What You Need to Know:
* Despite 23 points from Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State fell at Ole Miss 68-59 on Wednesday afternoon.
* The Panthers were limited to just 41.2 percent shooting, but forced 15 Rebel turnovers and trailed by just two with 2:18 to play.
* Georgia State will return home to face IUPUI on Friday at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. The game will air live on ESPN3.
OXFORD, Miss.-Despite 23 points from redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State fell 68-59 to Ole Miss on Wednesday afternoon at the C.M. Tad Smith Coliseum. The Panthers trailed by just two with 2:18 to play, but couldn't get over the hump in the final minutes.
Hollowell finished 7-of-14 from the floor, knocking down three of the Panthers six 3-pointers. He went 6-of-8 from the free throw line, but Georgia State managed to go just 11-of-20 from the line as a team.
Georgia State, which was held to just 41.2 percent shooting, was also outrebounded by Ole Miss 39-20. However, the Panthers forced 15 Rebel turnovers which led to 14 points.
Georgia State trailed by seven, 56-49, with 7:51 to play, before limiting Ole Miss to just four free throws over the next six-plus minutes. The Panthers cut the deficit to two at 58-56 with 2:18 to play before the Rebels used a 6-0 run to push the lead back to eight before a Malik Benlevi 3-pointer.
In the match-up of NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, Georgia State fell to 2-1 while Ole Miss improved to 4-2 on the young season.
“We didn't handle ourselves like a veteran team tonight,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “After playing some non-D1's, I still had some questions about our team, but many of those were answered tonight. I really like our toughness and that will be important as the season goes on. We have some things that need to be cleaned up, but that will come.”
Stefan Moody led Ole Miss with 21 points and five assists, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Tomasz Gielo added 13 points and six rebounds for the Rebels who shot 47.7 percent from the floor.
Leading 12-11, Ole Miss used a 6-0 run to push the lead to 18-11, a margin the Rebels kept most of the half before pushing it to 10 with just over three minutes to play.
Keyed by five points from Hollowell, Georgia State used an 8-0 run in the final minutes to cut the deficit to just two before going into the half trailing 35-32. Hollowell finished the half with 12 points.
Ole Miss led by one, 35-34, before using an early 6-0 run to start the second half. Junior Isaiah Dennis responded with a 5-0 run of his own to cut the lead back to two midway through the half. Dennis finished the game with nine points in 30 minutes off the bench.
The Rebels continued to lead by five to eight points most of the second half before the Panthers final run.
Senior T.J. Shipes, who got the start, finished with seven points on 3-of-4 shooting for the Panthers in 32 minutes.
Georgia State will return home to face IUPUI on Friday night at 7 p.m. Tickets for the game can be purchased by calling 404-413-4020 or by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com. Anyone purchasing a ticket to Friday's Senior Day football game can use that ticket for free admission to the men's basketball game.
Notes: Georgia State fell to 49-14 in its last 63 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013…Ole Miss outscored the Panthers 28-24 in the paint…The Panthers turned the ball over just nine times…Georgia State dished out 14 assists on 21 made field goals.
