471 - Little Rock at Georgia State
January 4 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA
GSU sports information director Mike Holmes put it perfectly afterwards: "I don't care how we win them".
A win, especially one that helped you avoid falling to 0-3 in conference play, is most definitely all that matters.
D'Marcus Simonds shook off a tough shooting night by closing things out at the free-throw line and the Panthers' defense was pretty strong down the stretch in a 73-64 victory.
While Little Rock was held to just four field goals over the final 6 1/2 minutes, Simonds, a top-30 scorer nationally, was just 3-of-12 from the field, but 11-of-15 from the line, including 6-of-8 over the final minute and a half. GSU improved to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in Sun Belt play.
"This is where D'Marcus has matured: he's three of twelve from the field, but got to the line 15 times," said GSU coach Ron Hunter. "That's what we kept saying 'drive the ball'".
The Panthers struggled from three in the second half - 4-of-15 - and the offensive continues to be kind of hit-and-miss through 16 games. But I thought senior post player Jordan Session had one of his finest games as a collegiate, just missing a double-double (11 points and nine rebounds) and surprisingly enough, it was his 3-pointer from the top of the key, his only make and attempt from behind the arc, that made it a 62-55 game with 2 1/2 minutes to play. The lead didn't fall below seven the rest of the way.
"We lost a little of our energy, that's the thing about that Christmas break," said Hunter, perhaps alluding to a disappointing, 0-2 start to league play this past weekend. "(Session and reserve post player Jordan Tyson) had energy. We needed it."
Devin Mitchell hit four threes and Jeff Thomas, two for a 16-point night as the pair combined for 28 points. When those two are knocking down perimeter shots, the Panthers usually have enough to win because the defense is almost always good enough. That was the case on Thursday, especially during a pair of huge stops over the final minute or so.
"Offensively we've had some issues. We're struggling a little offensively a little bit right now," Hunter said. "But what's carrying us is our defense."
It seems to happen every time I go to the Sports Arena, but Camron Reedus was Thursday's Annoying 3-Pointer Shooter Who Inexplicably Drains Shots All Game, hitting 5-of-7 to share with Simonds a game-high 19 points. Reedus, a junior guard, came into the night averaging 5.7 points and shooting 31% from three-point range.
"We left the shooter open, we were a little soft on the ball," Hunter said.
470 - Little Rock women at Georgia State
January 4 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA
Way too much Ronjanae DeGray and Monique Townson in the opener.
DeGray had her way in the paint, pouring in 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and Townson added 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting and five assists as Little Rock moved to 3-0 in the Sun Belt with a 65-50 victory.
It was just a 28-24 lead at halftime for Little Rock, but the visitors hit half of their shots over the final 20 minutes (13-of-26), and a nearly 1-to-3 assist-to-turnover ratio (6-17) for GSU didn't help.
The misery against Little Rock continued for Georgia State, which lost its seventh straight in the series and fell to 1-8 all-time.
No comments:
Post a Comment