Panthers Fall on the Road Again, Lose at W&M 69-65

The hits just keep on coming.  The Tribe entered the game with the 2nd worst record in the CAA.  We followed our pattern, get down by double digits, fight back making it a close game before falling.  The Panthers wrap up their regular season road record at 2-12.  As the great Lefty Driesell once said, "Good teams win on the road."

The Panthers were in foul trouble all night and the Tribe shot 37 free throws to 9 for the Panthers.  Those are the staggering stats that lead to defeat.  Javonte Maynor was a bright spot hitting 7 threes on the night and finishing with his first ever 20+ point performance. 

Next: Senior Night vs. George Mason on Saturday at 6pm at the Sports Arena.  Seniors Dante Curry and Marques Johnson will be honored before the game.

Panthers Sink Texas A&M-CC 72-42

Panthers Warm Up Before they set McKenzie Arena & Texas A&M-CC ablaze.

Photo Courtesy of David McDaniel

Good win.  I'll not call this a great win until we see what kind of momentum this builds.  30 blowout wins over a quality opponent don't happen much around here.  It's almost unsettling.  This was a total team defensive effort and the Panthers hit nine shots from deep yesterday afternoon.

Freshman Devonta White directs the offense.

Photo Courtesy of David McDaniel

To give some perspective on how rare this kind of win is:
-Texas A&M CC entered the game with an RPI of 112. Our highest win vs. an opponent that highly ranked in non conference since Louisiana-Lafayette in 2004-05. They were ranked #48 and went on to win 19 games that year and head to the NCAA Tournament before losing to Lousville.

-Our last 30 point win over a Division 1 opponent was January 24, 2005 at Stetson when we were a member of the A-Sun.

The Georgia State Huddle

Photo Courtesy of David McDaniel

Even more impressive, we actually could have played much better:
-Yesterday we committed 21 personal fouls which is incredibly high in a blowout win.

-Freshman guard Javonte Maynor didn't shoot well and hasn't shot the ball in the last 5 games since the Samford game.
-Junior forward Jihad Ali was a complete non factor and needs to get more consistent. He seems to be riding a bit of a wave and can't put more than a few good games together. We will need him in conference play starting Monday vs. VCU.

*Kudos to Senior guard Dante Curry. It may be dawning on him that this is it, his last 2/3 of his college career. I really hope he can put more consistent efforts like this together because the kid can shoot, there is no doubt about that. Deliver with confidence and provide scoring off of the bench. He has been a bit of enigma at both South Florida and at Georgia State.  Tremendous promise when his first ever game he scores 21 points at Georgia Tech and has only scored double digits 9 times since in 53 games.

The next few weeks are going to be very interesting with this team. I believe they will continue to get better.  Let's see how we build on this effort.

Examiner.com Link

Corpus Christi Caller Times Link

Next: Thursday Night vs. Tennessee-Chattanooga at 7pm.

Georgia State Drops Troy 80-70

Good win at home and we even our record at 1-1.  Wiping the Alabama footballl defeat out of mouth, our fans got to see our young talent led by Harold Doby and Javonte Maynor.

Next up: Home vs. Utah Valley on Tuesday.