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ATLANTA – The University of South Alabama men's basketball team shot just 29.3 percent and turned the ball over 17 times in a 79-51 defeat at Georgia State Thursday night at the GSU Sports Arena.

The Panthers win for the fifth straight time against the Jaguars and improve to 18-8 overall and 11-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars fall to 9-18 and 7-9.

"In the first half I thought we defended really well," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "We held them to under 40 percent shooting, and as you look through the stats, we got to the free-throw line six more times in the first half. The biggest difference was our execution; we turned the ball over way too much. In the first half, they took 10 more field goals than we did, and 18 more for the game. When you give a team as skilled as theirs that many more opportunities, it's a recipe for disaster and that's what it ended up being tonight."

The Jags converted just 20.0 percent (4-20) in the second half, while the Panthers shot 57.1 percent (16-28) for a 43-23 advantage in points after halftime.

"Unfortunately it got worse and it was frustrating because it was hard to get any flow to the game; it seemed like there was a whistle on both sides every minute, and it turned into an execution game and unfortunately we got out-executed," Graves said.

Freshman Taishaun Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the only Jaguar in double-digit points with 19. He shot 14-for-16 from the free-throw line and dished out three of the team's six assists. The 14 free throws are tied for eighth in school history.

"He took advantage of how the game was being called and put his head down, got fouled and got to the free-throw line," Graves said. "He did a good job of converting them."

Georgia State used three runs of plus-10 or better in the second half—four for the game—and scored the last 12 points of the contest to pull away.

Up nine with 17:46 to play, GSU scored the next eight points—six from Markus Crider—and 14 of the next 18 to take a commanding 55-36 lead before the 12-minute mark. R.J. Hunter added the last four as the Panthers took advantage of five USA turnovers.

The Jaguars got as close as 14 on two occasions, but Jordan Session sparked a 10-0 run, scoring five of the team's points, while South Alabama missed all four field-goal attempts in a three-minute span.

USA ended the drought and reeled off the next eight points—six from the free-throw line—starting with a layup from sophomore Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) with 6:24 left. However, Boyanov's bucket would be the Jags' last of the game and Johnson's two free throws with 4:42 remaining would be the team's final points of the night.

Twenty-four of GSU's 43 second-half points came in the paint—compared to four for USA—and the Panthers converted 17 turnovers into 27 points.

"It was a lack of execution," said Graves. "We had too many guys standing around and not enough guys cutting through and doing what we needed. That's what was really frustrating; we spent several days preparing and we failed to execute."

Hunter led all scorers with 28 points and had eight assists against no turnovers. Crider scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and Session came off the bench to score 11 points with three steals.

Georgia State led from the outset and used a 21-6 spurt to take a 24-8 advantage midway through the first half, but South Alabama responded with a 10-2 rally to get within eight, and held GSU to 2-for-12 shooting in the final 7:33 of the half to trail by eight at the break.

The Jaguars travel to Georgia Southern for a clash on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.com.

NOTES: Georgia State's current five-game win streak against South Alabama is the school's longest in the series… USA averaged 52.5 points and shot 28.4 percent from the floor in two games this season against GSU… The Jaguars are averaging 84.0 points in Sun Belt wins and 61.4 points in SBC losses… Johnson is averaging 18.0 points against the Panthers this season, with over half his points coming from the free-throw line (20)… Hunter is averaging 25.2 points in his career against South Alabama; his 28 points tonight are the most by a USA opponent this season, and his eight assists are tied for the most… Senior Dionte Ferguson (Prattville, Ala.) had his six-game block streak snapped… USA's 20.0 second-half field goal percentage is a new season low; the previous season low after halftime came against Georgia State in Mobile… The Jags' lowest two field goal percentages this year are against GSU… Johnson has gotten to the free-throw line 32 times in his last two games; he is shooting 78.1 percent (25-31) over that span… Freshman Abdul Lewis (Newark, N.J.) recorded his seventh double-digit rebound game of the season—and second in a row—with 10; he is averaging 8.8 boards in his last four games… South Alabama has given up 59 points off turnovers in the last two games combined… Each team grabbed 31 rebounds.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—