Games 698-699: Thursday!

699 - Southern Utah at Sacramento State
February 14 at The Nest in Sacramento, CA
Pluto TV

1. What is going on with the Sacramento State logo

?

2. Play-by-play announcer Steve McElroy not only gave us an early "dribble drive" (17:12 left in the first half), but also said these things:

"remember how whiny I was when we went to the last break? Well, it's completely turned around"
"and we get a little Tupac music here"
"the Hornets could move from 9th to 7th, based on tonight's results, and various stuff"
"they're also floppers and that's not a criticism, they're really good at it"
"Simon doesn't like it...Simon says 'I'm not happy with that call'"
"the Thunderbirds tried super hardcore pressure"
"the guy who swippers the floor"


698 - Georgia State women at Troy
February 14 at Trojan Arena in Troy, AL
espn3



Other games watched:

Gonzaga at Loyola Marymount

Game 697 - Troy at Georgia State

February 13 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

Sometimes it's nice to let your best player and the conference's reigning player of the year just take over.

That's what happened Wednesday's as GSU's D'Marcus Simonds was excellent, scoring a game-high 27 points in a 77-63 win.

Simonds, who moved into No. 1 on the school's all-time field goals made list with nine (on 19 attempts), added seven rebounds and six assists in helping snap a brief, two-game losing streak.

It was just a one-point halftime lead before the hosts started the second by scoring the first eight points - Jeff Thomas hit a three and a lay-in, the last of which made it 42-33 and forced a Troy timeout less than three minutes into the half. The lead grew to as much as 18 on one of five Simonds' 3-pointers at the 12:11 mark.

Thomas and Devin Mitchell, the top two outside threats on the team, combined to go 6-for-7 from behind the arc and the Panthers hit 11 as a team. The defense also had 10 steals and forced 19 turnovers, and when that's happening at one end and the threes are falling at the other, GSU is difficult to beat.

The Panthers, now 17-8 overall and 8-4 in the Sun Belt, caught a huge break when Troy's Jordon Varnado missed his third consecutive game with an injury. Varnado has been a problem for the Panthers for the last two seasons of his nearly-2,000 point career, which thankfully ends in March. The senior scored 32 points on 12-of-16 shooting, including the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds left in a 77-75 win back on January 19.

Games 569-571: Championship

Sun Belt Tournament
March 9-11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA

571 - championship
(4) UT-Arlington vs. (2) Georgia State
ESPN2

570 - semifinals
(3) Georgia Southern vs. (2) Georgia State
espn3.com

569 - quarterfinals
(7) Troy vs. (2) Georgia State
espn3.com

That was an extremely satisfying championship run.

GSU got 27 points from D'Marcus Simonds and never trailed in defeating UT Arlington 74-61 in the Sun Belt final.

Simonds picked up Most Outstanding Player honors for the tournament despite struggling in the semifinal win. The sophomore was 8-of-19 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line (the team finished 16-of-20) a day after scoring only six points and fouling out in a 73-67 victory. When Simonds is driving to the rim and making lay-ups and/or getting fouled like he was Sunday, GSU is a tough team to beat.

Here's a great statistic: GSU trailed for a total of 18 seconds during this tournament. Georgia Southern took a 7-6 lead with 15:43 left in the first half of Saturday's game, and at the 15:25 mark, Coye Simmons of Georgia Southern picked up a foul and a technical foul, GSU went up 9-7 thanks to a 3-of-4 stay at the line and didn't trail for the rest of the weekend.

So, thank you Coye Simmons?

The defense was outstanding Sunday, holding Arlington's top two players - Erick Neal and Kevin Hervey - to a combined shooting performance of 4-of-29 and the team to just 29% from the field (17-of-57).

GSU is in the tournament for the first time since 2015, was given a No. 15 seed and will play No. 2 seed and American Conference champion Cincinnati in the first round on Friday.

Games 551-552: Sun Belt split

552 - Troy at Georgia State
March 1 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

It's just time for the Sun Belt Tournament to begin because honestly, I have no idea what's going to happen to GSU next week in New Orleans. This season has been all over the place:

* On a neutral court in November they lost by 15 to Prairie View, a team that immediately lost eight consecutive games (they've since rebounded and are 11-6 in SWAC play with one regular season game to go, but that's still a pretty bad loss). Twelve days later, they blew a double-digit lead at home and lost to Liberty in overtime.

* Non-conference road losses to Mississippi (77-72) and Dayton (88-83 in overtime) should've been wins. Neither the Rebels or Flyers have had the type of seasons those programs are accustomed to, but those were still missed opportunities.

