The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Led by hot first half shooting and 26 points from R.J. Hunter, Georgia State cruised to a 72-48 win over Green Bay in a match-up of two of the top mid-major teams on Thursday night at the GSU Sports Arena.

Hunter finished the game with four 3-pointers and is now just one shy of becoming just the second Panther to make 200 in a career. After being named Sun Belt Player of the Week on Monday, he added five rebounds and made 10-of-12 from the free throw line. He also became just the fifth Panther in program history to score at least 1,300 points and now has 1,317 for his career.

Junior T.J. Shipes made his second career start and finished with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, to go along with a pair of blocked shots. He made 5-of-6 from the floor.

Georgia State shot 62 percent in the first half and finished the game shooting 53.1 percent from the floor. The Panthers came into the night shooting 50.6 percent for the season, ranked No. 19 in the NCAA.

Georgia State (6-2) won for the fifth-straight time and for the 15^th-straight time at home dating back to the start of last season. The streak is tied for the 11^th longest in the country.

Green Bay (5-2) entered the night ranked No. 1 in the country in the first NCAA RPI which had come out on Wednesday.

The game featured a match-up of a pair of Naismith Trophy Top 50 watch list members in Hunter and Green Bay’s Keifer Sykes. The Panthers held Sykes to 16 points, the only member of the Phoenix to score in double figures.

“I was very impressed with the play of our guys tonight,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Despite what the score might say, that is an NCAA tournament team. We beat a very good basketball team. They are one of the best mid-major teams in the country.

“Everyone wants to talk about how good our offense is, but I keep telling everyone who will listen that our defense is pretty good too and I think tonight it showed. I was really proud of the way our guys fought for loose balls and took advantages of opportunities when they presented themselves. It was an all-round great effort.”

Georgia State used hot shooting early to take a 16-6 lead just six and half minutes into the game, causing Green Bay to call its first time out. The Panthers made 7-of-10 from the floor during that time.

The Panthers led 31-18 before going on an 11-0 run to take a 42-18 into the half, their biggest lead of the first 20 minutes.

Georgia State held the Phoenix to just 27.6 percent shooting in the first half and 1-of-7 from 3-point range.

In the second half, Green Bay cut the lead to 50-34 with 14:37 to play, before the Panthers went on a 10-0 run to take a 60-34 lead with under 12 minutes to play.

Green Bay did not make a field goal from the 14:37 mark to 4:40 left in the game, as Georgia State built its lead to 69-40.

Senior Ryan Harrow added 17 points, eight assists and three of the Panthers nine steals.

Markus Crider chipped in with nine points and five rebounds, making all four shots from the floor.

The Panthers outscored Green Bay 34-18 in the paint and outrebounded the Phoenix 39-31.