Georgia State watched as Arkansas State scored 29 unanswered points in the first half and overpowered the Panthers 85-59 on Saturday in Jonesboro, Ark. Now coach Jonas Hayes has resumed a new search for the right combination of guys willing to play hard.
“I will find the five guys, six guys, seven guys who will give us a fighting chance to win games,” Hayes said. “I will not beg people to play hard. I will not bargain people to play hard or he will not play. We’ve got to find guys who will play with the level of effort that allows us to win games. I won’t coach effort.”
The loss dropped Georgia State to 7-12 overall and 3-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. Arkansas State (14-5, 5-2) has won three in a row and climbed into second place in the league. The Panthers lost both games on this week’s Western Conference road trip.
The lopsided outcome was a rarity in the series. Each of the previous five games had been decided by five or fewer points, with Georgia State winning 91-90 last season. It marked Arkansas State’s largest margin of victory in the series.
It was close for the first seven minutes and GSU’s Jelani Hamilton hit a 3-pointer with 12:52 left in the opening half to cut the deficit to 15-11. But Georgia State did not score another point until Nick McMullen drove for a basket at 2:51.
“We had a couple good looks that didn’t fall, missed some threes and had to burn two timeouts,” Hayes said. “It’s one of those things where you’re on the road and the margin is already small.”
During that 10-minute scoreless stretch, the Panthers missed 21 field goal attempts – seven jumpers, three hook shots, one layup and 10 3-pointers. They also missed their two free throw attempts. And by the time McMullen ended the frustration Arkansas State had built an insurmountable 44-11 lead.
“It doesn’t matter what you change schematically or what you do with the game plan unless you play with a certain level of effort and urgency,” Hayes said.
Georgia State scored the final eight points of the first half and trailed 44-19 at the break. And the Panthers played the Red Wolves almost even (Arkansas State won the second half 41-40) in the second half, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Asked if the players in the second half showed the proper amount of effort, Hayes said, “In my opinion, yes.”
Georgia State had two players produce double-doubles – McMullen with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Cesare Edwards with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was McMullen’s seventh double-double and the fifth for Edwards, who has scored in double figures in seven straight games.
Hamilton scored 13 points and Toneari Lane scored 12. Zarique Nutter, the team’s leading scorer, played only eight minutes -- all in the first half -- and failed to score.
The Panthers had their worst 3-point shooting game of the season, making only 2 of 23 from distance – an 8.7 percent effort.
Arkansas State was led by Joseph Pinion with 14 points and Taryn Todd with 12 points and six rebounds. Izaiyah Nelson, who played at Marietta High School, added eight points and 12 rebounds. The Red Wolves improved to 9-0 at home.
Georgia State returns home for two games this week – Thursday against Marshall and Saturday against James Madison.
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