TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball squad returns to the court Sunday at 2 p.m. CST for a non-conference matchup against Florida State at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
Sunday's contest will be televised by ESPN3 and is available for streaming at either www.WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN mobile app. The Southeastern Sports Radio Network broadcast, with Lance Pittman on the call, can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM, online at www.LionSports.net or via the TuneIn Radio app.
Southeastern (2-7) will wrap up the trip with a game at 6 p.m. CST Tuesday at cross-town Florida A&M.
The Lions, who return to action after spending the past week tackling fall semester final exams, are coming off a heartbreaking loss at the hands of Southern, 73-69, on Dec. 4 in the University Center.
Zay Jackson, a senior guard from Hammond, Louisiana, scored a season-high 23 points to pace Southeastern in the contest.
Jackson leads Southeastern in scoring this season with an average of 11.8 points per game and is second in the Southland Conference with 5.8 assists per game.
Keith Charleston (9.0 ppg, 6.2 rebounds per game),
Dimi Cook (7.8 ppg), a freshman from Gulfport, Mississippi,
James Currington (7.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg) and
Joshua Filmore (7.0 ppg), a junior from Orlando, Florida, round out the Lions' top scorers.
Charleston (33-for-51, .647), a junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, and Currington (27-for-48, .563), a sophomore from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, are first and sixth, respectively, in the conference in shooting percentage.
This season Southeastern is shooting a Southland-best 44.5 percent (218-of-490) from the floor. The Lions are 56-of-176 (31.8 percent) from 3-point range, 62.4 percent (131-of-210) from the free throw line and have been out-rebounded by opponents on average, 35.3-to-34.9 per game.
Florida State (5-2) is coming off a 76-71 win over VCU this past Sunday at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.
Malik Beasley (18.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg), Dwayne Bacon (17.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Xavier Rathan-Mayes (12.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and Boris Bojanovsky (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg) are the Seminoles top players.
Florida State is shooting 49.8 percent (219-of-440) from the floor, including 34.8 percent (46-of-132) from 3-point range. The Seminoles are 124-of-174 (71.3 percent) from the free throw line and have out-rebounded opponents on average, 39.3-to-31.7 per game.
Southeastern dropped the only game in the series, 88-62, at Florida State on December 10, 2006.
Florida A&M (3-6), which hosts Samford on Saturday in a non-conference contest, has dropped two-in-a-row since defeating Alcorn State, 73-71, back on Nov. 28 at the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic.
Malcolm Bernard (13.0 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Francois Lewis (8.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and K'Ja Johnson (8.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg) are the Rattlers' top threats.
Florida A&M is shooting 40.2 percent (204-of-507) from the floor, including 28.6 percent (44-of-154) from 3-point range. The Rattlers are 121-of-205 (59.0 percent) from the free throw line and have been out-rebounded by opponents on average, 35.7-to-38.8 per game.
The Lions lead the all-time series, 4-0, having last faced each other Nov. 21, 2000, in a 76-65 Southeastern win at Florida A&M.
Southeastern does not return to the University Center until after New Year's, hosting defending Southland Conference champion Stephen F. Austin on Jan. 4 to open conference play.
Advanced tickets for individual home basketball games can be purchased online at www.LionSports.net/Tickets or through the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office, located in Room 107 of the Dugas Center for Southeastern Athletics. For more information, contact the ticket office at (985) 549-5466 or 1-866-LION-TIX. Ticket office hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Fridays.
Courtside Top Cat seats are $25 for an individual game. General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children (age 3-12). Southeastern students will be admitted free to home games with a valid university ID card.
