Panthers Fall to SMU 85-76; Seven-Game Win Streak Snapped

Box Score DALLAS-Playing its third game in five days, Georgia State saw its seven-game winning streak snapped on Monday night as SMU topped the Panthers 85-76 at Moody Coliseum.

Kane Williams led Georgia State (8-4) with 22 points, but the Panthers shot just 36.6 percent from the floor and could not overcome a 17-point second half deficit.
SMU (9-2) snapped a two-game losing streak as Isiaha Mike recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Kendric Davis and Feron Hunt scored 18 points each.

Redshirt-junior Corey Allen added 18 points including four 3-pointers for the Panthers, while redshirt-sophomore Justin Roberts chipped in 16 points going 4-of-10 from 3-point range as GSU finished the game 11-of-31 from long range.

The Panthers seven game winning streak was tied for the seventh-longest in program history. Georgia State was coming off a weekend where they opened defense of their back-to-back Sun Belt Conference titles with wins over UT Arlington and Texas State.

"It was a disappointing start to the game for us and really a disappointing start to the second half for us as well," head coach Rob Lanier said. "Even after digging a hole, we fought back in the first half and were able to take the lead. In the second half we could have cut it to one early but missed a shot and it allowed SMU to start another run. We kept fighting all night, but just could not make enough shots to get back into it."

SMU rushed out to an early 19-6 lead halfway thru the first half as the Panthers went just 3-of-20 from the floor to start the game.

Georgia State started to heat up as Williams scored eight-straight GSU points before Roberts took over the half.

Trailing 32-21, Roberts knocked down a 3-pointer and swiped the ball in the back court which led to a lay-up. After a lay-up by Wilson, Roberts knocked down another 3-pointer to cut SMU's lead to just one with 2:14 to play. Just over a minute later, the redshirt-sophomore knocked down another triple to give GSU a 34-33 lead.

SMU went into the locker room leading 37-34 despite 13 turnovers which led to 14 GSU points. The Panthers were held to just 11-of-34 shooting in the half but went 8-of-14 after missing 17 of their first 20 shots.

The Mustangs opened the second half on a 10-0 run to immediately go back up by 13, 47-34, just three minutes into the half.

SMU pushed the lead to 69-52 with 6:40 to play before the Panthers made one last run getting as close as six with 2:28 to play.

Junior Josh Linder added five points and five rebounds off the bench, while senior Damon Wilson added nine points and four rebounds.

Tyson Jolly just missed a double-double for SMU with 17 points and eight rebounds.

SMU shot 51.8 percent from the floor and went 22-of-26 from the free throw line, while outrebounding the Panthers 44-34.

Notes:

Georgia State dropped to 3-1 against teams from Texas this season.
Georgia State is now 3-3 all-time against members of the AAC.
Georgia State has won 196 games this decade, 38 more than any other decade in program history, with one game to play.
With a 3-pointer tonight, Georgia State has made at least one 3-pointer in 760 games dating back to Feb. 18, 1995.
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won 142 games, the most of any NCAA Division 1 program in the state of Georgia.

Georgia State will return home and prepare to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule hosting Middle Georgia State on Dec. 30, at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

#20 Josh Linder: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#2 Justin Roberts: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

#12 Kane Williams: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#1 Damon Wilson: G; 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#20 Josh Linder
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#2 Justin Roberts
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#12 Kane Williams
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#1 Damon Wilson
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior
: G