MOBILE, Ala. — R.J. Hunter scored 30 points, 21 of them in the first half, as Georgia State beat South Alabama 73-63 on Saturday at the Mitchell Center.
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 6-9 overall and 0-2 in Sun Belt Conference play. Georgia State improved to 9-6 and 2-0.
Hunter shot 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-9 from 3-point range and made all 13 of his free throws.
Panthers Pull Away With Second-Half Runs
Despite Hunter’s 21 first-half points and eight Georgia State 3-pointers before the break, South Alabama trailed by only three at halftime.
The Panthers opened the second half with a 7-0 run for a 46-36 lead. Augustine Rubit scored on a putback and Aakim Saintil made two free throws to pull the Jaguars within eight, but another 7-0 Georgia State run produced the Panthers’ largest lead at 61-46.
South Alabama answered with a 7-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to 68-61 with 2:43 left. Hunter then made three free throws and Markus Crider scored on a layup after a Jaguar miss to put Georgia State up 73-61 with 1:26 remaining.
Williams Leads Jaguars
Freshman Ken Williams led South Alabama with 19 points and seven rebounds, scoring 11 of his points after halftime. Rubit had 11 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Mychal Ammons finished with nine points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Graves: ‘Trending in the Wrong Direction’
“Obviously I’m disappointed in the start of conference play; 0-2 is certainly not where you want to be, but if these are the two best teams then we’re not that far off,” South Alabama head coach Matthew Graves said. “I didn’t want our guys to be satisfied because they’re going to hear those are the two best teams. Well, who knows? We’re two games in and we’re trending in the wrong direction and there’s no question about that. We have to be a lot more disciplined and play with a better purpose.”
Graves praised Hunter’s performance. “That’s what an all-league player is supposed to do,” he said. “He comes in and is aggressive and plays with a chip on his shoulder. I think he was excited to come here on the road and prove that he is one of the best players in the league. I don’t think there was any doubt tonight who the best player on the floor was.”
Graves said he was encouraged by Williams. “It was nice to see Ken make some shots and hopefully this will give him confidence as we move forward,” Graves said. “Early in the game he was attacking the basket and not settling for that ‘3’ early in the game. I liked his mindset in that regard and hopefully his shooting will continue to carry over.”
He said Rubit and Ammons need to be more assertive around the basket. “They need to be more assertive when they get the ball,” Graves said. “They need to go through guys and take guys up there with them. … We just have to have a more aggressive, attacking mentality when we’re going to the rim.”
Up Next
South Alabama travels to Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
