With the Sun Belt Conference tournament only three weeks away, the Georgia State Panthers continue to look more like the team that was chosen to win the conference. Thursday’s big win road win against Coastal Carolina is the latest example.
The Panthers played lock-down defense for most of the game and emerged with a 61-50 win at the HTC Center in Conway, S.C. Georgia State has won four of its last five, evened its record at 10-10 overall and improved to 4-5 in Sun Belt play. The win avenged last month’s 72-68 overtime loss to Coastal in Atlanta.
“I’ve learned over the years that you get to February there’s a spectrum of engagement,” Georgia State coach Rob Lanier said. “Some teams are hungrier than others this time of year. I’m proud that we’ve got a team that through our struggles, that we’re still excited about being in the gym and about these opportunities and challenges.
“We were in a little bit of a dark place, and it would be easy to allow yourself to become disengaged. And we’ve gone the other way and I’m real proud of that, but we’ve still got so much we can improve on.”
Georgia State limited Coastal Carolina to 27% shooting and allowed only seven 3-pointers – three of those coming in the final three minutes when the Panthers enjoyed a 16-point lead.
The Chanticleers, who entered the game with a conference-leading 74.3 points, were held 24 points below their average.
The defense was relentless most of the game, evidenced by forcing four 24-second violations – two of them on back-to-back possessions.
“I can’t imagine that we’ve done it before to be honest, especially against a good team on the road,” Lanier said. “To do that takes a really focused and concentrated defensive effort.”
The Georgia State offense was led by Kane Williams, who was aggressive going to the basket and scored 18. The senior was 11-for-15 from the line. Jalen Thomas made his first four shots from the floor and finished with 11 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, five of them offensive, and four blocked shots. He posted his second double-double of the season.
Nelson Phillips added 10 points and seven rebounds and Corey Allen scored seven and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career at Georgia State. Eliel Nsoseme had eight rebounds.
“We still haven’t caught fire,” Lanier said. “But we did make some shots, made some plays. We’ve got some areas that we need to improve on significantly, but all-in-all it was a good effort.”
Coastal Carolina (12-9, 4-6) was led by Vince Cole with 20 points, his 14th straight game in double figures, and freshman Josh Uduje scored 11, including three 3-pointers in the final 3:05. Veteran coach Cliff Ellis was back on the bench after missing three games because of COVID.
Georgia State played well defensively in the first half and used it to build a 32-21 halftime lead. The Panthers limited Coastal to 26% shooting from the floor and only two 3-pointers and outrebounded the Chanticleers 25-19.
Coastal led 11-10 early when Georgia State began its lockdown, holding the Chants scoreless for 8:09 – which included an 0-for-13 stretch -- and outscored them 14-2. After Coastal broke the drought, Justin Roberts hit back-to-back 3s for a 30-15 lead at 3:49. Coastal did not score a basket in the final 3:18.
Georgia State travels to play Sun Belt Conference-leading Appalachian State on Saturday in Boone, N.C.
The Mountaineers (16-10, 10-3) defeated Georgia Southern 65-61 on Thursday. Appalachian State beat GSU in Atlanta on a last-second shot in January.
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