Norfolk State Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan. 3; 2 p.m.
NSU at Georgia, Stegeman Coliseum
Radio: Star 1310 AM, Live Audio | Hot 91.1 FM, Live Audio
TV: Fox Sports South/ESPN3 | Watch Live
Live Stats | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - Another big road test awaits the Norfolk State men's basketball team when the Spartans travel to Georgia to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Stegeman Coliseum.

Media Coverage
The game will be broadcast live on Star 1310 AM as well as Hot 91.1 FM with Ross Gordon on the call. Live audio is available through the Star 1310 website as well as through the Hot 91.1 website. Both feeds are available on smartphones through the Star 1310 website or through www.TuneIn.com or the TuneIn Radio App (search for "WNSB") for Hot 91.1.

The game will also be broadcast live on Fox Sports South as well as ESPN3, with James Bates and Larry Conley on the call. Fans can also follow along with the live stats here.

Series History
This will mark the first-ever meeting between NSU and Georgia. It will also be the seventh opponent this season (out of eight altogether) that the Spartans will take on for the first time in their history.

About Georgia
The Bulldogs won their fifth in a row after squeezing by Kansas State, 50-46, on Wednesday to improve to 8-3 overall. Georgia still averages more than 72 points per game, with four players in double figures. Marcus Thornton leads the way with 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. Charles Mann (12.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists), Kenny Gaines (11.5 points) and Nemanja Djurisic (11.2 points, 5.8 rebounds) also provide plenty of production. As a team, Georgia shoots 46 percent overall but less than 31 percent from 3-point range. They also hold opponents to less than 38 percent overall and 29 percent from 3-point range while outrebounding them by 4.7 boards per game.

Last Time Out
Up by just five at the half, No. 22/22 Baylor outscored NSU 60-24 in the second half on the way to a 92-51 win over the Spartans on Tuesday night at the Ferrell Center. Royce O'Neale had 23 points, including five 3-pointers within the first few minutes of the second half to break the game open. The Bears led by a 32-27 margin after a first half that saw NSU actually hold a five-point edge at one point. Jeff Short led the Spartans with 23 points on 6-of-11 shoting, while D'Shon Taylor added 11 points and six boards.

Player Tidbits
Jeff Short
 • 26.3 points, 34-58 shooting, 12-24 3-point shooting and 4.3 rebounds last four games
 • Also averaging 23.4 points (57.6 % shooting 47.2 % 3-point shooting) last seven games and 21.9 points (55.2 %, 44.2 %) last 10 games
 • Has scored at least 15 points in 10 straight games
 • 8th 20-point game of season, and 7th in the past nine games, with 23 at Baylor
 • Career-high 30 points at James Madison
 • NSU's first 30-point game since Malcolm Hawkins had 31 against NCCU on March 6, 2014
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in scoring (19.3), 3rd in free throw % (86.4) and 3-point field goal % (42.9), 4th in 3-point field goals (2.4) and 7th in field goal % (49.5) and minutes (33.1)
 • Stands 21st in the nation in scoring (19.5); Also ranks in total points (5, 293), free throw percentage (68, 84.6), field goal percentage (97, 49.7), 3-point field goals per game (122, 2.33) and minutes (173, 33:04)

RaShid Gaston
 • 10 straight games with 10+ rebounds, the most in the NSU Division I era
 • Eight double-doubles in the last 10 games
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in offensive rebounds (3.7), rebounds (9.8), field goal % (61.1) and defensive rebounds (6.2), 7th in scoring (15.3) and 10th in blocks (0.8)
 • Stands 6th in the nation in double-doubles (8); Also ranks in field goal % (11, 60.2), rebounding (20, 9.8), offensive rebounds (24, 3.54), defensive rebounds (31, 6.31) and scoring (224, 14.5)
 • Ranks 37th in NCAA Division I in career field goal percentage (.550), 42nd in double-doubles (13) and 44th in rebound average (7.1)
 • Stands 12th in NSU records with a .550 career shooting percentage

Jamel Fuentes
 • 5.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.5 assists in four games from Dec. 13-22
 • 6.0 assists last 10 games
 • Ranks 2nd in the MEAC in assist-turnover ratio (2.1) and assists (5.5)
 • Stands 32nd in the nation in assists (5.5) and 109th in assist-turnover ratio (2.08)
 • Ranks 11th in NCAA Division I in career assists (491), 15th in assist-turnover ratio (1.93), 44th in assist average (4.31) and 47th in games played (114)
 • Ranks 3rd all-time at NSU in assists with 491 and 1st among D-I players; Needs 12 more to move into second place
 • Stands 15th at NSU in career steals (131); Needs two more to move into 14th place

D'Shon Taylor
 • Has scored in double figures in seven straight
 • 35-68 on field goals, 18-33 on 3-pointers last seven games
 • Career high four steals at Baylor
 • Six blocks last two games
 • 16.8 points, 28-52 FG, 15-27 3-Pt, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in five games from Dec. 8-22
 • Ranks 1st in the MEAC in 3-point field goal % (45.1),10th in field goal percentage (46.7) and 11th in scoring (12.9)

Jordan Butler
 • 7.3 points, 9-11 shooting, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 assists in three games from Dec. 15-22
 • Ranks 7th in the MEAC in blocks (1.1) and 233rd in the nation (1.13)

Good Start
Thanks to seven wins in a nine-game span, NSU's 9-6 start is tied for the second-best in the Division I era. The record is held by the 2011-12 squad that eventually posted a 15-5 record after 20 games. The 1998-99 team also started 9-6.

