Two games into the season, Georgia State’s basketball team is in the process of figuring out who its star is going to be. So far, it’s a mystery, but the committee approach seemed to work just fine Friday night.
The Panthers, who lost their top five scorers from last season, got 15 points each from Dante Curry and freshman Javonte Maynor and had four players in double figures in a 80-70 win over Troy in their home opener at the GSU Sports Arena.
“There are going to be nights where we just shuffle through and find out whose night it is going to be,” said Georgia State coach Rod Barnes. “We’re a team with a lot of depth, we’re going to play a lot of guys. We feel like we’ve got a little bit of everything we need.”
Curry, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, did not even play in the season-opening loss to McNeese State. Maynor, a 6-foot combination guard from Snellville, played 17 minutes in the opener and scored just six points.
It was Curry who gave the Panthers early traction with 12 points against the Troy 2-3 zone. Georgia State had missed six of its first seven shots and trailed 17-14 when Curry, who did not start, began making shots against the Troy zone.
Georgia State led 37-29 at the half behind Curry’s 12 first-half points. Then it was Maynor’s turn. He came out after the intermission and made three 3-pointers to make the score 46-31.
The Panthers led 55-39 when Troy finally got out of its zone and, for a few possessions, Georgia State was disorganized on offense and rattled. They committed three turnovers in four possessions, and the Trojans came within 55-45.
Then, another star emerged. Reserve guard Devonta White steadied Georgia State against the man-to-man with his ball-handling and aggressive moves to the basket.
White, a 5-11 freshman from Alpharetta, had a three-point play and another two points on a drive to the basket as the Panthers got back to a 14-point lead, 60-46 with 10 minutes to play.
Jihad Ali, a left-handed wing, and Marques Johnson, a senior guard, had 10 points for the Panthers.
“Our biggest strength is our versatility,” Johnson said. “We have depth, and we’re going to use it on defense to pressure teams.”
Troy helped along the win with poor shooting, wide-open or not. The Trojans, who were playing with five new starters, made only 19 of 37 free throws. They made just 21 of 53 shots from the field.
A Georgian led Troy in scoring. Levan Patsatsia, a 6-6 forward from Tbilisi in the Republic of Georgia, scored 22 points.
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