ATLANTA-Georgia State will close out the home portion of the non-conference schedule on Sunday facing Southern Miss at 2 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena.
Sunday's contest can be heard live on WIFN-AM 1340 The Fan 3 and WFOM-AM 1230 The Fan 2 with Dave Cohen, now in his 32nd year as the Voice of the Panthers, being joined by former Panther Rodney “Truck” Turner and 680 The Fan's Brandon Leak. Live statistics and live audio will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com and on most mobile devices. The game can also be seen on PantherVision HD on desktop computers.
The game will serve as the annual Mascot Mania with many of the local mascots being in attendance to celebrate Pounce's birthday. Martin Harmon will also be on hand signing copies of his new book, Charles “Lefty” Driesell: A Basketball Legend. Fan can purchase the book for the special holiday price of $20 and will be able to mail their copy to Driesell for signing.
Georgia State (6-3) has won 15-straight home games, tied for the ninth-longest home court winning streak in the country entering Sunday. The Panthers have won 28 of its last 34 games dating back to last season and just had a five-game winning streak snapped in overtime at Old Dominion Wednesday night.
The Panthers are led by the scoring duo of junior R.J. Hunter and senior Ryan Harrow. The two are averaging 41.5 points per game, the second-most of any duo in the country. Hunter, who has scored 1,330 points in his two-plus seasons, is the NCAA career active leader in points scored among all juniors.
The key to Georgia State's success has been on the offensive side of the ball. The Panthers are shooting 49.0 percent from the floor this season, 24th-best in the NCAA. Georgia State is also knocking down 38.1 percent from 3-point range and averaging 74.7 points per game.
“Our team learned a lot from Wednesday's game,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “We know that Sunday will also be a tough challenge as Southern Miss is a very good team which has played us well the last two seasons. We know the things that we need to keep working on and that our best basketball is still ahead of us.”
R.J. Hunter was named Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year and is averaging 22.1 points per game this season, the eighth-best mark in the NCAA. He has been named to both the John R. Wooden and Naismith Watch List which recognize the top 50 players in the country.
He enters Sunday in the top-10 in several career statistical categories in Georgia State history. Hunter is fifth in points (1,330), second in 3-pointers (200), tied for 10th in field goals made (420), eighth in free throws made (290), second in free throw percentage (82.6), second in 3-point attempts (534), eighth in 3-point percentage (37.5) and seventh in steals (136). With his 72nd career start on Wednesday, he moved into Georgia State's top 10 and could be in the top three by the end of the year.
Harrow joined Hunter as an All-Sun Belt Preseason first-team member and on the Lou Henson Preseason Watch List as one of the top mid-major players in the country. Following a junior season in which he scored 604 points, tied for fourth most in program history, he could become just the fifth Panther to reach the 1,000-point career plateau in two seasons. He enters Sunday with 779 points scored at GSU.
He is currently averaging 19.4 points per game, third in the Sun Belt and 28th in the nation. He is leading the league and standing 21st in the nation averaging 5.9 assists per contest. Harrow is also shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range.
Notes:
· R.J. Hunter is just 185 points shy of tying GSU's all-time scoring mark of 1,515 points.
· Ryan Harrow recorded 144 assists last year which was tied for the seventh most in a single season in school history. He already has 53 assists this year, giving him 197 in 43 games. He easily could move into the top-10 in assists (min. 257) for a career despite only playing two seasons for Georgia State.
· Kevin Ware has shown why many consider him one of the best defenders in the Sun Belt. He is averaging 2.0 steals per game, fifth in the league and second on the team only behind R.J. Hunter's 2.2 per contest. He is averaging 6.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
· Junior T.J. Shipes made his first start of the season against Green Bay and recorded his first career double-double, scoring a career-high 11 points and grabbing a career-high 11 rebounds.
· Junior Markus Crider, who is averaging 7.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, is shooting 69.0 percent from the floor, the No. 1 mark in the Sun Belt.
· Georgia State is 18th in the NCAA averaging 9.4 steals per game and 18th in turnovers, giving up the ball just 10.7 times per game. The Panthers finished second in the nation last year averaging just 8.1 turnovers per game and were 31st with 7.6 steals per contest.
Southern Miss (5-4) enters the game coming off a tough 66-46 loss to Jackson State on Thursday night. The Golden Eagles are led by Matt Bingaya who is averaging 16.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. Head coach Doc Sadler is in his first season as the head coach for Southern Miss.
Following the game on Sunday, Georgia State will return to the court on Dec. 27 traveling to Green Bay. Tip time is set for 1 p.m. ET and can be seen live on ESPN3.
Quick Notes
• The 2013-14 Sun Belt regular season-champions enter the 2014-15 season with three returning starters along with eight newcomers, seven of which will be eligible to play during the season.
• The Panthers were unanimously selected by the Sun Belt Conference head coaches to win the league once again this year.
