The Georgia State basketball team showed the sort of hustle that coach Rob Lanier demands Saturday. The result was a nice bounce-back win for the Panthers, who were able to use the enhanced effort to salvage a split of the weekend series at Coastal Carolina.
Georgia State defeated Coastal Carolina 70-62 in Conway, S.C., on Saturday, just hours after losing to the Chanticleers by 12. Lanier said it was all about the effort the Panthers were willing to make.
“We do a hustle chart that rates our performance in six different categories, all related to effort,” Lanier said. “Each game there’s a percentage we have to reach that indicates we were playing at the level of standard. When we’re operating at 85 percent, we’re hard to beat.”
The first night the Panthers didn’t come close to reaching that level.
“Of the 40 games I’ve coached here, it was the lowest hustle-chart percentage,” Lanier said. “When you’re starting conference play and when you’re off to a good start like we are, that’s really disappointing.”
The staff will tally up the totals this weekend, but Lanier knows it will show a huge turnaround from Friday.
“As disappointed as I was, I’m that proud of the response,” he said. “You could feel it when those things are happening. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we had some veteran guys step up in key moments, and it’s a really good win for those guys.”
The Panthers (7-2, 1-1 Sun Belt) shot the ball much better, particularly Corey Allen, who was 8-for-14 from the floor, including five 3-pointers, and scored 22 – a dozen more than Friday when he got in early foul trouble. Kane Williams added 19 points, which moved him into 17th place on the school’s all-time scoring list, and Jalen Thomas had 10 points and nine rebounds before fouling out in the final seconds.
Georgia State also got 14 solid minutes from freshman Kaleb Scott, who had six points and two rebounds. Those minutes were important because the Panthers were playing without front-liners Eliel Nsoseme and JoJo Toppin and because Thomas was required to play substantial minutes in back-to-back games for the first time all season.
“I’m really proud of Kaleb,” Lanier said. “We thought we could bring him along at a pace that he would be comfortable with in his development. He’s gotten thrust into some games. He’s had to play. To his credit, he’s responded. I’m proud of his response, and his teammates have gotten energy from what he’s brought.”
Coastal Carolina (7-2, 1-1) got 22 points from DeVante’ Jones, who had seven of the team’s 21 total baskets. Jones added seven rebounds, three assists and five steals. Deanthony Tipler was the only other player in double figures ,with 10 points, and he was only 2-for-8 on 3-pointers.
Georgia State dominated the first half of the opening period. Thanks to Allen, who had three consecutive 3-point baskets, the Panthers were able to take a 20-6 lead with 11:55 left. Georgia State led by 11 after an Allen layup made the score 22-11, but he left after picking up his second personal foul -- and the offense left with him.
Coastal Carolina’s Tipler and Jones, who combined for 46 points Friday night, started to heat up, but it was back-to-back 3s from reserve Garrick Green that tied the score at 34-34 before the break.
The Panthers immediately regained the momentum in the second half by scoring the first 16 points and had a 50-34 lead after Williams made back-to-back jumpers with 15:08 left.
From that point Georgia State played smart, avoided the silly mistakes that can cause a lead to fritter away, and made its free throws. Over the final eight minutes Williams went 8-for-8 from the line to preserve the win.
“We’re not a great defensive team right now,” Lanier said. “We aspire to be. I appreciate the response from one day to the next. It was a positive response.”
Georgia State plays again next week in a Friday-Saturday series at Troy. The Panthers nine-game start is just behind the 8-1 record to open the 2000-01 season that ended with 29 wins and an NCAA appearance.
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