Big guys continue to be big problems for Georgia State.
On Saturday it was 6-foot-7 Kevin Easley, who scored a career-high 28 points and helped Coastal Carolina erase a 13-point second-half deficit and defeat Georgia State 85-83 in overtime at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes said. “Being disappointed is a huge understatement.”
It was the fourth consecutive loss – all on the road – for the Panthers, who fell to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in the Sun Belt, and ruined a superb effort by guard Dwon Odom. The Alpharetta product scored a career-high 30 points, going 12-for-18 from the floor, with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Lucas Taylor scored 14 points with six rebounds, Toneari Lane had 13 points, and Brenden Tucker came off the bench to score 11 for Georgia State. But the Panthers were a disappointing 16-for-23 (69.6%) at the line; they lead the Sun Belt at 75.9%.
But Coastal Carolina’s inside presence was too much. The Chanticleers, who had averaged 31.6 points in the paint over the past six games, came up with 44 – their most against Sun Belt competition. Easley, who made stops at Duquesne, TCU and Chattanooga before landing at Coastal Carolina, had 12 rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass. John Ojiako, a 6-foot-10 senior transfer from Virginia Tech and George Mason, had 15 rebounds, four of them offensive, and freshman guard Jacob Meyer had 10 rebounds.