Devin Mitchell knocked down 10 3-pointers and finished with career-high 38 points to lead Georgia State to an 81-51 win over Little Rock on Saturday evening at the Jack Stephens Center. The Panthers won for a ninth-straight time, the third-longest winning streak in program history.
Mitchell’s 10 3-pointers are tied for the second-most in school history. The 38 points scored by the junior is tied for the eighth-most in school history, is the most-ever for a member of the team in a Sun Belt game and established a new Jack Stephens Center record. The 10 3-pointers are also the second-most by a player in the NCAA this year.
Georgia State (18-6, 9-2 Sun Belt) entered the day with the 12th-longest winning streak in the country and is now 9-0 in 2018. At 18-6, the Panthers are off to the second-best start to a season in program history.
Senior Jordan Session just missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore D’Marcus Simonds added 12 points, eight assists and four boards.
Little Rock (5-19, 2-9 Sun Belt) was led by Cameron Corcoran who scored 18 points and knocked down five 3-pointers.
After Little Rock opened the game scoring the first five points, Georgia State immediately responded with a 14-0 run to lead 14-5 with 12:01 to play.
The Panthers pushed the lead to double figures as Mitchell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Georgia State a 20-9 lead with 6:37 to play.
Minutes later, Mitchell hit back-to-back 3-pointers again to give Georgia State a 30-18 lead with 3:04 to play.
Georgia State went into the locker room leading 38-24 as Mitchell scored 20 first half points on 6-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. The Panthers forced Little Rock into 10 first half turnovers and outrebounded the Trojans 18-13.
Georgia State opened the second half with a 21-0 run to push the lead to 59-24 with 12:48 to play. The Panthers hit eight of nine shots, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range to start the half and didn’t allow Little Rock to score until 12:27 to play.
Junior Jeff Thomas added eight points and five rebounds for Georgia State, while Malik Benlevi chipped in six points and five boards.
Georgia State outrebounded Little Rock 36-26 and shot 54.0 percent from the floor. The Panthers held Little Rock to just 36.0 percent shooting, the sixth-straight game holding an opponent under 40 percent shooting.
Georgia State will return home to face first-place Louisiana on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in a match-up of the top two teams in the Sun Belt.
