NEW ORLEANS-Georgia State used one of its best defensive efforts in program history to earn a 59-46 win over Texas State on Saturday afternoon at Lakefront Arena to advance to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship Game for a second consecutive season.
Georgia State (23-9) held Texas State (24-9) to just 21.3 percent shooting, including just 5-of-26 from 3-point range. The Panthers also forced 18 turnovers to win for the seventh time in the last eight games.
The Panthers will await the winner of the second semifinal game between Georgia Southern and UT Arlington to play in Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. ET.
Senior Malik Benlevi led the Panthers with a second-straight double-double finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Jeff Thomas added 12 points, while junior D'Marcus Simonds, who earned All-Sun Belt First Team honors scored 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Thomas played in his school-record 130th game and now, along with Benlevi, has been a part of 83 wins, tied for third-most in program history.
Tre'Larenz Nottingham led the Bobcats with 13 points but went just 3-of-12 from the floor. All-Sun Belt honoree Nijal Pearson was held scoreless, going 0-of-10 from the floor, pulling down nine rebounds.
“I thought defensively we were absolutely outstanding tonight,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “It took us a little time to get going offensively and I credit that to the fact we have only played one game in the last two weeks and had not shot in Lakefront Arena before today. Our team came here with one and only one goal – win this championship and return to the NCAA Tournament – and now we are halfway there.”
Georgia State held Texas State to just 4-of-23 shooting in the first half and 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
The Panthers quickly took a 12-5 lead with 14:00 minutes to play on a Benlevi 3-pointer.
The Bobcats were held without a field goal for just under 10 minutes, making just one of their first 12 shots from the field in the first 13 minutes.
An 8-0 run by Georgia State capped by a Thomas 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 28-13 lead with 2:03 to play in the first half. GSU went into the locker room with a 28-15 lead, forcing Texas State in 14 first-half turnovers.
Georgia State used a 9-0 run early in the second half while holding Texas State without a field goal for just under five minutes to take a 37-17 lead with 14:25 to play.
Georgia State led by as many as 22 points with 9:34 to play before the Bobcats started to chip into the lead, getting as close as 11 points, 55-44, on a Nottingham 3-pointer with 1:34 to play.
Sophomore Kane Williams added nine points and six rebounds along with two of the Panthers' 10 steals.
Notes:
- Georgia State's 23-9 start to the season is tied for the third-best 32-game start in program history.
- Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won more games (133) than any other NCAA Division I team in the state of Georgia.
- Georgia State knocked down six 3-pointers and now have 316 for the season, just seven shy of the school and conference record.
- Georgia State is 21-0 when leading at halftime this season, the second-most wins without a loss at halftime in the country, just behind Gonzaga's 24-0 mark.
- The Panthers are 9-2 as a No. 1 seed in conference tournaments, advancing to the championship game each time (five appearances) and winning the title twice.
- Georgia State will be playing in its fourth Sun Belt Conference Championship Game in six years since rejoining the league for the 2013-14 season.
- Georgia State improved to 30-32 in conference tournaments, including a 7-3 mark since rejoining the Sun Belt Conference.
- Since 2014, Georgia State is 19-9 in the month of March.
