RICHMOND, Va. – Talk all you want about Georgia State playing to win one for fired head coach Rod Barnes. There was probably a little of that involved in how the Panthers played. But the biggest factor in Georgia State’s 58-52 first round win over UNC Wilmington was the Seahawks just not playing very disciplined basketball at the offensive end.
The numbers for the game reflect UNC Wilmington’s lack of discipline on the day. The Seahawks shot just 25 percent in the first half, making just two shots from inside the three-point arc. For the game, one stat was a big study in contrasts: Georgia State had 18 assists on 23 made baskets, while UNC Wilmington had just seven assists on 19 made baskets.
Give credit to Georgia State, as they shot nearly 48 percent from the field and looked as capable offensively as they had all season. Marques Johnson tied a career high with seven assists, while Josh Micheaux had 14 points to lead the way and handed out four assists. Their defense also had a role in the Seahawks’ offensive struggles. But too many times, it was a self-inflicted mistake that hurt UNC Wilmington at that end.
In the second half, as they tried to come back, time and time again they would shoot themselves in the foot offensively. Turnovers weren’t the big killer, as they had just nine for the game, but shot selection was. Twice on a fast break opportunity, they settled for a pull-up three-pointer instead of going to the basket. Both came at times when they really could have used a basket. You could sense the game was not far from getting away from them, and they squandered opportunities by not attacking on the break.
Later, in the final two minutes, they trailed by five and had a chance to get within one possession. But they tried so hard to get a three-pointer that Chad Tomko drove inside, but passed up a chance near the basket to dish out to Tanner Milson, who came up well short on a contested three-pointer from in front of his own bench. Tomko wouldn’t have had an easy shot by any stretch, but he could have drawn a foul.
UNC Wilmington shot 33 percent from the field in the second half, and under 30 percent for the game. They struggled down the stretch, going just 3-18 in the final eight minutes. They were 6-29 from long range, including 1-14 in the second half.
UNC Wilmington played well enough on defense to pull this out, especially once they started trapping in the final minutes. That forced turnovers, which Georgia State didn’t have much of all game despite leading the conference in that category during the regular season. Over 32 minutes into the game, they had just eight turnovers with 16 assists. The closest they came to a line like that in the regular season was against Towson, when they posted 21 assists against 11 turnovers. The pressure put on late by the Seahawks brought those numbers down to 18 assists with 14 turnovers, still a good mark for a team that had significantly more turnovers than assists.
As head coach Buzz Peterson noted after the game, the Seahawks were picked last in the conference in the preseason. This is a team no one expected to be playing in this game or have a chance to win it. All told, they surpassed expectations, and they still had a chance to win one more on Friday afternoon.
