Georgia State’s Jihad Ali said it didn’t take long for the team to recover from Wednesday’s loss to Old Dominion because they still have goals to achieve.
The next goal, the season’s 20th victory, can be reached at William and Mary on Saturday. The team hoped to earn that victory on Senior Night, but lost 65-60 in overtime to Monarchs. The 20th victory is important to Ali because it would be the fourth time in school history and first since 2003-04 a GSU team has reached that milestone plateau.
“That’s been a goal of ours since the beginning,” Ali said.
Saturday’s game is the last before the Colonial Athletic Association tournament begins in Richmond. The Panthers (10-7) are locked into the sixth seed, which means they will face Hofstra (2-15) at 8:30 p.m. Friday.
That Georgia State has earned its highest seed since joining the CAA is in large part because of Ali, who can tie Trae Goldston’s school record of 122 games played Saturday.
He has taken over the team lead in scoring at 13.2 points per game by scoring at least 12 points in each of the past nine games. The run was capped by a game-high 20 points against the Monarchs, which tied his season-high.
“Every game, the past couple of games, I’m trying to be aggressive,” he said.
Ali started that way against Old Dominion, scoring 15 points in the first half. However, he was inadvertently hit in the ribs by an opponent’s elbow with less than nine minutes remaining in the opening quarter, and coach Ron Hunter said he wasn’t the same player afterward.
Ali said he felt fine, but was off his rhythm. He missed all four of his shots in the second half and two of three in overtime.
“I thought last night he was on his way to a career night,” Hunter said Thursday. “Even in the first timeout, in his eyes you could see he wanted to carry the team.
“It was unfortunate he ended up getting hurt that way.”
Poor fortune also could describe Georgia State’s poor free-throw shooting this season. Not being able to convert from the line has cost the Panthers in several conference losses. They have made 65.5 percent of their free throws, but have shot below that mark in five losses against CAA teams. Ali said they could be tied atop the CAA if they could have made just a few more, which is another reason they are looking forward to the CAA tournament.
“Everybody is still confident,” he said. “We know we have to win the CAA tournament to get to the NCAAs. Everybody is positive. We know we can play with anybody in the conference.”
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