Georgia State men’s basketball defeats Arkansas-Little Rock, 82-69

By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Behind a career-high 21 points from Kevin Ware and a game-high 22 points from Ryan Harrow, the Georgia State men’s basketball team won its Sun Belt Conference home opener on Saturday with a 82-69 win over Arkansas-Little Rock at the GSU Arena in Atlanta.

Georgia State (9-4, 2-0 Sun Belt) extended its home court winning streak to 18 games and have now won 31 of its last 38 games dating back to last season. The 9-4 start is tied for the third-best 13-game start in program history.

The Panthers have also won 19 of their first 20 conference games since returning to the Sun Belt last season.

Arkansas-Little Rock (5-7, 0-2 Sun Belt) have now dropped its last two contests.

Georgia State shot for 55.1 percent from the field in the victory, making six out of 14 three-pointers. The Panthers were also strong on the free-throw line, making 22 out of 30 attempts. Georgia State had 13 steals in the contest along with three blocks.

R.J. Hunter was held to three points in the first half but finished the contest with 14 points. He has now moved ahead of Devonta White into third-place on Georgia State’s all-time scoring list with 1,394 points.

UALR finished the contest with a 42.3 shooting percentage, making 12 of 30 three-pointers. James Reid and Ben Dillard each scored a team-high 14 points for the Trojans.

The Panthers, holding  a 49-48 lead with 11:55 left in the contest, proceeded to go on a 20-7 run to control the game.

“UALR did a great job of throwing some defenses at us that we have not seen,” Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter said. “It took our guys a little bit of time to figure it out, when we did, we were able to utilize Kevin Ware who had a great game for us.

“Kevin’s confidence was really high today. He got some early open shots to fall and was able to continue that all game. We have known that play like that was coming, it was just a matter of time.”

Ware came into the contest in the first minute to replace Panthers’ starter Ryann Green who took an accidental elbow to the mouth which dislodged a tooth. Green didn’t return to the game.

Harrow had a game-high 15 first half points for the Panthers while Ware scored 10 points. Overall, Georgia State shot 58.3 percent from the field in the first half, making four of seven three-pointer attempts. RJ Hunter attempted only two shots in the first half, making one three-pointer for three points.

Reid scored a team-high nine points for Arkansas-Little Rock in the first half. The Trojans shot 44 percent and made five of 12 three-pointers in the first half.