What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State cruised to a 66-46 win over Southern Miss on Saturday afternoon at Reed Green Coliseum.
* The Panthers held Southern Miss without a field goal for the first 12 minutes to build a 23-3 lead midway through the first half.
* Redshirt-senior Jeremy Hollowell led the Panthers with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
HATTIESBURG, Miss.-With four players in double figures and its best defensive performance of the season, Georgia State cruised to a 66-46 win over Southern Miss at Reed Green Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell led the Panthers with 17 points and six rebounds.
Georgia State (6-2) opened the game in dominating fashion, leading 11-0 before a pair of Southern Miss (2-7) free throws and pushed the lead to 23-3 with just under eight minutes remaining before the Golden Eagles made their first field goal of the game.
The Panthers won for the third-straight time and marked the second-straight game in which four Georgia State players finished in double figures. Senior Markus Crider came off the bench to add 12 points, while redshirt-sophomore Isaiah Williams also added 12 and senior Kevin Ware scored 10.
Georgia State held Southern Miss to just 31.4 percent shooting and 5-of-25 from 3-point range. The Golden Eagles turned it over 16 times which led to 23 Georgia State points. The Panthers finished 21-of-23 from the free throw line as Hollowell went 9-of-10 and Ware was 6-of-6.
“Our team continues to get better and better every game,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “The defensive effort we showed tonight is exactly what we want to see. We had four guys score in double figures for a second-straight game which is going to make it extremely hard to guard because on any night different guys are capable of scoring.”
Georgia State has matched its best start to a season under Hunter which came last year when the Panthers won 25 games, tied for the second-most in school history. The Panthers are 53-15 in their last 68 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013 and have won 12-of-15 games dating back to last season.
Led by 10 points from Williams, Georgia State went into the half leading 35-14, holding Southern Miss to 22.2 percent shooting and just 1-of-9 from 3-point range. The Panthers forced 12 turnovers which led 17 points.
Southern Miss got as close as 13, 49-36, on a jumper by Tim Rowe with 5:20 to play before the Panthers pushed it back to 20 with just over three minutes remaining.
The Golden Eagles were led by Khari Price who finished with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Eddie Davis III came off the bench to add 10 points.
T.J. Shipes earned the start and finished with eight points, five rebounds and three steals, while redshirt-freshman Jeff Thomas added five points and seven rebounds.
Georgia State will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule hosting Middle Tennessee on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free Ron Hunter bobblehead. Tickets are available by calling 404-413-4020 or by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com.
