The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Panthers sputtering into March
Coach Rob Lanier has
big ambitions for Georgia State men’s basketball. The Panthers have been there and done that with winning the Sun Belt. Lanier is looking to outgrow GSU Sports Arena, literally and figuratively.
The plan is to eventually pack the new, 8,000-seat arena set to open in 2022 and beat teams like Duke
instead of just making them sweat.
You could see pieces of that vision Friday night at the Panthers’ current home. Students lined up on Decatur Street to get
inside. The seats in the unloved gym were full. This is what it’s like when Georgia Southern is in town.
There are reasons to think it can be like those more than just occasionally in the new place. But
fifirst things fifirst. The Panthers must win to bring them in. Extending their streak of NCAA Tournament bids to three would provide momentum from now until then.
This stumble was a setback to that. Georgia Southern overwhelmed the Panthers from the start and never looked back. That’s three losses in a row for the Panthers (18-12, 11-8 Sun Belt). The area’s best hope for an NCAA Tournament bid is sputtering into March.
“Most disappointing effort of the season for these guys,” Lanier said. “It’s not a good time to do it, obviously. Georgia Southern, they really came to play. They played with a real sense of purpose. They were really prepared.”
Two weeks ago, the Panthers
seemed on their way to a top-two fifinish in the Sun Belt. That comes with a bye to the tournament semifinals in New Orleans, with an NCAA automatic bid to the winner. The Panthers fell to fififth place with the loss. They must fifinish at least fourth to avoid needing to win two games, including one on the road, just to get to New Orleans.
With their main rival in the building trying to leapfrog them in the league standings, the Panthers fell flflat. Georgia State partisans among the fifirst sellout crowd of the season never really got a chance to get hyped. The Panthers fell behind 9-0 and never led.
Each time the Panthers threatened to get back in it they turned the ball over, clanked shots and gave up easy baskets. Georgia State got a 10-point defificit down to two late in the fifirst half and Georgia Southern scored eight straight. The Panthers were behind by six points midway through the second half when the visitors scored eight straight points, with three dunks included.
That’s when some of their supporters started filing out of the gym. The Panthers have come back before. There was no sign of that happening this time. No need to stick around.
“All year we’ve been in some games where we’ve gotten behind and weren’t playing well but we’ve always in general fought back and put ourselves in position to win,” Lanier said. “Tonight was the fifirst time we really showed a lack of character when it came time to really fifight.”
Some of Georgia State’s problems against the Eagles were familiar. The Panthers had 18 turnovers. Georgia Southern had a 38-16 edge in rebounding. The Panthers put the visitors at the free-throw line for 30 attempts while the game was still competitive.
Georgia State added a new issue on this night.
The Panthers missed 20 of 30 3-pointers. They don’t have much of a Plan B when those shots aren’t falling. Adding more inside muscle is another part of Lanier’s plan.
Give the Eagles credit. They took it to Georgia State. Georgia Southern (18-12, 12-7) has won six of nine games since losing at home to the Panthers. The Eagles are in position to fifinish second in the league should Texas State stumble.
Georgia State has fifinished second or higher in the Sun Belt for fifive of six years since returning to the league in 2013-14. In three of those years the Panthers won the postseason tournament and NCAA bid. But coach Ron Hunter left for Tulane after last season and only two key players returned.
That’s why this is a good season for Georgia State no matter how it ends. The transition could have been rough. Before Georgia State, Lanier’s one and only head coaching job was 15 years ago at Siena. He quickly integrated a new group of players and got them playing pressure defense and high-tempo.
“I like our guys,” Lanier said. “I like our team.”
Georgia State has one more chance to get right before the conference tourney. Little Rock, which is fifirst in the Sun Belt, comes here Tuesday. The Panthers won’t pack the place for that game. Keep the NCAA Tournament tradition going and more people might follow them to the new place.