* They put together a 10-game winning streak where the defense was fantastic and they looked like the best team in the league.

* What turned out to be the final win of that streak was an impressive, 106-92 victory over Louisiana on February 8. The Ragin' Cajuns had been unbeaten in league play and on their own 10-game winning streak coming in (they've since started a new, six-game winning streak, re-establishing themselves as the favorite in New Orleans).

* And GSU has helped out considerably because that's now four losses in five games since the win over Louisiana after Thursday's 83-70 setback. The defense, once one of the best 25 or so units in the country, is now a liability. Troy was the fifth of GSU's last six opponents to score more than 80 points after two of the first 24 opponents reached that point total.

So after the regular season finale Saturday against South Alabama, the Panthers will be the No. 2 seed next week.

A championship run & a berth in the NCAA Tournament? Sure, I could see that happening.

Quarterfinal exit to a much lower seeded team? Sure, I could see that happening.

A run to the title game only to lose to top seed Louisiana 144-141? I could also see that happening.

An enjoyable time with very little stress? I'm having trouble seeing that.

551 - Troy women at Georgia State
March 1 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

I'd say Troy is about sick of seeing juniors Janessa Murphy and Kierra Henry.

Murphy and Henry each scored 25 points, completing an outstanding pair of games against Troy and GSU picked up a big victory, 85-78.

In two games against Troy this season (the teams split the series), Murphy scored 25 in each (tying a career-high) and was 14-of-20 from three-point range. She knocked down seven threes in each game, and when the guard is hitting outside shots like she has against the Trojans, GSU (8-20, 4-13 Sun Belt) can be dangerous as a lower seed in next week's league tournament.

Henry dropped 28 points on Troy in late-December to give her a 26.5 average in the two games, and the forward shot 59% (19-of-32).

Troy is an incredible rebounding team (No. 1 nationally coming into the night) and Thursday was no different. The Trojans grabbed 52 rebounds (three above their average), led by Sky'Lynn Holmes' 17.

Games 494-495: Monday doubleheader

495 - West Virginia at TCU
January 22 at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, TX
ESPN

Huge win for TCU, which held the visiting Mountaineers to 33% shooting in an 82-73 win.

Nice balance on offense as well for the Horned Frogs as Alex Robinson led the way with 17 points, while Desmond Bane (15 points), Vladimir Brodziansky (14) and reserve Kouat Noi (13) all played huge roles.

That's the first win for TCU in 11 games (and six at Schollmaier) in the series since the two teams became Big 12 foes in 2012-2013.

494 - Appalachian State women at Troy
January 22 at Trojan Arena in Troy, AL
espn3.com

Games 466-467: New Years doubleheader

467 - Youngstown State at Cleveland State
January 1, 2018 at Wolstein Center in Cleveland, OH
Learfield Sports/Horizon League on espn3.com

A few great ones from this 80-77 Youngstown State victory:

Color commentator Pat Vuyancih: "the Hakeem dream shake fake."
Play-by-play man Al Pawlowski: "sounds like a new flavor at McDonalds."

PV: "it's designed to force Youngstown State to shoot, which is not their strength"

Vuyancih, with 7:17 left in the first half: "...these last five, six minutes"

466 - Georgia State at Troy
December 31 at Trojan Arena in Troy, AL
espn3.com

Game 365 - (6) Troy vs. (2) Georgia State

Sun Belt semifinals
March 11 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA
ESPN

Game 270 - Georgia State at Troy

January 28 at Trojan Arena in Troy, AL
espn3.com

D'Marcus Simonds did it again.

The freshman guard continued a torrid stretch on Saturday, scoring a game-high 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting in GSU's 78-72 win.

Simonds, who is avergaing 22.2 points and shooting 61 percent from the field over the last four games, took control of the offense from the very beginning, driving strong to the basket for a number of lay-ups and adding a smooth, short jumper or two. He was the best player on the floor, and that's with Troy's Wesley Person knocking down seven 3-pointers for a team-high 25 points.

The Panthers had 11 steals and despite nearly losing the entirety of a 14-point halftime lead, won for the fifth consecutive time.

Game 249 - Troy at Georgia State

January 9 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA
espn3.com

Games 177-179: Championships won

179 - (3) Seton Hall vs. (1) Villanova
March 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
Fox Sports 1

178 - (2) Virginia vs. (1) North Carolina
March 12 at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
ESPN

177 - (4) Troy women vs. (2) Little Rock
March 12 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, LA
espn3.com