven rebounds and seven assists.  Senior Desmond DeRamus added 16 points off the bench and junior Darrell Jones had 13 points.  As a team, the Blazers shot 51.6 percent on 33 of 64, while going 10 from beyond the arc and 17 of 23 from the line.  VSU pulled down 40 rebounds, with 17 offensive rebounds, while holding Tuskegee to just 27 rebounds. 
 
Tuskegee shot 50.9 percent for the game on 29 of 57, while going 6 of 13 from beyond the arc and 17 of 24 from the line.  Myles Thomas had 24 points to pace the Golden Tigers, while Riley Hamilton added 17 points and Cam Grepke added 12 points off the bench.
 
Nationally speaking, the Blazers lead the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 2.06, while ranking fifth nationally in assists per game at 20.0.  VSU is 18^thnationally in field goal percentage at 51.0, while ranking 19^thin fewest turnovers with 68.  The Blazers are 11^thnationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.29), while ranking second nationally in scoring margin (22.0) and fifth nationally in scoring offense at 99.4 points per game. In addition, the team is 15^thin 3-point field goals per game at 11.6, while ranking 14^thin 3-point field goal percentage at 42.9.  The Blazers are sixth nationally in turnover margin at 6.3, while ranking seventh in turnovers per game at just 9.7 miscues per game.  VSU is one of 13 undefeated teams left in all of NCAA Division II (295). 
 
Individually, Justice is 14^thnationally in assist/turnover ratio at 3.86, while he is 36^thnationally in points per game (21.6).  Senior Winston Morgan is 44^thin 3-point field goal attempts (61), while ranking 13^thin field goals made per game (3.86) and 69^thin 3-point field goal percentage (.443).  
 
Tuskegee is coming off its third-straight win with a 62-57 victory at Gulf South Conference foe Auburn Montgomery on Monday.  Prior to that, TU had wins over Claflin (55-51) and Clark Atlanta to open SIAC play (69-56).  
 
The Golden Tigers are averaging 63.9 points per game, while allowing 67.7 for 43^rdnationally. TU is shooting at a .428 clip, while the opposition is at a .376 average for 15^thnationally.  Tuskegee is 49 of 130 from beyond the arc (.377), while the opponents are at a .328 clip on 42 of 128.  TU is 106 of 142 from the line (.746) and the opposition is at a .731 clip on 136 of 186.  The Golden Tigers are averaging 33 rebounds per game, while allowing 36.7. TU is turning the ball over at an 18.1 average, while forcing 12.9 turnovers per game.
 
Thomas leads the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game on 34 of 64 (.531).  He is a team-best 16 of 32 from beyond the arc (.500) and 20 of 26 from the line (.769).  Hamilton is second in scoring at 10.1 points per game.  Joshua Culver leads the team in rebounding at 5.6 per contest.
 
Following Saturday's game, the Blazers return home to host Fort Valley State Monday at 7:30 p.m. at The Complex in the final home game before the Christmas Break.