Georgia State basketball coach Jonas Hayes takes the optimistic approach regarding the Sun Belt Conference tournament. It’s a chance to wipe the slate clean and produce some good vibes as the program moves forward from a disappointing regular season.
“That’s what this time is all about,” Hayes said. “You can’t remake yourself, but you can start anew.”
The Panthers (10-20, 3-15) are the No. 14 seed in the tournament and play No. 11 seed Texas State (13-18, 6-12) on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. at the Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center. The game can be seen on ESPN-Plus and heard locally on WRAS-FM 88.5 and the GSU athletics app.
“We’re not that far away,” Hayes said. “This represents the opportunity to see if we can get it right.”
The season has been a challenge. Hayes took over a program that lost four experienced starters and six regulars on a team that won the Sun Belt title last year and reached the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers opened the season with a young group that had no experience playing together and limited minutes in competition. The result has been a lot of ups and downs and the team enters the tournament on a seven-game losing streak.
“I think we’ve found a little bit of offensive cohesion,” Hayes said. “The last couple of weeks we’ve found a bit of togetherness off the court and that has brought us closer together. We’re going to continue to try to go down that track and see if we can get better.”
The Panthers do play hard, particularly on defense, but have offensive deficiencies that have been difficult to overcome. There isn’t a go-to shooter on the roster and the perimeter game has been problematic, as has the lack of points in the post. GSU ranks 12th in the league in offense (64.5 points), 12th in field goal percentage (41.1 percent) and last in 3-point percentage (30.5 percent).
Four weeks ago, Hayes settled on a starting group of Dwon Odom, Brenden Tucker, Jamaine Mann, Ja’Heim Hudson and Collin Moore. He also shortened the bench, using only Edward Nnomoko, Kalik Brooks and Kaleb Scott as reserves.
Moore missed the first 18 games with a thumb injury. Since his return, he is averaging 13.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals. He scored a career-high 28 against Marshall.
Over the last 10 games, Mann is averaging 12.4 points and 6.6 rebounds. Tucker averages a team-high 14 points against Sun Belt opponents. Odom averages 12.9 points and 4.6 rebounds and leads the team with four assists per game. Hudson averages 10.2 points and 6.9 rebounds but has been limited because of lower back pain.
Georgia State and Texas State have not played since 2020. Georgia State leads the series 11-6. The Bobcats also have trouble scoring (64.1 points, 13th in Sun Belt) and are last in the league in 3-pointers made Texas State is No. 5 in the league in defense (67.5 points), eight spots better than Georgia State (72.7).
“They hang their hat on defense, so it’s going to provide a challenge of similarity,” Hayes said. “We’ll see whose will is the strongest.”
With a win, Georgia State would advance to play sixth-seeded Old Dominion on Thursday at 6 p.m.
The women’s tournament will run concurrently with the men. No. 12 seed Georgia State opens play on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. against No. 13 seed Southern Alabama.
The Panthers (11-20, 5-13 Sun Belt) defeated the Jaguars 66-57 on Jan. 3 at the GSU Convocation Center in their only meeting of the season. Georgia State has won the last five meetings.
The Panthers are led by sophomore Mikyla Tolivert (15.7 points, five rebounds, 3.1 assist) and junior Deasia Merrill (12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds).
With a win, the Panthers would play No. 5 seeded Old Dominion on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
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