Georgia State’s comeback — perhaps now known as the R.J. Hunter rally — began with two free throws.
It started when Hunter was fouled by Baylor’s Kenny Chery with 2:53 left and the No. 14-seeded Panthers trailing by 12.
By the time Hunter was done, he had scored 12 of his team’s final 13 points, including a 30-foot 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left to shock No. 3 Baylor 57-56 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
Hunter’s inspiration came from one of Georgia State’s most painful losses: the loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the finals of the Sun Belt tournament last year, a defeat in which the Panthers coughed up an 11-point lead in the final six minutes.
That was a moment Hunter remembered and told his team about sometime around those free throws.
“I said at this time last year, we gave up this 10-point lead, so anything can happen,” he said. “Right after that we went on that run.”
Hunter followed the free throws with a 3-pointer, perhaps the only time until that moment that he was able to find some space in Baylor’s matchup zone. The basket cut Baylor’s lead to 56-49 with 1:34 left.
Hunter said as soon as the lead got into single digits he knew anything could happen.
“That got him going,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said.
Baylor helped the Panthers with a turnover off a steal by Markus Crider. Hunter got the ball and banked in a jumper to cut Baylor’s lead to five with 1:28 left.
Hunter stole the ball from Taurean Prince on Baylor’s next possession and made a layup. The lead was down to three with 1:21 left.
“I’ve seen this before in Lafayette when we were on the other side,” Hunter said. “I remember feeling confident.”
Hunter has gotten on these hot streaks before. He scored 24 of his team’s 28 points during the Panthers’ win over Georgia Southern in the regular-season finale that clinched the Sun Belt title.
Teammate Isaiah Dennis made a free throw to cut Baylor’s lead to 56-54 with 19 seconds left.
Chery missed a free throw with 14 seconds left. Seeing that, Hunter said he knew he was going to take the potential game-winning shot.
On the game-winner, Hunter said he passed to T.J. Shipes, who was able to pass the ball back and set a screen at the same time.
“T.J. found me on a dime; that’s underrated,” Hunter said.
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