What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State won its second-straight game with a 71-54 win over Little Rock on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
* Redshirt-sophomore Devin Mitchell scored a career-high with 16 points, knocking down three 3-pointers.
* The 18th win of the season is the seventh-most in a single-season in program history.
LITTLE ROCK-Led by a career-high 16 points off the bench from Devin Mitchell, Georgia State earned a 71-54 win over Little Rock on Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center.
Mitchell went 6-of-12 from the floor and knocked down three 3-pointers, while spurring a defense that held the Trojans to just 38.0 percent shooting.
Georgia State (18-10, 11-5 Sun Belt) won its second-straight game and moved into a tie for second-place in the conference standings with two games to play. The Panthers 18 wins are now seventh-most in program history, while senior Isaiah Dennis was a part of his 84th win, second-most in school history.
Little Rock (13-15, 4-11 Sun Belt) lost for the eighth time in the last nine games after being outrebounded 42-29.
Sophomore Malik Benlevi just missed a double-double with seven points and nine rebounds, while Dennis added nine points and six rebounds. Senior Willie Clayton also just missed a double-double with nine points and seven rebounds.
“I thought Isaiah Dennis was unbelievable and is playing the way a senior should down the stretch,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “And then Devin Mitchell comes off the bench and knocks down big shot after big shot. Our defense right now, even in the games we lost, is carrying us and if we keep playing like that, I love our chance to win a championship.”
Georgia State got off to a slow start as Little Rock scored the first five points of the game and took an early 9-3 lead before Clayton scored five-straight GSU points to cut the deficit to 9-8 with 14:40 to play in the first half.
Little Rock used a 6-0 run to push its lead to 17-11 midway thru the half. Starting to warm-up from the floor, the Panthers got back into the game and following a steal and dunk by Benlevi, tied the game 23-23 with 5:18 to play.
A lay-up and made free throw by Mitchell gave Georgia State its first lead, 26-25, with 3:00 to play as the Panthers went into the locker room leading 31-30 despite shooting just 34.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Georgia State scored the first five points of the second half to push the lead to 37-30 with 17:57 remaining.
Mitchell went a stretch of scoring seven-straight GSU points to help build a 46-38 lead with 12:17 to play.
The Panthers pushed the lead into double digits, 53-41, with 8:40 to play, and never allowed the Trojans to get closer than eight points again.
Freshman D'Marcus Simonds added 10 points, while senior Jeremy Hollowell, celebrating his 23rd birthday, finished with seven points. Junior Jordan Session added five points and five rebounds, while Jeff Thomas scored eight after earning the start.
Lis Shoshi led Little Rock with 12 points, while Kemy Osse added 11 points.
Georgia State will end its two-game road trip at Arkansas State on Monday at 8 p.m., live on WatchESPN. The game can also be heard on 1340 The Fan 3, 1230 The Fan 2 and WRAS-FM 88.5.
