While everyone was on vacation celebrating the holidays and bringing in the new year, the men’s basketball did nothing but win.
The Panthers are in the midst of a seven-game winning streak, which includes its first three victories in the Sun Belt Conference this season.
The Panthers are 10-6 and 3-0 in the Sun Belt. They were 3-6 before the streak began.
The streak emerged as head coach Ron Hunter implemented an updated version of the Panthers zone defense following the team’s rough start, which included a four-game losing streak.
After the Panthers allowed opponents to score an average of 74 points per game in the first nine games, Hunter said adjustments on defense were coming.
“I feel like I’ve got a championship team, but we don’t have a championship defense,” Hunter said in early December. “We do not have, what I call, great individual defenders… we’re just trying to do some things scheme-wise to help that.”
Avoiding the temptation to over-help on defense thus allowing the opportunity for opponents to make wide-open shots was something Hunter said would help his players’ guarding issues.
Hunter first implemented the defense in the rivalry game against Georgia Southern, a game coach Hunter described as a “must win.”
Hunter was not specific with adjustments he made other than that the Panthers are playing four different defenses.
The Panthers play a zone defense that now frequently shows a 2-3 formation ever since Hunter installed the defense.
The Panthers defeated the Eagles 73-61, holding the Eagles to 42 percent shooting from the floor.
Hunter said the execution of the new defense was not perfect against the Eagles citing poor communication on the floor, but Hunter said it did help with dribble penetration.
Throughout the winning streak, the Panthers have kept opponents to 41 percent field goal shooting, a slight improvement from the 45 percent shooting before the streak.
Hunter said his goal is for opponents to be held under 40 percent shooting and 70 points, something the Panthers have done three times this season in the victories over Young Harris, South Alabama and, their most recent victory, Western Kentucky.
Offense, on the other hand, has not been a problem this season as the Panthers average 78 points per game this season which ranks No. 54 in college basketball.
The abundant offense cannot be attributed to just one player as every game has featured one of the Panthers starting five exploding on the floor.
Ryan Harrow scored 33 points against the Old Dominion Monarchs on Dec. 16 to start the Panthers’ winning streak, his second best offensive performance as a Panther.
Fifth-year senior Manny Atkins scored a season-high 23 points and season-high 12 rebounds to put the Panthers passed the Eagles.
Sophomore R.J. Hunter scored 41 points on the road at the University of Texas at San Antonio, 35 points against Troy and 30 points at South Alabama, all game-highs.
Hunter has scored 157 points in the winning streak.
The Panthers’ improvements are evident on the road as they went into the break 0-6 away from the GSU Sports Arena.
The Panthers have won their last four road games, including an upset at Western Kentucky, where the Panthers blew-out the conference favorites 77-54.
The Panthers did the little things right against the Hilltoppers, shooting a perfect 22-for-22 at the free-throw line while the Hilltopper’s offense shot a dismal 28.6 percent from the floor.
Georgia State sits atop the Sun Belt with Arkansas-Little Rock, but nearly the whole conference schedule lies ahead.
The Panthers’ next test will be against Arkansas State (9-5, 2-1 Sun Belt) on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena.