Road Trekking
The Spartans are in the midst of a six-game road trek that started on Dec. 22 at James Madison and will last through Jan. 12 at Bethune-Cookman. The Spartans returned from the holiday break to play at Baylor, Georgia and Princeton along with the two Florida-based MEAC schools, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman. After playing four of five games at Echols Hall prior to that stretch, the Spartans will go four weeks without a home game.

Baylor Bits
Baylor's 41-point win on Tuesday marked NSU's biggest loss since a 47-point, 103-56 loss to UNLV on Dec. 18, 2006. Baylor also scored the most points against a Spartan team since Mount St. Mary's won 104-84 on Jan. 3, 2014. In fact, the Bears' 60 points in the second half mark the most points NSU has allowed in a half since at least the 2002-03 season. Baylor's +15 rebounding edge was the largest since UNC Asheville had a +19 edge on Nov. 19, 2013.

On Fire
In a nine-game stretch from Nov. 28-Dec. 22, the Spartans shot a combined 51.6 percent (247-of-479), including 40.6 percent (56-of-138) from 3-point range. NSU shot better than 50 percent overall in six of those nine games while averaging 76.2 points per game.

NSU's current 45.7 percent clip from the field is slightly less than last year's 46.5 shooting percentage, the best since the Spartans connected on 48.1 percent of their shots in 1998-99. The team's current 36.4 percent 3-point shooting is also the best mark since 1992-93, when NSU hit 40.4 percent from long range that year.

Winning the Rebounding Battle
The Spartans had the rebounding edge in 11 straight contests from Nov. 22-Dec. 22 and in 12 of the 15 games this year. Dating back to last season, NSU has outrebounded 23 of the last 27 opponents. NSU was a collective +97 in rebounding margin during that 11-game stretch, including a +20 effort against U.Va.-Wise. It marked the largest margin for the Spartans since outrebounding Coppin State by 23 on Feb. 2, 2013.

NSU, meanwhile, had 49 rebounds against Coppin State this year, the most since grabbing 50 against North Carolina A&T on March 3, 2011. On the season, the Spartans have a +5.1 rebounding margin.

Get to 20
Jeff Short (25) and RaShid Gaston (20) both reached the 20-point plateau against Northern Arizona, the fourth time in five games two players scored 20 or more points. Short and Gaston did so against Morgan State (24, 20) and U.Va.-Wise (27, 20), and D'Shon Taylor (24) and Short (20) accomplishing the same versus Coppin State.

NSU has had a 20-point scorer in 10 straight games and in 12 contests overall this year for a total of 16 20-point games. The Spartans have not had 10 straight 20-point performances since they closed out the 2008-09 season with 11 straight.

Balanced Scoring?
NSU has four players averaging double figures, including leading scorer Jeff Short (19.5) as well as RaShid Gaston (14.5), D'Shon Taylor (12.8) and Malik Thomas (10.7). After those four, though, the next highest scorer is Jamel Fuentes at 2.9 points. Six players have tallied between 1.8 and 2.9 points per contest. A year after losing nearly 80 percent of its scoring from its senior class, NSU is now getting 78.6 percent of its scoring (824-of-1049 points) from just four players.

Specialty Stats
NSU has outscored the other team by an average of 6.8 more points in the paint (30.5-23.7). On the year, NSU has outscored 12 of its 15 opponents in points in the paint, including 11 straight from Nov. 22-Dec. 22. The Spartans have attempted 92 more shots from inside the 3-point line than opponents on the season.

On the other side, opponents have made more 3-pointers in 11 of NSU's 15 games thanks to 84 more attempts on the season.

Lend a Helping Hand
Norfolk State's current 13.7 assists-per-game rate is slightly behind the D-I record of 13.8 set in 1998-99. That marked the most since NSU tallied 14.2 assists per game in 1995-96.

Doubling Up
The Spartans have had 12 double-double performances in the last 13 games, including five straight from RaShid Gaston from Nov. 28-Dec. 8 and eight overall from the junior.

Nationally Ranked
The Spartans rank 75th in the nation in rebounding margin (+5.1) as well as in the top 150 in field goal percentage (85, 45.7), 3-point field goal percentage (93, 36.4), blocks (101, 4.3), assists (121, 13.7), defensive rebounds (129, 24.93), offensive rebounds (135, 11.47), scoring offense (139, 69.9), win-loss percentage (142, 60.0) and field goal percentage defense (149, 41.6).

Good from 3
Norfolk State has made a 3-pointer in 162 straight games, dating back to a contest at South Carolina State on Jan. 25, 2010, when NSU finished 0-of-17 from 3-point range.