BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-Georgia State won its seventh-straight game and handed Western Kentucky its worse home-conference loss in 15 years with an impressive 77-54 win on Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. Five Panthers scored in double-figures as Georgia State went a perfect 22-of-22 from the free throw line to set a new school-record.
Redshirt-junior Curtis Washington led Georgia State (10-6, 3-0) with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds playing just 45-minutes from his hometown of Elizabethtown, Ky. Washington went 7-of-9 from the floor, blocking a pair of shots in 28 minutes.
The seven-game winning streak is tied for the third-longest in program history and is longest since GSU won 11-straight during the 2011-12 season. Georgia State also won its fourth-straight on the road, its longest road streak since a pair of four-game streaks during that same season.
Senior Manny Atkins led all scorers with 18 points, while senior Devonta White added 13, sophomore R.J. Hunter scored 12 and Ryan Harrow added 11 as the Panthers won for the eighth time in the last nine games.
Hunter, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, made his first four free-throw attempts to extend his streak to 23-straight and tied the school-record held by Nate Williams during the 2003-04 season. He made two more in the second half to establish a new school-record and has made 25-straight free throws in the last three games.
Georgia State, the top free-throw shooting team in the Sun Belt, broke its school-record of 18-makes without a miss set against Stetson on Jan. 31, 2003. The perfect 22-of-22 from the line set an E.A. Diddle Arena record previously held by Murray State with 18-makes without a miss.
Leading 34-29 at halftime, Georgia State busted open the game with a 15-0 run to start the second half, holding the Hilltoppers without a basket for more than six minutes.
Western Kentucky (10-6, 2-1) lost for just the second time at home this season, shooting just 28.6-percent from the floor and making just 8-of-16 free throws. It was the seventh-time in two-plus seasons under head coach Ron Hunter that the Panthers held the opposition under 30-percent from the floor.
“Our offensive has been effective most of the season, but in the last seven or eight games, our defense has really started to step up,” Hunter said. “Defensively I really thought we hit a home run tonight.
“I am also really proud of Curtis. He had a great crowd here tonight and stepped up and played his best game of the season. He can be a dominate player inside and showed that tonight.”
Georgia State controlled the pace for most of the first half, forcing 11 turnovers, including five before the first media timeout. The Panthers led by as many as seven, 34-27, with just under a minute to play in the half.
Atkins scored 11-straight Panther points in the middle of the half, knocking down a pair of first half 3-pointers and going 5-of-7 from the floor in the first 20-minutes. He finished the game by adding three blocked shots and going 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
GSU went 12-of-12 from the line in the first half, while Western Kentucky was just 3-of-8. The Hilltoppers made up for it on the glass, outrebounding the Panthers 23-12, with George Fant pulling down seven offensive boards and nine overall in the opening period.
Western Kentucky was led by T.J. Price who scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds. Fant finished the game with 13 rebounds for the Hilltoppers.
Georgia State shot 48.1-percent from the floor and outscored the Hilltoppers in the paint 36-10.
Georgia State will return home to face Arkansas State on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. Tickets can be purchased by calling 866-GA-STATE or visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com.
