Game 624 - Moving on to the semis

Georgia State vs. St. Bonaventure

November 19 at John Gray Gymnasium in George Town, Cayman Islands

Stadium TV

Georgia State has had a pretty solid top 3 or 4 in its rotation in the past, but has lacked the depth that's necessary to not only win a conference (which they accomplished without depth a year ago), but be able to win non-league road/neutral games against NCAA-caliber teams (which they did not).

Each season, there's the hope that a second group emerges and allows the Panthers to dress a solid 8-9 players that can contribute. Perhaps this is the season.

Freshman Nelson Phillips had a great game, contributing 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench, and junior D'Marcus Simonds scored 25 points as GSU won its quarterfinal game of the Cayman Islands Classic, 75-65.

Phillips nearly notched his first double-double, while senior Malik Benlevi (13 points on 5-of-10 shooting), sophomore point guard Kane Williams (six points, six assists, four steals, two blocks) and senior Jeff Thomas added nine and seven. Now Creighton awaits in the semifinals.

It's a huge opportunity for GSU, which beat a fellow 2018 NCAA team Monday, will play one again Tuesday, and with a victory, Sweet 16 Clemson or in-state rival Georgia awaits in the championship game.

The semis are Tuesday at 7:30. Can't wait.

Games 621-623: Weekend tripleheader

623 - Little Rock at Nevada
November 16 at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, NV
ESPNU

622 - Alcorn State at Vanderbilt
November 16 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, TN
SEC Network

"extra buzz in the building"
"Memorial magic"
"a great NBA body"
"power conference team" (2)
"they had some teaching moments"
"he's really a player's coach"
"a good student of the game and a gym rat"

Commentator Shan Foster's top 3

"showing the strength, the athleticism...the yoyo!"
"Alcorn State running their offense...religiously"
"they're not running offense right now, they're just playing basketball"

621 - Alabama vs. Northeastern
November 15 at TD Arena in Charleston, SC
ESPN

Game 620 - UT-San Antonio at Oklahoma State

November 14 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, OK
FS1

OSU actually trailed 9-0 in this game, but got it together midway through the first half and shot 50% from the field in winning 82-60.

But I really just wanted to talk about one phrase that I hear a lot, and not just in sports. Early in the second half, Oklahoma State's Cameron McGriff (20 points, 10 rebounds) took a charge and commentator Bryndon Manzer said he "read that like a book".

This doesn't make any sense.

If I'm reading a book, I don't have any idea what's going to happen (which is why I'm READING THE BOOK). How could he have read that pass like a book?

Do you mean he read that like a book he had already read?

Game 619 - Mercer at Georgia State

November 13 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

A week ago, I watched Jeff Thomas set a career-high with 26 points in a season-opening win over East Tennessee State. Another Tuesday, another career-high for the senior.

Thomas was fantastic, scoring 30 points, including eight 3-pointers as GSU hung on for a 62-60 victory.

Thomas, who bounced back from a two-point game in a loss to Montana last Friday, needed to be that good because

1. No one else shot the ball particularly well (Thomas was 11-of-17 from the field and 8-of-13 from three, the rest of the team was just 12-of-37 and 7-of-22).
2. The Panthers' top three-point shooter, Devin Mitchell, is still out with a knee injury.
3. Mercer nearly erased a 19-point deficit and inexplicably had the last possession with a chance to win. The Bears missed a three with a couple seconds to play.

After a 2-1 first week of the season, things get tougher in a hurry for GSU. November 19, the Panthers play St. Bonaventure, a 26-win, NCAA team a year ago, in the Cayman Islands Classic. Either Boise State or Creighton follows a day later.

Game 618 - Morgan State at DePaul

November 12 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL
FS1

Nice night for DePaul, which overwhelmed the visitors from Baltimore in a 91-63 victory.

The Blue Demons (2-0), looking for their first winning season - and first with more than 12 wins since 2006 - have a pair of really good players in Max Strus and Eli Cain. Strus scored 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, while Cain added 21 on 7-of-14 from the field. The pair combined for a 10-for-17 night from three-point range.

DePaul doubled up the MEAC school on the glass (52-26 rebounding edge), and after Morgan State got to within 22-16 on a jumper by Martez Cameron with about seven minutes to play in the first half DePaul went on a 10-1 run and cruised for the rest of the night.

Cameron led the Morgan State with 11 points.

Game 617 - Georgia State at Montana

November 9 at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, MT
Pluto TV

Game 616 - North Alabama at Samford

November 6 at Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham, AL
espn3

The trio of Josh Sharkey (18 points, seven assists), Myron Gordon (19 points) and Ruben Guerrero (17 points, four blocks) combined to shoot 72% (23-of-32) from the field, more than enough for Samford in its season opener, a 91-74 win.

It was North Alabama's first game as a Division 1 member as the Lions are making the transition from Division II to the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The visitors from Florence, Alabama trailed just 14-12 after a 3-pointer from Jamari Blackmon at the 15:47 mark of the first half, but Samford put together a 22-6 run over the next six minutes and were never threatened again.

North Alabama was good from the outside - 14-of-26 - but struggled on 2-pointers (27%). Meanwhile, Sharkey was excellent in the opening half (Samford led 49-30 at the break after shooting 70% from the field) and the visitors couldn't recover.

Game 615 - Season opener

East Tennessee State at Georgia State
November 6 at GSU Sports Arena in Atlanta, GA

If Tuesday was any indication, Jeff Thomas is about to have a fantastic senior season.

Thomas scored a career-high 26 points on 7-of-14 shooting, added four blocks and played his usual excellent defense in a 74-68 win.

GSU, coming off a Sun Belt championship and NCAA appearance, gave up a horrific 27 offensive rebounds, so that huge problem did not go away at least in game No. 1 of the new season. Also, Devin Mitchell didn't play for an unknown reason.

But reigning league player of the year D'Marcus Simonds shook off some early rust to score 21 points (4-of-8 from three) and Pittsburgh transfer Damon Wilson, playing in his first game as a Panther, grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and hit the biggest shot of the night, corralling a missed Simonds' 3-pointer and hitting one of his own with 50 seconds to play that put the Panthers in front 72-68.

The visitors had pulled to within 69-68 on a dunk from Armus Mladen at the 1:37 mark.

ETSU, a 25-win team and Southern Conference runner-up a year ago, built a 56-52 lead with just under eight minutes to play. GSU followed with a 10-0 run - Thomas nailed an ahead-for-good three with 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Nice double-double for Malik Benlevi, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, including several put backs when GSU was struggling to find offense.