Georgia State Panthers
Sun Belt (24-9, 13-5)
Georgia State has had a lot of success under Coach Ron Hunter, but this is their first regular season Sun Belt title since 2015. That is when the Panthers, and Coach Hunter, made national headlines with their upset victory over Baylor. Last year Georgia State returned to the NCAA Tournament with a less memorable showing against Cincinnati.
Big Wins: 11/6 ETSU (74-68), 12/4 at Alabama (83-80), 3/9 at Georgia Southern (90-85)
Bad Losses: 1/19 at Troy (75-77), 2/7 at Louisiana-Monroe (76-82), 2/23 at Coastal Carolina (82-95)
Coach: Ron Hunter
Why They Can Surprise:
The Panthers are a high scoring offense that will hoist up quite a few three-pointers. Just about everybody is extremely consistent shooting the ball. Devin Mitchell, Malik Benlevi and Jeff Thomas all shoot over 40 percent from beyond the arc and it can be extremely difficult to defend that many shooters. And that is not even counting D’Marcus Simonds, the team’s top scorer and floor leader. He is certainly a threat to shoot from outside, but the 6-3 junior does his best work attacking the basket.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Benlevi and Thomas are dynamic scorers, but they do provide a large, tough frontcourt on the glass. This group gets outrebounded by an average of 6.3 per game and is one of the worst rebounding teams in the nation. They can try and make up for that in the turnover battle, but the Panthers will need to at least limit the damage done on the glass if they want to add another NCAA Tournament upset to their program resume.
Probable Starters:
Kane Williams, Sophomore, Guard, 11.3 ppg, 3.6 apg, 2.0 spg
Damon Wilson, Junior, Guard, 5.4 ppg, 1.4 apg
D’Marcus Simonds, Junior, Guard, 18.4 ppg, 3.7 apg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg
Jeff Thomas, Senior, Forward, 11.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Malik Benlevi, Senior, Forward, 12.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.1 bpg
Key Role Players:
Devin Mitchell, Senior, Guard, 12.2 ppg, 1.5 apg
Nelson Phillips, Freshman, Guard, 5.2 ppg
Jordan Tyson, Senior, Forward, 2.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 77.8 (57th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 74.1 (245, 5)
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.0 (51, 3)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.1 (139, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 8.0 (25, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 33.9 (157, 5)
Free-Throw Percentage: 65.6 (323, 11)
Rebound Margin: -6.3 (342, 12)
Assists Per Game: 12.7 (240, 10)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.6 (55, 2)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
| 2018 | NCAA | Round of 64 loss to Cincinnati |
| 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 3/10
