On its first offensive possession Saturday, Georgia State followed a missed shot with a steal, then a missed shot with an offensive rebound and a putback. It was 100% effort and yielded the type of results that the team may not have produced three months ago but has come to expect.
That set the tone Saturday for the type of energy the Panthers were prepared to expend, and they never dialed it back. The result was a 73-53 win over Miami (Ohio) in the Sun Belt-MAC Challenge at the GSU Convocation Center.
“It was another step in the right direction,” GSU coach Jonas Hayes said. “If our guys are committed to playing as hard, for as long as they did today, I think we can be a really tough out for people to play.”
The numbers prove him out. Miami came in as the No. 1 3-point shooting team in the MAC at 37.1%, but were held to 19.4%. Georgia State outrebounded the taller RedHawks – whose starting lineup included a 7-footer – and produced 30 points in the paint. And GSU held Miami’s reserves – which leads the MAC and ranks 25th in the nation in bench scoring at 29.13 points – to only 16.
“Every game is the same preparation,” GSU forward Leslie Nkereuwem said. “There’s nothing different from trying to play hard. I’m just wired that way, and it’s to play hard and as hard as I can every game.”
Nkereuwem shot 6-for-8, which included his first career 3-point basket, and had four rebounds. Toneari Lane continued to recover from a brief shooting lull to make five 3-pointers and lead Georgia State (11-13) with 17 points. Lucas Taylor had 15 points and seven rebounds, Dwon Odom had 10 points, six assists and three blocked shots.
The other big inside factor was sophomore Edward Nnamoko, who continues to show marked improvement from the start of the season. A physical presence at 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, Nnamoko has grown into a player capable of hitting the boards – he had nine rebounds Saturday – and avoiding the foul trouble that plagued his early days with the program.
“I’ve just got to keep showing up every time,” Nnamoko said. “I know if I go in and give energy outside, I’m going to get positive energy back to me. That’s the way I’m wired, and my coach believes in me, trusts me. I’m just having fun with it.”
Miami (11-13) was led by Darweshi Hunter with 19 points.
Georgia State took command early with an 8-0 run to grab a 10-point lead and never let Miami get closer the rest of the half, which the Panthers led 35-25.
Miami’s best chance came to start the second half, when Hunter made back-to-back 3-pointers for the RedHawks to cut the margin to four. But Georgia State quickly returned the lead to nine points and took off midway in the period when Lucas Taylor drilled a 3-pointer and followed with a three-point play. That was the beginning of an 11-0 run that gave GSU a 20-point lead. Miami never got closer than 16 points.
Georgia State will take a two-game win streak into its final two road games of the season, starting Thursday at James Madison, the No. 2 team in the Sun Belt.
“We’re going to have the same mentality,” Hayes said. “It’s about applying the same type of urgency and attention to detail as we do for any other game. We’ll keep showing up. We’ll keep doing what we do. We’re going to play as hard as we can. If we take care of the effort, take care of the detail, the results eventually will take care of themselves.”
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