What You Need to Know:
* Jeremy Hollowell scored 18 points and Isaiah Williams added 13 to lead Georgia State to a 58-46 win over Texas State on Saturday.
* The Panthers held their second team in the last four games to just 46 points as Texas State shot just 31.4 percent from the floor.
* Georgia State will return home to begin a five-game home-stand hosting Troy on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena.
SAN MARCOS, Texas-Led by 18 points from redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State cruised to a 58-46 win over Texas State at Strahan Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Hollowell sparked the Georgia State offense early in the first half, at one point having as many points (12) as the entire Texas State team. He finished 7-of-12 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers.
Redshirt-sophomore Isaiah Williams sparked the offense in the second half, knocking down three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points and four assists.
Despite forcing just 13 turnovers, the Panthers turned those turnovers into 20 points and managed to push the lead to as many as 17 points in the second half.
Georgia State (8-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) improved to 33-7 in conference games since returning to the Sun Belt in 2013-14. The Panthers are 55-16 in their last 71 games dating back to Dec. 14, 2013 and have won 14-of-18 games dating back to last season.
Texas State (7-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) saw its seven-game home winning streak snapped, ironically which started after a loss to Georgia State last season. The Bobcats entered play No. 3 in the country allowing just 58.3 points per game, but were not able to overcoming 31 percent shooting from the floor and 3-of-20 shooting from 3-point range.
“Really proud of the way our team stepped up defensively today,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “It's hard to hold a team to just 46 points but our guys followed the game plan we laid out and it worked extremely well.
“I'm equally proud of the way Jeremy Hollowell and Isaiah Williams stepped up today. When those guys play like that, we become a team very difficult to beat.”
Texas State took an early 8-4 lead before the Panthers responded and took a 9-8 lead, its first of the game, with 13:37 to play. It was part of an 8-0 run that gave Georgia State a 12-8 lead with 11:58 remaining. Hollowell scored seven-straight points during the run as the Panthers took the lead and never trailed again.
Leading 14-12, Georgia State used a 7-0 run to take a 21-12 lead with 6:46 remaining and went into the locker room leading 26-16.
Georgia State held Texas State to just 23 percent shooting in the first half and 0-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, while forcing nine turnovers which led to 14 points.
Texas State opened the second half cutting the Panthers lead in half to just five with 19:11 to play, but that was as close as the Bobcats would get.
Leading by six, Georgia State used an 8-0 run early in the second half to push the lead to 41-27 with 13:39 remaining.
Trailing 56-39, Texas State made one last run to cut Georgia State's lead to 56-46 before the Panthers closed the game out.
Senior T.J. Shipes added four points and eight rebounds for the Panthers, while senior Markus Crider chipped in six points and seven rebounds.
Texas State was led by Kavin Gilder-Tilbury who scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Georgia State held leading scorer Emani Gant to just eight points and seven rebounds.
Georgia State open the home portion of the conference schedule on Thursday facing Troy at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for that game are available by calling 404-413-4020 or by visiting GeorgiaStateSports.com.
