Georgia State will face Baylor in the Big Dance, but Panthers coach Ron Hunter won’t be able to do the two-step.
The Panthers defeated Georgia Southern 38-36 in the finals of the Sun Belt men’s tournament in New Orleans on Sunday. As Hunter jumped off the bench to celebrate, he said he could feel his Achilles pop.
No matter the pain – he said it was 17 on a scale of 1 to 10 – Hunter and the players were ecstatic in making it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001.
“This will be the best bus ride in the history of bus rides,” Ron Hunter said of the 61/2-hour ride home.
Hunter, who is going to delay surgery until after the tournament, and the team watched the CBS selection show from a private room in Lakefront Arena set up by the Sun Belt Conference. Hunter reclined in a leather chair, the Sun Belt trophy sitting by his elevated foot. The Panthers were one of the last teams announced, amping the anxiety level in the room as projected opponents Louisville and North Carolina received different matchups.
The Panthers (24-9) received a 14th seed and will play the third-seeded Bears (24-9) on Thursday in Jacksonville.
Hunter and Baylor coach Scott Drew have a familiar history dating back to when Drew coached at Valparaiso and Hunter at IUPUI in the Summit League.
“I’m familiar with that they do,” Hunter said. “They are a good basketball team. Physical, strong inside. We will have to rebound.”
The Bears (24-9) were beaten by Kansas in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. They are led by 6-foot-7 forward Taurean Prince, who averages 13.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, and 6-8 forward Rico Gathers, who averages 11.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
The Panthers made it to the NCAA tournament on the back of either a defensive gem or an offensive mess against Georgia Southern.
The teams combined to make just 26 field goals, just three of which came in the final 9 ½ minutes. R.J. Hunter scored the winning points on two free throws with 21.6 seconds left as the Eagles chanted “Daddy’s princess.”
“I’ll take ugly wins all day,” Ron Hunter said. “My wife married an ugly man and she still loves me.”
With the Panthers clinging to the lead, Georgia Southern missed two 3-pointers in the final seconds. As the last one bounced off the rim, Hunter jumped off the bench. It was then he knew he had hurt himself. But he kept going because he wanted to celebrate with his son, who tackled him.
“It’s been a long road for my family,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate with him. Actually, I’m embarrassed by this because it takes away from the kids.”
He couldn’t be slowed down even after the celebration. He used crutches to get to the podium and the tournament organizers lowered the basket so that he could reach up and cut a portion of the net. He was the last to grab the twine after players and others involved with the team each took their turn. Many of the players tucked their pieces into their championship hats and wore them throughout the day.
“One of the best feelings of my life,” said R.J. Hunter, who finished with nine points.
The Panthers were led not by Hunter, but by Kevin Ware. He scored 18 points, most on a series of slashing drives, to be named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Ware transferred to Georgia State from Louisville, where he became mostly known for the gruesome broken leg he sustained in the NCAA tournament two years ago during the Cardinals’ national championship run.
Ware left Louisville partly to get a fresh start and to return home to Atlanta.
“Ultimately it’s paid off,” he said.
That Ware had a chance to play so well in the semifinals and finals can be traced to an injury sustained by Ryan Harrow, who suffered a strained hamstring in the regular-season finale.
Harrow, the conference’s leading scorer in the regular season, played just a few minutes in Saturday’s semifinal win over Louisiana-Lafayette, in which Ware scored nine points, had six assists, three steals and three rebounds. Ron Hunter said Harrow should be available for the NCAA tournament, but wasn’t sure how much he would play. The Panthers are 5-0 in games this season in which Harrow hasn’t played, and 3-0 in games in which he has barely played.
Like their coach, the team knows how to play through pain.
“I’m grateful for these guys,” Ron Hunter said as he sat in a chair in front of a podium that he couldn’t step up and onto because of his injury. “That was a struggle, but it’s supposed to be a struggle. This is the most resilient group of guys I’ve ever coached in my life.”
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