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Georgia Southern’s 2-3 zone knocked Texas State out of rhythm the first time the two teams played. But the Bobcats stayed on beat the second time around.
The maroon and gold built a 16-1 lead early in the first half of their initial meeting with the Eagles in Statesboro, Georgia, on Dec. 19. But Georgia Southern rallied back after switching from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone on defense to take a 29-28 lead by halftime and hung on to win it, 67-64.
Georgia Southern started Thursday’s game at Strahan Arena in a 2-3 zone again. But the hosts knew how to attack it. Texas State continuously swung the ball until it found an opening in the middle of the floor, then either attacked the rim or kicked it back out for an open 3-pointer.
The Bobcats (18-10, 11-6 Sun Belt) built a 15-point lead in the first half again, up 24-9 at the 7:42 mark, and this time held on to it for 70-55 victory over the Eagles (16-12, 10-7).
“(We watched) a lot of film just prepared for (the 2-3 zone),” redshirt junior point guard Marlin Davis said. “Our coaches did a good job of just getting us in positions, getting us in our spots. We just had settle down and play basketball and just move the ball. And we knew (the Eagles) switch a lot, so we knew, somehow, they were going to be confused.”
On Georgia Southern’s first possession, Eagles redshirt senior guard Ike Smith drove right wing to the basket and put up a left-handed layup. Texas State senior center Eric Terry swatted the ball off the backboard and the visitors stepped out of bounds trying to save it.
Senior guard Nijal Pearson pulled up from deep behind the arc at the shot clock buzzer on the next play. The shot fell short, but Pearson grabbed his own miss and put it back in the hoop for the first score of the game.
Terry’s block was the first of seven on the night for the team. The rim protection helped the hosts hold Georgia Southern to 10 points in the paint and 28.6 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, establishing a 42-20 lead.
“When we're getting blocks, that means we're all into it, no matter what,” said junior forward Isiah Small, who finished the night with two of the team’s seven rejections. “Like, even if you don't block it, you try to block it. I mean, we know like we're locked in together. So that right there, it was big.”
Davis started in place of sophomore guard Mason Harrell, who remains inactive due to an undisclosed injury, for the second-straight game and hit a season-high three 3-pointers. Pearson added another trio of triples to overstretch the Eagles’ zone defense and the Bobcats coasted in the second half to secure the 70-55 win.
“(Davis) had some timely threes that just kind of kept (Georgia Southern) at bay, I thought,” head coach Danny Kaspar said. “You know, I mean, I want Mason back, Mason's a very good basketball player, we'd love him back. But you know, we gotta hold ground. He won't be there Saturday, but hopefully he'll be there for UTA, the last two games.”
Pearson finished the game with a team-best 20 points, followed by Davis with a career-high 16. Small and Terry tied for the most blocks with two apiece. Junior guard Shelby Adams paced the Bobcats with eight rebounds.
Georgia State (18-10, 11-6) lost at UT Arlington on Thursday, 70-62, moving them into a tie with Texas State for second place in the Sun Belt. The Bobcats will host the Panthers on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Despite knowing the winner of the game will take sole possession of the No. 2 seed in the conference, Davis and Small said it doesn’t add any pressure to the matchup “at all.”
“If we just handle our business, everything's just gonna fall into place,” Davis said. So we just gotta keep going day-by-day, one game at a time, possession by possession.”
