Before the Sun Belt tournament championship game, Georgia State’s R.J. Hunter couldn’t eat or sleep. He was that nervous. He played reasonably well, and the Panthers won.
In the days before Thursday’s NCAA Tournament game against Baylor — the Panthers’ first since 2001 — Hunter said he feels no pressure.
It’s like he’s going to Florida for spring break, which is exactly what he’s doing because school is out this week.
“I feel like this game we can go play with nothing to lose,” Hunter said.
So, though the Panthers (24-9) have won one game in the NCAA Tournament in the program’s history, have yet to beat a team from a “power conference” since coach Ron Hunter took over the program in 2011, and know that only 18 No. 14 seeds have won their first game in a tournament, they feel unburdened … as long as they execute a three-point game plan.
Ron Hunter said the Panthers can’t get overwhelmed trying to rebound — a problem in losses this season — and a strength of Baylor’s, which has outrebounded opponents by eight per game this season, compared with Georgia State’s minus-0.6 average.
The main focus on rebounding will be trying to contain Baylor’s Rico Gathers, a 6-foot-8, 271-pound forward who is averaging 11.7 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
“It’s like facing J.J. Watt,” Georgia State coach Ron Hunter said. “That guy is unbelievable. It’s like facing a football player. He’s bigger than any football player we’ve got at Georgia State.”
R.J. Hunter played against Gathers in AAU basketball, so he has some familiarity with the junior. Like the game, Hunter didn’t seem stressed about facing Gathers because he said the Panthers have had success on defense against the other’s team best option.
Georgia State neutralized another skilled big man, Louisiana-Lafayette’s 6-9 all-conference forward Shawn Long, in the Sun Belt semifinals. He had 10 points and eight rebounds, but little influence. On defense, Georgia State’s players simply went around him. On offense, they harassed him with several players when he would get the ball in the post, taking him out of rhythm.
The second key for Georgia State is it has to make a few shots against Baylor’s tenacious matchup zone. The win over Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt wasn’t fun to watch if you like points. The Panthers shot only 32.6 percent, almost 16 percentage points below their season average, in the 38-36 victory. The Bears are allowing 60.3 points per game on 40.2 percent shooting.
Neither Hunter nor his son seemed too concerned about Baylor’s defense. Ron Hunter pointed out that his offense goes against a matchup zone most days in practice.
“If we get confidence offensively, then the entire arena becomes Georgia State’s arena,” Hunter said. “Then they start feeling that pressure. Everybody will become a Georgia State fan.”
Much may also depend upon the status of Ryan Harrow, who barely played in both Sun Belt tournament games because of a strained hamstring sustained in the regular-season finale against Georgia Southern. Harrow this season made 39 percent of his 3-pointers, a skill that could help break Baylor’s zone if he can play. Harrow said he is going to try to play Thursday, but hasn’t practiced. He has been going through therapy sessions numerous times per day.
Kevin Ware’s growing influence could offset the loss of Harrow. Ware scored 18 points in the Sun Belt final to take Most Outstanding Player honors. It arguably was his finest all-around game since transferring to Georgia State from Louisville last year.
“When Ryan went down, that’s when I kind of took on more initiative, ‘like all right, I’ve got to be a threat instead of just trying to run plays and things like that,’” Ware said.
Lastly, Ron Hunter loves to coach as an underdog, so he is playing up the 14 vs. 3 seeding for all it’s worth.
“(President) Obama didn’t talk about it, but he picked Baylor, so I’m taking my votes back from him,” Hunter said. “So I’m going to let my guys know that even the president of the United States believes we’re going to lose. My kids will be ready on Thursday, that’s for sure.”
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