Not even a career game from Collin Moore was enough to get Georgia State over the top Saturday, but it allowed the Panthers to put a scare into the same team that beat them by 38 points only two weeks ago.
Moore scored 28 points, the largest output by a GSU player this season, but Marshall was able to pull away late and take an 88-77 win over the Panthers on Saturday at the GSU Convocation Center.
Moore was 12-for-18 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and had four rebounds, five steals, two assists and a block in his finest performance since returning from a thumb injury Jan. 19. Moore, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from North Little Rock, Arkansas, has scored in double figures five times.
“I feel like my teammates were looking for me, and I felt comfortable enough to shoot it,” Moore said.
Moore, a holdover from last season’s team that won the Sun Belt Conference and went to the NCAA Tournament, missed the first 18 games of the season.
“We’re all happy for him because he’s been through a tough couple years here,” teammate Ja’Heim Hudson said. “He’s getting back in the groove. We all knew he had it in him.”
Moore’s return has allowed coach Jonas Hayes to solidify the starting rotation with Hudson, Dwon Odom, Jamaine Mann and Brenden Tucker. The Panthers have shortened the bench; on Saturday they used only two reserves, Kalik Brooks and Edward Nnamoko, as four of the five starters played at least 32 minutes, and Odom never left the court.
“Collin is a very talented offensive ball player,” Hayes said. “It just shows what he’s capable of doing, and if you commit yourself to making great decisions, there’s opportunities for guys to be very productive.”
Georgia State (10-16, 3-11 Sun Belt) also got 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals from Odom, 24 points, six rebounds and three steals from Tucker, and 12 points and eight rebounds from Hudson.
Hayes said the Panthers came out with a chip on their shoulder after being overpowered by Marshall, the No. 12-ranked team in the College Insiders Mid Major poll. Two weeks ago, a 103-65 Marshall win, the game essentially was decided before halftime. That wasn’t the case in the rematch.
Marshall closed the first half on an 11-2 run and took a 43-37 lead into the break. The Thundering Herd led by as many as 11, only to have Georgia State tie the score at 54-54 with 13:19 remaining by scoring 10 consecutive points.
“I thought for the first time all year we stood up to adversity and fought back and started throwing some punches, some haymakers, and I thought we showed a lot of grit,” Hayes said. “We lost a little steam, and then we lost our minds somewhat on our decisions.”
Follwing a timeout after the Panthers tied the score, Marshall’s Andrew Taylor responded with a three-point play and a 3-pointer to reinvigorate the Herd and spark a 15-2 run that put the game out of reach.
Taylor scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers, with five assists and three steals. But he was only part of a two-pronged Marshall attack led by Taevion Kinsey, who scored a career-high 37 points. The Herd (21-8, 10-4) feasted from outside by scoring 11 3-pointers.
“A couple of guys went berserk on us,” Hayes said. “We didn’t do enough to contain those two guys and came up short. But I liked the intestinal fortitude that our guys showed to come back. I do not believe in moral victories. You either get it done or you don’t. There’s no participation trophy, and we’ll put our pieces back together in the gym on Monday and figure out how we can get better.”
Georgia State is on the road for two games this week – at Coastal Carolina on Thursday and at last-place Arkansas State on Saturday. The Panthers play their final home game Feb. 22 against Appalachian State.
About the Author
