In a game that was in doubt at points in the second half, State used a decisive 18-5 run to put Georgia State away at the end, 69-53.
The Pack scored a ton of points from the line tonight as Georgia State poured on the aggression defensively. Their aggression yielded a lot of fouls and that put the Pack on the line often. State scored 26 points from the gimmie stripe on 35 attempts, compared to 6-12 shooting from Georgia State.
While Tracy Smith finished with a double-double (18 and 11), Dennis Horner, Julius Mays and Javier Gonzalez all turned in solid performances as well. Horner recorded a career-high 15 points on 6-10 shooting, Mays quietly recorded 16 points of his own mostly from the line, and Gonzalez recorded a "triple-eight": eight points, eight assists and eight rebounds.
Smith's double-double came in limited minutes. Tracy found himself in early foul trouble in the first half, picking up two fouls quickly. That put him on the bench for the latter portion of the first half. The foul woes continued in the second half, with Smith picking up his third only two minutes into the frame, putting him back on the bench for an extended period of time. Expect most teams throughout the season to attack Smith early and often to get him in foul trouble. It's no secret that State's offense flows through him. When he was on the bench, the offense clearly struggled, and teams will do everything they can to put State in that position all year.
Shooting was problematic, particularly from beyond the arc. State only hit three of their 16 three-point attempts and just 40 percent from the floor overall. However, State's perimeter defense was stout enough to limit Georgia State to the same 3-16 shooting from beyond the arc, effectively negating State's perimeter shooting woes.
A win is a win is a win, and as Sidney Lowe said in the postgame interview, you've got to get one before you can get two.
