Georgia State fans got an all-around great show Monday night as the men’s basketball team finished its preseason with a dominant victory over the Fort Valley State Wildcats 94-38.
The Wildcats came out with energy that abruptly depleted after a 15-point run put the Panthers up 19-5 after trailing 5-4 in the opening five minutes, the only time the Panthers were losing.
Offense was at a premium for the Panthers as they scored 54 points in the first half while defensively holding the Wildcats to making 8-of-30 attempted shots.
However, there was not much for the Panthers to do defensively as the Wildcats shot 13-of-63 from the field, 20.6 percent, for the game.
Ryan Harrow, in second game as a Panther after transferring from Kentucky, started slow shooting 3-for-6 and missing two threes in the first half.
Harrow, however, found his rhythm exploding in the second half hitting three consecutive three-pointers in his first shots in the second half.
Harrow finished the game making 7-of-11 attempted shots including four from outside the arc.
T.J. Shipes only played 10 minutes in the game, but head coach Ron Hunter said he would give an exhibition MVP to Shipes.
“T. J. came into the game, game over,” Hunter said. “He knows ‘If I play hard, that’s going to be good enough.’ And, he’s right.”
Shipes was apart of the Panthers 15-point run in the first half making both of his attempted shots including a dunk that gave the team a spark.
“You can shoot T.J. right in his chest, and he’s going to keep playing all day,” R. J. Hunter said on his teammate. “For him to play that hard without getting looks, that tells a lot about [his] character.”
R.J. Hunter had a slow night offensively, but defensively the sophomore guard rebounded well, getting eight defensive rebounds.
The Wildcats missed all 11 attempted three-pointers in the first half. It continued to be a problem as Wildcat players continued to be trigger happy attempting threes after having possession for just a few seconds.
Starting forward Brandon Davey struggled the most, among the Wildcats, finishing 1-for-12 in shooting missing nine threes.
Forward Corey Hunter was the most productive for the Wildcats coming off the bench to get 15 points.
Ralph Wilson, sophomore center on the Wildcats bench, struggled with his behavior committing four fouls in the game including a fragrant foul from elbowing forward Danny Burguillos in the face.
Burguillos came out of the game, but did not have a concussion as initially suspected. He is likely to have a black eye from the encounter.
Williams was heckling back at the Georgia State student section accoss the court while on the bench making confrontational gestures during the game.
“We don’t need that in basketball,” coach Hunter said about the foul.
Coach Hunter said he was displeased with the dominant victory mainly because he felt his players had not practiced well or with enough energy throughout the week.
“There’s a lot of coaches and media that picked us fourth in the Sun Belt,” Hunter said he reminds his team constantly. Hunter is weary that if his team practices like a fourth place team, they’ll play like a fourth place team, and they need to improve.
Hunter’s only evident optimism was in the immense support the Panthers garnered on a Monday night exhibition game.
“The culture for us is changing. When you’ve got students coming in and they’re there for tip-off…that’s when you know we’re doing something special,” Hunter said.
The men’s basketball regular season starts Saturday, Nov. 9 as Southern Poly takes on the Panthers at home at 1 p.m.
