Led by a career-high 25 points from redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State cruised to a 77-58 win over Emmanuel College on Thursday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia State started the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season and won its ninth-straight at home, the fourth-longest home court winning streak in program history.
Hollowell finished 10-of-15 from the floor with three steals, giving him eight on the young season. His previous career high was 18 point while playing at Indiana.
Senior Kevin Ware added 19 points, making 9-of-11 free throws, while pulling down five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Senior Markus Crider added 12 points and six rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.
“The process continues, but I feel like we are starting to create our own identity,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Going into a game, we always have a goal of holding a team under 40 percent shooting and 60 points and we were able to do both of those tonight. Regardless of how many we score, we feel as if we do both of those, we will be in great shape on any night.”
Emmanuel College was held to 39.6 percent shooting, but managed to hit 9-of-29 from 3-point range.
Georgia State improved to 49-13 in its last 62 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013. The win also gave the Panthers a 27-1 record in the GSU Sports Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Emmanuel College controlled the pace of the game early and took a 19-17 lead with just under 10 minutes to play in the first half, knocking down four 3-pointers during that time.
From trailing by two, Georgia State used a 22-5 run to end the half and enter the locker room with a 39-24 lead, holding the Lions without a field goal over the final 6:39 of the half. Hollowell finished with 16 first half points on 6-of-8 field goals.
The Panthers shot 59.3 percent in the opening half, going 16-of-27 from the floor, while holding Emmanuel College to just 34.6 percent shooting and forcing nine turnovers. Georgia State dominated the paint, outscoring the Lions 26-4.
Georgia State opened the second half scoring the first five points to push the lead to 20 at 44-24 before the Lions got back on the board.
The Panthers finished the game shooting 56.9 percent from the floor and outscoring the Lions in the paint 46-14.
“We knew that we wanted to push it inside and get some easy shots tonight,” Hunter said. “I think we are going to be a good 3-point shooting team, it is just going to take some time.”
Elijah Robinson led the Lions with 13 points, while Austin Green added 10.
Georgia State will return to action next Wednesday traveling to Oxford, Miss., to face Ole Miss. The game will air live on the SEC Network at 5 p.m. ET. The Panthers return home on Nov. 27 facing IUPUI at 7 p.m. ET.
