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JACKSONVILLE - The Jacksonville State men's basketball team will make a quick stop at Pete Mathews Coliseum on Saturday for a 6 p.m. showdown with in-state foe Alabama State before taking back to the road to play its next six games.

The meeting with ASU will be the eighth all-time but the first since 1997 in a series that has JSU holding a 5-2 overall advantage and a 3-1 advantage in the friendly confines of The Pete.

The game is a battle between two teams looking to get in the win column after a tough opening week, one that saw several similar foes. The game is part of the Global Sports Challenge, a five-team event that sent JSU, ASU and Northwestern State to Marshall and Cincinnati, while landing one home game for the other three. Both the Gamecocks and the Hornets suffered losses at Marshall, the preseason No. 2 team in Conference USA, and Cincinnati, the No. 20 team in the nation. ASU hosted Northwestern State on Thursday and lost, while JSU will travel to face the Demons on Friday.

The Gamecocks have gotten great production from its starting backcourt in junior Mason Leggett and sophomore Brian Williams. Leggett, a 6-foot-0 guard from Zachary, La., leads the team with 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game through his first three Division games since transferring to JSU from Southeastern Community College in Iowa. Williams, a 6-foot-1 guard in his second season at JSU, is averaging just over 11.3 points per night in the young season.

In the post, head coach James Green has gotten production from a pair of newcomers in Rinaldo Mafra and Tarvin Gaines. Gaines in second on the squad in scoring with 11.7 points per outings, while Mafra's 5.0 rebounds are tied with Leggett for the team lead.

JSU-ASU: THE SERIES
This will mark the eighth time that JSU has faced the Hornets on the hardwood, and Gamecocks hold a 5-2 advantage in the series. JSU leads ASU 3-1 in games at Pete Mathews Coliseum but hasn't face the in-state foe since 1997. In fact, all seven meetings came within three seasons (1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98). The last meeting was an 82-80 overtime home win for the Gamecocks on Dec. 2, 1997.

IRON GUARDS
The Gamecocks' starting guards have been iron men so far for head coach James Green. Point guard Brian Williams is fourth in the OVC in minutes per game at 32.7, while shooting guard Mason Leggett's 34.3 minutes per night is second-most in the conference.

FAMILIAR FOE FOR GREEN
Although JSU hasn't faced Alabama State since 1997, James Green has seen the Hornets much more recently. Green holds a 5-2 record against ASU, mostly due to his three-tear stint at Mississippi Valley State in the SWAC. In 2007-08, Green's Delta Devils and ASU split the SWAC titles, with the Hornets winning the regular season and MVSU claiming the tournament crown.

COACHING AGAINST A FORMER PUPIL
New JSU assistant Ben Hicks will be looking at one of the Hornets' players through different glasses in tonight's game. ASU forward Jonathan Jefferson played for Hicks last season at Alabama Southern Community College, where Hicks was head coach.