ATLANTA, Ga. – After leading by three at halftime, the South Alabama men's basketball used a dominant second half to surge past Georgia State 77-51, winning its fourth game in a row, Thursday night in GSU Convocation Center. The Jags earned their 10th win of the season and improved to 2-0 in conference play, while the Panthers dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-2 in Sun Belt play.
Following a 33-30 advantage at the break, the Jags outscored Georgia State 40-12 over the next 16 minutes of the second half to take a commanding 73-42 lead with 5:05 remaining in the game and breeze to yet another victory of 26 or more points.
Barry Dunning Jr. posted a monstrous career-high of 22 points, shooting 9-of-17 from the field while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. Judah Brown kept cooking from behind the arc and hit 5-of-9 three-pointers to finish with 15 points on the night.
JJ Wheat was incredibly efficient, finishing with 13 points, shooting 6-of-6 from the field with five rebounds, four assists, and three assists. John Broom played gritty in the paint the whole night, scoring 10 points with four rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
Myles Corey finished without double figures once again, scoring nine points, but posted a game-high seven assists, four rebounds, and three steals.
South held a 10-4 lead heading into the first media timeout as Corey, Broom, and Fasoyiro all muscled in fastbreak layups off steals to open the game.
After the Panthers grabbed the lead with an 8-0 run, the Jaguars answered back with a commanding surge as Dunning knocked down mid-range jumpers and Brown hit two deep threes in back-to-back possessions to a 31-20 with under four minutes remaining.
Georgia State found a response of their own and closed the half with five straight buckets, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer to trim their halftime deficit to 33-30.
South Alabama jumped on the Panthers after the halftime break and never looked back. The Jags outscored Georgia State 35-7 in the next 11:30 minutes to take a commanding 73-42 lead. Brown and Broom made five three-pointers in that run and Dunning scored 12 second-half points as the Jags earned their largest win over Georgia State in series history.
Notes
- South Alabama has started 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time since 2018-19.
- In their last three games, the Jags have an average margin of victory of 35.
- The Jaguars won the rebounding battle for the third straight game 34-31, including 13 offensive rebounds.
- South logged 19 assists in tonight's game, marking the 10th time this season the Jags have posted 15 or more assists in a game.
- South forced 16 Georgia State turnovers while only committing six turnovers.
- The Jags scored 23 points off turnovers compared to Georgia State.
- Dunning is averaging 18.25 points and six rebounds in his last four games.
- Wheat's efficiency remained astronomical tonight, dishing out seven assists while committing two turnovers. His assist/turnover ratio is now (A:47, TO:13).
Up Next
South Alabama will face Georgia Southern on the backend of the road trip on Saturday, Jan.4 at 2 p.m. CT.
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