Georgia State is not a great CAA team. However, they are 1-0 in conference play and are at .500 overall. The Panthers played one of their best games of the season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the Dr Pepper Classic, when they beat the Islanders 72-42.
The CAA is clearly a better conference than the SoCon- having had an at-large bid make it all the way to the Final Four back in 2006 (George Mason). It's a good conference, and one that would make a decent win for the SoCon if the Mocs can come up with it.
The Mocs are 3-0 in SoCon play, and are over .500 for the first time all year. They can get back to .500 against D1 opponents with a win in this game. They have beaten their last two non-D1 opponents by an average of 48.5 points per game. Now, for the first time since December 17, they will battling a D1 opponent. This one comes in the Dr Pepper Classic Championship Game.
Georgia State got hot shooting from three point range against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, making 9 of 20, and also shooting 52.8% from the field. On the year, they are not that good of a shooting team. Prior to the first round game, they were shooting 43.4% from the field, good for 191st in the country. They are shooting just 35.7% from three point range on the year prior to the game. Those are not exactly good numbers. They will look to continue the hot shooting.
Brandon McGee, Eric Buckner, and Jihad Ali are the frontline for Georgia State, and they have generally been the go-to players for the Panthers. They are the top three rebounders on the team, and the top three scorers.
Dante Curry made six threes against the Islanders, as the Panthers jumped out to a 20-2 lead. Devonta White also had a big game. McGee and Buckner combined for 13 rebounds and 17 points.
The Panthers are 83rd in the country in rebounding, with 38.0 rebounds per game heading into the game against TAMU-CC. The Mocs are ranked 31st in the country, and helped themselves tonight with more than 45 rebounds, which is higher than their average.
Both teams like to get up and down the floor, but both teams are better defensive teams than offensive teams. Both teams are trying to get themselves ready for the conference games that are coming up in January.
KEYS TO THE GAME
--Rebounding. With both teams being good rebounding teams, this will be an interesting stat to watch.
--Turnovers. Bell and the Mocs committed 14 against Montreat, while the Panthers forced the Islanders into 17. The Mocs need to keep their turnovers under control.
--Jefferson, Saffore, Early vs. Buckner, McGee. Their bigs are better than our bigs. I hope our bigs read this and play inspired basketball to prove me wrong. They are capable. They need to keep their bigs from dominating and see what happens.
--Curry and White's shooting. If they stay as hot as they were against the Islanders, it will become much more difficult to contain their inside game and come up with the win.
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS WIN
--Celebrate another Dr Pepper Classic Championship!
--Start preparing all the month end stuff for the blog.
--Feel good about getting back to .500 against D1 opponents.
WHAT I'LL DO IF THE MOCS LOSE
--Wonder if we'll lose to Georgia Southern like Georgia State did.
--Hope that Georgia State turns out to be one of the biggest surprises of the CAA.
--Try to console myself with memories of losing the Dr Pepper Classic Championship Game in the 1996-97 season, right before going to the Sweet Sixteen.
--Sigh, take a deep breath, and go to bed realizing that tomorrow is another day.
LEAD PIPE LOCK PREDICTIONS THAT ARE SURE TO GO WRONG
--Troy Cage will play another big role off the bench.
--Bell will score more than he did against Montreat (zero points).
--Taylor will hit a few huge shots.
--McGee and Buckner will have their moments against the Mocs bigs.
--Jefferson will accept the challenge and end up with double digit bords.
--Mocs 73, Georgia State 70. Georgia State can't possibly shoot that well from three point range two nights in a row, right? Jefferson and Early will hold their own against the Panther bigs. Taylor will make the big shot to help the Mocs put things away in the end. This should be a very good game against an OK CAA team.
GO MOCS!
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