In the NCAA Tournament, losing teams cry. Georgia State’s tournament run ended Saturday in tears, but these were different. “If you’re crying,” R.J. Hunter told his teammates, “they should be tears of joy. We changed the culture of Georgia State.”
Against Baylor on Thursday, there had been the joy of improbable victory. Against Xavier on Saturday, there was disappointment tinged with pride. The Panthers didn’t do as most winning No. 14 seeds do in their second NCAA game, meaning get blown out. They made Xavier work, and it’s to the Musketeers’ credit that their work was sterling.
“They almost had to play a perfect game,” said Ron Hunter, Georgia State’s coach and R.J.’s dad. “They beat us. We didn’t beat ourselves.”
To view the final stats was to wonder how this was ever a game. Xavier made 67.6 percent of its shots — 81.3 percent in the second half — and 22 of 25 free throws. It outrebounded the Panthers 23-12. When that happens to a 14th seed, you expect it to lose by 30, if not 40. Georgia State lost 75-67. With 2:25 remaining, the Panthers were within six.
We saw against Baylor that Georgia State was good enough to steal a game against a big-time opponent. We saw against Xavier that the Panthers were big-time themselves. The Musketeers won because point guard Dee Davis protected the ball in a way Baylor never did. Georgia State kept pressing, but Xavier brought 6-foot-10 Matt Stainbrook into backcourt to act as a mammoth pressure release. Davis took it from there.
Five times Xavier made spirit-killing baskets deep in the shot clock, and still the Panthers believed they had a chance. They’d come back from 12 down with 2:40 to play just the other day, had they not? “I was just confident they eventually would crack,” guard Kevin Ware said.
But no. Maybe it would have been different had Ryan Harrow, Georgia State’s second-leading scorer, been able to play more than 19 minutes on his balky hamstring. (As it was, he scored six life-giving points in the first half after missing the Sun Belt final against Georgia Southern and the NCAA opener against Baylor.) For the Panthers, though, there should be no what-ifs. They lost a game but proved a point. They belonged in this Big Dance.
It’s not clear whether R.J. Hunter will play for the Panthers again. A junior, he’s projected as a late Round 1 draft pick should he declare for the NBA. The realization that this might have been the last game for the Hunters as coach and player turned their appearance before the assembled media into a public display of affection.
“The greatest week of my life,” Ron Hunter said. “The greatest time I’ve ever had to be a father … I don’t want these guys to be sad. We helped Georgia State out. Georgia State people know about Georgia State. We’ll be back. We’re going to get some young guys, but it’s not even about that right now. I just …”
Here his voice broke. “As a coach, best time of my life. As a father …”
Now the tears were streaming. He reached to put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I love this kid, man. I love you.”
R.J. Hunter covered his face with a towel. It was a lovely moment. As sweet as it had been to watch R.J. make the winning 30-footer against Baylor and induce his injured dad to fall out of his rolling chair, this was even more heart-tugging. Father and son. A tough loss and happy tears. What a week.
Later, in the locker room, R.J. Hunter was asked: If you live to be 100, how much of this will you remember? “Every minute of it,” he said. “It’s like I said in the interview room: I can’t wait to sit down and think about this.”
In the interview room, R.J. Hunter spoke of Georgia State’s moment in the spotlight. “This is history,” he said, and darned if it didn’t feel like it.
A college based in the midst of a major city; a team that plays home games in a walk-up gym; a coach and his rolling chair and his star son and his really solid team … all that had been put on national display this week in north Florida, and the nation loved what it saw. The Panthers go home after losing a game, yes, but they leave as winners.
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