Ryan Harrow said he will continue to be Georgia State’s biggest cheerleader until he can rejoin them.
It was a skill he used as the 14th-seeded Panthers rallied from 12 points down in the final 2:53 to shock third-seeded Baylor 57-56 in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday.
“I’m just happy for my team, you know,” he said. “A lot of them had got down on themselves and I kept telling them it’s not over. We’ve lost leads before so if teams can come back on us, we can come back on them.”
Harrow, Georgia State’s leading scorer during the regular season, suffered a strained hamstring in the regular-season finale against Georgia Southern. The guard was averaging 20.2 points per game before the injury in this, his final season of college basketball.
He played less than 10 minutes combined in the Panthers’ two wins in the Sun Belt tournament.
Harrow said on Wednesday that he was going to try to play on Thursday, though he hadn’t been able to practice. Instead, he has been participating in multiple therapy sessions per day. He said he will continue therapy to try to play Saturday.
With Thursday’s victory over Baylor, the Panthers are 9-0 in games in which Harrow has either not played or barely played.
Bonuses: Coach Ron Hunter will receive $125,000 in bonuses and a raise in pay for leading Georgia State into the third round of the NCAA tournament.
Hunter’s contract, obtained by the AJC through an Open Records Request, called for bonuses of $25,000 for winning the Sun Belt’s regular-season title, $25,000 for winning the conference tournament and another $25,000 for making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Additionally, his base salary for the next calendar year starting May 2015 will increase from $425,000 to $500,000. Hunter was due for a raise to $440,000, but advancing to the tournament kicked in a clause increasing his salary to the new rate.
Because Georgia State advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament, Hunter will receive another bonus of $50,000. It is one in a series of bonuses tied to advancing, culminating in a bonus of $500,000 for winning the national championship.
Turnovers: Baylor coach Scott Drew was at a loss to explain why the Bears committed 21 turnovers, which the Panthers turned into 21 points.
“That’s not who we are, and yet I know that’s what will be dwelt upon and talked about is how we didn’t finish the game, and that’s on me as coach,” he said.
It was the seventh time this season that Georgia State has forced at least 20 turnovers, including twice in the past three games.
Georgia State’s Isaiah Dennis said Baylor kept letting its power forward inbound the ball to a guard, which meant the ball was going to come back to the power forward when Georgia State pressed. They felt they could cause some chaos in that scenario.
“We made some mental errors as far as trying to get the ball to our ball handlers and making sure they get to the free-throw line,” Baylor’s Taurean Prince said.
Green shines: Ryann Green picked a perfect time to score a career-high 11 points.
The senior’s previous career high was nine, a total Green had almost matched by halftime as he led the Panthers with eight points. He hit two 3-pointers in the half and three in the game against Baylor’s matchup zone.
“During preparation coach told us those shots were going to be there,” Green said. “Just stay confident. That’s what I tried to do.”
Green said facing his own team’s matchup zone helped to prepare them to face Baylor’s. Georgia State 40.7 percent in the game, including 5-of-16 3-pointers.
“It took us a while early to get used to their’s, but when we got into a rhythm and got used to finding those open shots, that’s what we did,” he said.
Containing Gathers: Ron Hunter singled out Baylor's 6-foot-7, 275-pound forward Rico Gathers as a player that the Panthers had to pay attention to.
Gathers, who averaged 11.6 points and 11.7 rebounds per game this season, seemed poised to dominate after opening the game with a dunk and a few minutes later hitting a short jumper with two rebounds between those moments.
But then Gathers disappeared, well as much as any player who is built like a defensive end can.
He finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. But his missed dunk with 22 seconds left and his team clinging to a three-point lead may be what he will remembered for in Thursday’s loss.
“I just barely touched it and it hit the side of the backboard,” Georgia State’s T.J. Shipes said.
The Panthers trio of Shipes, Curtis Washington and Markus Crider worked hard to make sure that Gather couldn’t plant himself in the post.
“Once he gets position it’s really hard to get around him,” Shipes said.
And as they have done against skilled forwards and centers most of the season, Georgia State repeatedly harassed Gathers when he would get the ball in the post. With several hands hacking at the ball, it was hard for Gather to get into a rhythm.
“We know he’s big and physical but we are big too,” Washington said. “We had to put a body on him the whole game.”
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