Georgia State’s appearance in the NCAA tournament ended without the upset victory that marked the Panthers’ NCAA run three years ago.
The Panthers were outscored 22-6 over the final 9:03 of the game and lost to No. 2-seed Cincinnati 68-53 on Friday afternoon in Nashville, Tenn.
D’Marcus Simonds scored GSU’s first 16 points of the game, giving the Panthers a 16-9 lead with 13:07 to play in the first half, but he didn’t score again until four seconds were left in the half. Simonds finished with 24 points and was the only Panthers player to score in double-figures.
Cincinnati didn’t surpass Simonds’ point total until 7:23 remained in the first half, and the Bearcats didn’t take their first lead of the game until 4:46 remained, at 26-24. They led 35-30 at halftime. After GSU took a 47-46 lead with 9:03 to play in the game, Cincinnati took over and put the game away.