The mantra that Jonas Hayes has impressed upon his Georgia State basketball team is “Win the Day.” It’s a less-cliché way of saying “take it one game at a time.” It’s also more difficult when the next game is the one that has been circled on the calendar for the past year.
The Panthers will host Georgia Tech at 7 p.m. Saturday at the GSU Convocation Center, the first time that Tech has driven the three miles to play at Georgia State since 2007. Tech leads the series 18-3. The game can be seen on ESPN-Plus and heard locally on WRAS-FM 99.5.
“It’s not just a game,” Hayes said. “It’s an opportunity for the City of Atlanta and its talent to be on display. The city produces a lot of talent, and you’re going to have a lot of that talent on display on the floor. We’re going to approach those guys the same way we approach every game. We won today (Thursday), and we’re going to try to win Friday. We just take one day, one step at a time.”
The teams resumed their series in 2020 when then-GSU coach Rob Lanier and Tech coach Josh Pastner were looking for ways to cut down on travel because of COVID-19 concerns, save a few bucks on travel and still play a quality opponent. The first two games were played at Tech, with the third game moving to GSU.
“Even though they played a game, they’re looking at this as their tipoff to their brand-new arena,” Pastner said. “We expect it to be a hostile environment and an intense crowd, and obviously pro-Georgia State. It should be a fun game, and a game like this should get us ready for a road game in ACC play later in the season.”
This may be the last chance GSU (1-0) has to play Tech (1-0) for a while. No discussions have taken place to continue the series.
“Room (on the schedule) becomes more of an issue at times and fitting things in,” Pastner said. “So as of right now, there’s been no discussions or talks to continue after this year.”
The resumption of hostilities has provided two epic games. Georgia State won 123-120 in four overtimes in 2020, the longest and highest-scoring game in the history of the Panthers’ program. It was GSU’s first win over an ACC opponent. Tech won 72-62 in overtime in 2021, with the Jackets rallying from a late six-point deficit to force the overtime.
Both teams won their season openers Monday and played better in the second half. Georgia State led by eight at halftime and went on to a 76-59 win over Coastal Georgia. Tech was tied with Clayton State at the half, but finished strong with a 93-63 win.
Hayes said the improvement in his team was evident from one half to the other. The starting lineup included three transfers, one freshman and one holdover from last season, and the quality of play got better as the players grew more accustomed to each other during a game situation. Ja’Heim Hudson, who had the most returning minutes among the GSU players, produced his second career double-double.
“As a coach, when you recognize growth, that’s huge,” Hayes said. “Part of maturing is being able to control your emotions and control the environment you place yourself in from a mental standpoint. That’s going to be a continuing thought with me in terms of how I interact with our guys and how can they handle the emotions that happen with a game.”
Tech had a great shooting night in the second half against Clayton State, making 61.8%. Lance Terry, a transfer from Gardner-Webb, scored 16 and made four 3-pointers. Rodney Howard had his fourth career double-double, with 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets expect 6-foot-8 Jordan Meka to be available after missing the opener with an injury.
“I think we have good shooters, good basketball players,” Pastner said. “What we lack in certain areas, we make up for in others, so I’m excited to see how the season continues to progress. I think we’ll keep getting better as the season goes forward.”
Pastner likes what he saw from Georgia State in the opener.
“We’re going to have to play really well to have an opportunity to win the game,” Pastner said. “Georgia State is a really good team. They play hard, they’re well-coached and they’ve got a lot of good players. We know it’s going to be a great atmosphere there.”
The basketball game presents an interesting scenario, since each school have a home football game earlier in the day. Tech hosts Miami at 3:30 p.m., and Georgia State hosts Louisiana-Monroe at 1 p.m.
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