Georgia State will go for a school-record 12th consecutive win Saturday night when it hosts Texas-Arlington in men’s basketball.
Here are 11 things the Panthers (14-6, 7-0) have done right during the streak:
Make free throws. The team has made 79.2 percent, slightly higher than the team's season average (76.7) and significantly higher than the percentage (72.9) in the nine games before the streak. All five starters have made at least 79.6 percent of their free throws. R.J. Hunter leads the team with an 87.9-percent mark. They used free throws to rally to defeat Louisiana-Monroe last week.
Coaching. After slow starts of 25 first-half points at Louisiana-Lafayette and then 26 at Louisiana-Monroe, the Panthers regrouped at halftime to score 52 in the second half against the Cajuns and 40 against the Warhawks. Ron Hunter got R.J. Hunter focused during halftime against Lafayette and then had the team attack the basket against Monroe to take advantage of its free-throw shooting.
Create turnovers. The Panthers caused 168 turnovers, an average of 15.3 per game. They have turned those turnovers into 235 points, or 21.4 per game. R.J. Hunter, often playing on top of the zone, where his height (6-foot-5) and long arms can disrupt passing angles, has 28 steals. They have a turnover margin of plus-7.9.
Shooting by Hunter. The sophomore, who is becoming the favorite for the Sun Belt player of the year, has made 50.3 percent of his shots, which is amazing considering he has taken 95 3-pointers (making 45.3 percent) in the stretch. He has averaged a team-leading 22.8 points per game.
Block shots. Led by Curtis Washington, the Panthers have blocked 53 shots, 22 more than their opponents.
Fast starts. Though the Panthers have struggled in the first halves of the past two games, they still have outscored foes by 87 points in the first halves of the past 11 games.
The play of Markus Crider, super sub. He isn't scoring or grabbing a lot of rebounds, but Crider has proved invaluable in the middle of the Panthers' zone. Though Crider is only 6-6, Ron Hunter said Crider is so strong he is hard to score against in the post. He has also grabbed more offensive rebounds (18) than defensive rebounds (15).
“I said before the season that our success will depend on (guard) Rashaad (Richardson), but mostly with Markus,” Ron Hunter said. “He has to play so many different positions. He has to play so many different spots and know every one of them. His physicality, he’s playing unbelievable basketball.”
Share the ball. Led by Devonta White, the Panthers have 163 assists, or 14.8 per game, on 291 field goals. White has 65 of those, followed by Ryan Harrow's 54. The team had 110 assists, or 12.2 per game, in the nine games before the streak.
Take advantage of favorable conference set-up. Ron Hunter likes the Thursday-Saturday game schedule because it's what The Summit League used when he at IUPUI. When a coach is comfortable and routines can be set, the players are more relaxed. Plus, though the Sun Belt trails Georgia State's previous conference, the Colonial Athletic Association, by just a few percentage points in the RPI, playing at Louisiana-Lafayette and at Louisiana-Monroe isn't quite as difficult as playing at Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.
Grow up. The Panthers didn't start well with early losses at Vanderbilt, at Alabama and at Elon, to name a few. But Ron Hunter and the players learned from those losses. The team gave up 74.2 points per game in the season's opening stretch compared with 67.8 during the win streak. In the victory over Louisiana-Monroe, the Warhawks scored only five points in the final 7 minutes, 15 seconds.
Keep their composure. The Panthers have two seniors and two fourth-year juniors in the starting lineup and two more seniors that come off the bench. There's not much they haven't seen, so it's hard to rattle them, especially on the road, and six of their past 11 games were on the road.