• Georgia State has won 28 of its last 34 games dating back to last season, including 27 of 31 regular season games. The Panthers had a 5-game winning streak come to an end on Wed.
• Georgia State is currently riding a 15-game home-court winning streak which is tied for the 9th longest in the country with Virginia and Eastern Michigan. The Panthers went 13-0 at home during the 2013-14 season and are 2-0 in 2014-15. Duke has won 38-straight home games for the longest streak in the country.
• Under head coach Ron Hunter, the Panthers are 37-10 in the GSU Sports Arena, a winning percentage of 78.7.
• The Panthers have won 12 of its last 17 true road games dating back to last season.
• Georgia State enters Sunday No. 47 in latest NCAA RPI rankings. The Panthers have been has high as 41 this season. Southern Miss is No. 266 in the same rankings.
• Georgia State enters the week ranked No. 11 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. The highest the Panthers have been this season is No. 9.
• R.J. Hunter and Ryan Harrow are combining to average 41.5 points per game, the second-most of any duo in the country.
• With 1,330 points, R.J. Hunter is the No. 1 active scorer in the NCAA of all third-year players.
• The Panthers are playing a tough non-conference schedule. By the NCAA RPI, Georgia State already owns a win over then No. 1 Green Bay (Currently No. 14 and will face the Phoenix again Dec. 27), have tough losses to No. 16 Colorado State (still undefeated), No. 27 Iowa State (one loss) and No. 17 Old Dominion (one loss).
• Georgia State is 24th in the NCAA with a 49.0 field goal percentage and 60th with a 38.1 3-point field goal percentage. Both marks are second in the Sun Belt. The Panthers have already had two of the top-10 field goal and 3-point field goal single-game shooting percentages in school history this year.
• Georgia State is among the top 20 in the NCAA in two key stats. The Panthers are 18th in the nation averaging 9.4 steals per game and 8th in turnovers margin, currently at +5.9 per game.
• Only six times in program history has a Panther averaged 20 or more points a game in a season. GSU currently has one accomplishing the feat and one just barely off. R.J. Hunter is second in the Sun Belt and is eight in the nation with a 22.1 points per game average, while senior Ryan Harrow is third in the Sun Belt and 28th in the nation with a 19.4 points per game average. The last time it happened was when Thomas Terrell averaged 20.5 point per game during the 2001-02 season. The record is held by Ron Ricketts who averaged 21.1 points per game during the 1970-71 season.
• R.J. Hunter has been named to the prestigious John R. Wooden Watch List and Naismith Trophy list as one of the top 50 players in the country to watch.
• Junior R.J. Hunter was named the 2014-15 Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year and earned preseason all-conference first-team honors along with Ryan Harrow, while senior Curtis Washington was named to the third team.
• Junior R.J. Hunter is quickly moving up the ranks of several all-time records. Inside the #'s:
- Points: currently 5th with 1,330; 185 shy of Rodney Hamilton's 1,515
- 3-point Field Goals: currently 2nd with 200; 40 shy of Shellord Pinkett's 240
- 3-point Field Goal attempts: currently 2nd with 534; 103 shy of Shellord Pinkett's 637
- Free throws made: currently 8th with 290; 72 shy of Phillip Luckydo's 361
- Free throw percentage: currently 2nd at 82.6 percent; .012 behind Rodney Hamilton's school-record of 83.8 percent.
- Steals: currently 7th with 136; 76 shy of Rodney Hamilton's 212
• Head coach Ron Hunter continued a trend of bringing high-major transfers back to Atlanta. Late last spring, Hunter announced that Kevin Ware would be returning home (Conyers, Ga.) after three seasons at Louisville. Ware is unfortunately most known for a gruesome leg injury that he suffered during the Cardinals' run to a national championship in 2013. The list of high-major transfers to the Panthers includes Ryan Harrow (Kentucky), Manny Atkins (Virginia Tech) and Jeremy Hollowell (Indiana), who will be eligible for the Panthers in 2015-16.
• R.J. Hunter became the 18th Panther to score 1,000-points in his career, needing just 55 games, the second fewest in program history (Phillip Luckydo - 49 games), accomplishing the feat against Troy (Feb. 15, 2014). Ryan Harrow is on pace to become the 19th Panther to reach the mark for GSU after scoring 604 points last year.
• Ron Hunter won his 50th game as the head coach of Georgia State against UL Lafayette last season, accomplishing the feat quicker than any previous Panther coach.
• Head coach Ron Hunter owns the records for the most wins in his first season, first two seasons and first three seasons of any coach in program history. In his first three seasons, he won 62 games, surpassing the total of Hall of Fame coach Charles “Lefty” Driesell who won 50 games during his first three seasons. Driesell won 79 games in his first four seasons, including the school-record 29 wins during the 2000-01 season. Hunter currently has 68 wins in his fourth season.
