Georgia State vs. UT Arlington: College basketball game preview, TV schedule

Considered the heavy favorite to win the Sun Belt conference, UT Arlington has struggled mightily halfway through. Can a win over Georgia State finally get things going?

TV schedule: Thursday, Jan 25, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN3

Arena: GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, Georgia

Texas-Arlington 13-8 (4-4) had a very impressive non-conference, with a huge win over BYU, combined with close losses to top 23 teams Creighton and Alabama. Their high-powered offense led by the combo Kevin Hervey and Erick Neal, along with the fact that eight of the team’s top nine scorers are all seniors, should have meant an easy run in the Sun Belt conference.

That turned out to be completely wrong, with the Mavericks dropping their first two games of league play. They were on the road to Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina, who’ve combined to start out 5-11 to start conference season off.

The mark of a really good team is how they perform on the road, and that’s an area where Scott Cross and the Mavericks have really struggled, going 1-3 in the Sun Belt. The other home loss came to Louisiana-Lafayette, who sits on top of the standings at 7-0.

Their opponents are another team who had an awful start in league play in Georgia State 14-6 (5-2). Just like the Mavericks, the Panthers lost their first two road games of league play to South Alabama and Troy, combined for 7-7 so far.

But they’ve recovered nicely, winning five straight conference games, including a 17 point win over Georgia Southern. D’Marcus Simmonds, whose averaged over 20 ppg for the season, led all scorers in that game with 24 points.

Next: Sun Belt Conference wide open

Georgia State is now tied in the loss column, with the Mavericks and Texas State on the schedule today. It’s a great opportunity for the Mavericks to separate themselves on the upper echelon of the conference. And with UT Arlington having problems winning on the road, I look for Ron Hunter and the Panthers to get this win.

Prediction: Georgia State 80 – UT Arlington 73