Georgia State made sure to keep its losing streak at one, as it bounced back from Saturday’s loss to Troy with a lopsided 68-41 win at home over Texas State on Monday.
“Good comeback game. I thought that we wanted to make a statement defensively,” said Coach Ron Hunter. “That was not us Saturday. We know that. We were embarrassed. The last 48 hours have not been real good.”
After a miserably slow start in which the score was tied at two nearly a third of the way into the first half, the Panthers finally got things rolling offensively and kept up their stifling defense. They began to look like the team that won 14 games in a row, instead of the stagnant team that saw that streak end at Troy.
Coach Hunter said that before the Troy game he heard his team mention the win streak for the first time, and that was when he knew it’d become a distraction.
“I’m glad that that’s over with so we can get back in the business of winning a championship,” said Hunter.
Ryan Harrow led the Panther’s with 17 points, including a free throw that cemented his place alongside teammates R.J. Hunter and Devonta White in the 1,000 point club. Manny Atkins, who finished with 15, is next in line, needing seven more points to reach 1,000.
“It’s great that you have four guys that have scored 1,000 points, but none of us are really selfish players. And we all work well with each other,” said Harrow.
Despite shooting 43.5 percent from the field in the first half, Georgia State finished the game at 52.2%. The Panthers shot 40 percent from 3-point range.
Georgia State (19-7, 11-1) forced 13 Texas State (7-18, 3-9) turnovers, including seven steals, and they also collected six blocks.
The Panthers take the court at home again Thursday, taking on the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks at 7 p.m.
