Even after Thursday’s debacle at Arkansas-Little Rock, if Georgia State wins its remaining three games it will repeat as Sun Belt men’s basketball champ and earn the top seed for the conference tournament.
The first test comes Saturday at Troy, which defeated the Panthers at home last season, the only blemish on their 17-1 conference record.
Georgia State (19-9, 12-5) trails Sun Belt leaders Louisiana-Monroe (19-9, 13-4) and Georgia Southern (20-6, 13-4), each of whom won easily Thursday, by a game in the race not only for the title, but also for one of the top two seeds for Sun Belt Tournament in New Orleans. The top two seeds receive a bye to the semifinals, making the possibility of winning the tournament and earning an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament that much easier.
If the three teams finish the regular season tied, the Sun Belt will crown each as co-champ, but they all can’t share the top seed. Tiebreakers are used to determine the seeding.
It’s not a bad position to be in for Georgia State, which has games remaining against both teams. If the Panthers win all three, they will earn the top seed because they have defeated the War Hawks once. Another win when the teams meet March 5 would give the Panthers the tiebreaking edge.
Georgia State will host Georgia Southern in the finale March 7. If the Panthers were to win, the two teams would be 1-1 against each other. The next tiebreaker would be the record against the other team involved in the tie: The Eagles and War Hawks split their two meetings.
To do what it can do and win out, Georgia State’s defense will have to play much better in its final three games than it did against Arkansas-Little Rock, a 92-83 loss.
The Trojans made 50 percent of their shots, including 14 of their 30 3-point attempts. It was the most 3-pointers given up by Georgia State this season and the most points allowed by GSU since Hunter arrived. The Panthers had limited opponents to 35.3 percent shooting, including 31.7 percent on 3-pointers.
The poor defense wasted what could be considered the best performance on offense by Georgia State’s starting five this season. Led by Ryan Harrow’s 22 points, four of the five scored at least 12 points. The team made all 21 of its free throws and outrebounded the Trojans by 1.
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