Ryan Harrow reached a milestone as Georgia State blew out Texas State 68-41 on Monday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Harrow scored the 1000th point in his career as the Panthers easily bounced back from last week’s loss at Troy, which snapped the team’s 14-game winning streak. He finished with 17 points.
Georgia State (18-7, 11-1) kept its three-game lead in the loss column over Western Kentucky with six games remaining in the Sun Belt. The top two teams will receive byes to the semifinals of the conference tournament. The Panthers will host Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday in the second game of the three-game homestand.
Harrow scored his 1000th point, which includes those scored at N.C. State and Kentucky, on a free throw with 10:38 left.
He became the second Georgia State player to hit the milestone in three days after R.J. Hunter reached it in last week’s loss to the Trojans. Including Devonta White, Georgia State has three starters who have scored at least 1,000 points in their career.
A fourth, Manny Atkins, needs just seven points after scoring 15 on Monday.
Points figured to be as precious as salt during icy weather. While Texas State arrived in Atlanta as the worst scoring team (63.3 points per game) in the conference, it also had the best scoring defense (66.2 points per game).
But few expected just how slowly the game would start.
Harrow scored the first basket 3:21 into the game after a comedy of shots and turnovers by both teams.
The pace didn’t get much better. The Panthers led 10-7 on two Harrow free throws with less than nine minutes remaining in the half.
And then Georgia State finally started to heat up, finishing the half with a 10-0 run to take a 28-14 lead. Texas State came within a point of matching the lowest point total allowed by Georgia State in a half in school history. That mark of 13 points was set by William and Mary two years ago in the first half of a 66-34 Georgia State win.
Georgia State’s hot hands continued after the break. Manny Atkins scored eight points as the Panthers started with a 17-2 run to open a 45-16 lead. The final play in the run came after Harrow tiptoed the baseline before passing to a trailing Atkins. He waited a second for Curtis Washington, who took the pass and threw down a two-handed dunk that caused the fans in the Sports Arena to leave their seats.
Atkins wasn’t done. After Texas State scored its second basket of the half, Atkins hit two long jumpers to push the Panthers’ lead to 50-18.
