LITTLE ROCK – Georgia State put Little Rock into a deep hole early and the Trojans never recovered, falling 81-51 to the Panthers Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The loss is the sixth-straight for Little Rock, who falls to 5-19 on the season and 2-9 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Little Rock finished with just 18 made shots on 49 attempts (36.7%), going 8-of-20 from three-point range (40.0%). But the free throw struggles continued yet again as the Trojans connected on just seven of their 18 attempts, shooting 38.9 percent for the game.
That was contrasted by Georgia State's hot shooting as the Panthers were 27-of-51 from the floor (52.9%) and made 15 of 28 three-point attempts (53.6%), two shy of the Jack Stephens Center record for threes in a game.
Little Rock did force the Panthers into 21 turnovers on the night, but committed 18 of its own, which led to an 8-0 advantage for Georgia State in points off turnovers. The Trojans were also outrebounded 36-26.
Cameron Corcoran led the way with 15 points for Little Rock on 5-8 shooting, going 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Ben Marcus finished with seven points and three rebound with
Andre Jones adding seven points before picking up a pair of technical fouls in the second half.
Oliver Black led the way with seven rebounds as Jones and
Jaizec Lottie posted three assists.
Little Rock has started quick in conference play, and Saturday was no exception as the Trojans scored the first five points with a block and a taken charge in the first two and a half minutes, building a 5-0 lead.
But that fast start evaporated quickly as Little Rock went nearly seven minutes without a basket as Georgia State rattled off 14-straight to take the 14-5 lead at the midway point of the opening half. The Trojans made just one of 13 shots as the Panthers took a 20-9 lead with six minutes remaining.
The final five minutes turned into a three-point shooting contest as the Panthers finished the first half shooting 8-of-16 (50.0%) from beyond the arc while the Trojans hit 5-of-11 (45.5%) from downtown. The two teams combined for 19 turnovers over the first 20 minutes as Georgia State held the 38-24 lead at the half.
Any hope of a Trojan second half comeback was quickly thwarted by the Panthers as Georgia State went on a 21-0 run to start the second half, building a 59-24 lead. The lead extended to 36 as the Panthers doubled-up the Trojans at 72-36 with 7:55 remaining, leading to the 81-51 final score.
Georgia State was led by Devin Mitchell's 38 points, setting a new Jack Stephens Center mark for points in a game as Mitchell finished 12-of-16 from the floor and 10-of-13 from three-point range. D'Marcus Simonds added 12 points for the Panthers.
Little Rock now begins a tough stretch to close out the 2017-18 regular season, playing five of its final seven on the road. That stretch begins Thursday in Mobile, Alabama, facing South Alabama at 7:05 p.m. Thursday evening.
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