Georgia State Panthers
Sun Belt (24-10, 12-6)
The last time Georgia State and Ron Hunter were in the NCAA Tournament, back in 2015, they pulled off a memorable upset over third seeded Baylor. Coach Hunter has his team playing well right now after battling through the Sun Belt conference tournament and they will look to do it again.
Big Wins: 12/9 Montana (71-68), 1/25 Texas-Arlington (81-75), 2/8 Louisiana (106-92)
Bad Losses: 11/22 vs Prairie View A&M (56-71), 12/29 at South Alabama (64-86), 2/10 Louisiana-Monroe (82-90)
Coach: Ron Hunter
Why They Can Surprise:
Georgia State can win games by playing solid defense, winning the turnover battle and knocking down three-pointers. That is a good recipe for NCAA Tournament success. D’Marcus Simonds is the team’s best overall scorer, averaging 21.0 points per game. Simonds also adds 4.5 assists, 5.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals. Simonds makes this offense tick, but he is not a consistent outside shooter. Devin Mitchell, Jeff Thomas and Malik Benlevi are the shooters that Simonds often sets up to get open looks. Mitchell is the most prolific three-point shooter, connecting on 97 this year. With those three consistently connecting on long balls, this can be a very prolific offense.
Why They Can Disappoint:
With all those shooters, a lot of pressure is put on Jordan Session as the guy who hangs out in the paint. He is a decent scorer and works hard on the glass, but the team as a whole often loses the rebounding battle. Georgia State can survive without getting many offensive rebounds, but they cannot allow too many second chance points from offensive rebounds if they are going to pull off another big NCAA Tournament upset.
Probable Starters:
D’Marcus Simonds, Sophomore, Guard, 21.0 ppg, 4.5 apg, 5.8 rpg, 1.7 spg
Devin Mitchell, Junior, Guard, 12.2 ppg, 2.0 apg
Malik Benlevi, Junior, Forward, 9.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg
Jeff Thomas, Junior, Forward, 10.7 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Jordan Session, Senior, Forward, 7.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.2 bpg
Key Role Players:
Jordan Tyson, Junior, Forward, 2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
Isaiah Williams, Senior, Guard, 7.3 ppg, 1.6 apg
Kane Williams, Freshman, Guard, 3.6 ppg, 1.3 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 75.5 (127th in nation, 6th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 68.0 (63, 2)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.1 (105, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 39.8 (10, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.4 (40, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.6 (37, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 66.8 (311, 8)
Rebound Margin: -3.0 (297, 12)
Assists Per Game: 13.3 (202, 6)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.3 (36, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2017 CIT First Round loss to Texas A&M Corpus Christi
2015 NCAA Round of 64 win over Baylor
2015 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Xavier
2014 NIT First Round loss to Clemson
2012 CIT First Round win over Tennessee Tech
2012 CIT Second Round loss to Mercer
*all team stats through 3/4
