College Basketball
The SEC Tournament
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Most people associate March Madness with the start of the NCAA Tournament, but for most teams the madness begins the week prior, with the conference tournaments.
You’ve got some teams whose only shot at making the big dance is by winning their conference championship. Then you have those lovely “bubble teams” that need to have an impressive showing to help sway the committee to include them. And finally, you have those teams that are safely in, but can improve their seeding with a few conference tournament wins. The SEC Tournament runs the whole gamut this year.
There are seven SEC teams entering the start of the conference tournament that need to win the whole thing in order to hear their name called on Selection Sunday.
Out of those seven teams- South Carolina and the bottom six in the standings- if I had to pick one that could possibly make a run, I’d probably go with South Carolina. Not that I think they will do it, but if I had to choose a Jim Carrey “So you’re saying there’s a chance” team, it would be the Gamecocks.
The bubble teams get a little more interesting. Most bracketologists have Florida in, but I just don’t see it. Outside of their win against LSU, they don’t have another Top 25 win while having a few questionable losses.
They also have a worse conference record, and only more win, than a South Carolina team that beat the Gators in their only matchup, but isn’t even being considered to be a tournament team.
Ole Miss, and I guess to an extent, Auburn, are the other two that seem to be on the fringe. I think both of those have proven enough that even a first game exit shouldn’t prevent them from making the tournament. That said, getting a conference tournament win would solidify things a little more, especially for the team from Oxford.
Out of the “locks” Tennessee and Kentucky are playing for a possible one seed, but LSU is the team that intrigues me. With Will Wade’s indefinite suspension for what equates to a seven year old telling his teacher he isn’t chewing gum only to have the gum fly out of his mouth, how will the Tigers adjust?
They are deserving of a two seed, regardless of how they perform in the SEC tournament, but if they lose their first game would the committee downgrade them to a three seed?
The committee has shown in the past they do take player injuries and player availability into consideration when seeding; it’s not beyond the realm of possibility they could do the same thing if a team’s coach has been suspended due to recruiting violations.
As for that one seed battle between Kentucky and Tennessee, I think it depends on how Duke performs in the ACC tournament.
Gonzaga, Virginia, and UNC are all but guaranteed a one seed; if the Blue Devils were to win the ACC with a healthy Zion, I don’t think you can keep them from a one seed, either. If not, it’ll be between the Volunteers and Wildcats for that final coveted spot.
The casual fan won’t start tuning in until next week, which is a shame. For many teams their NCAA tournament has begun.
The buzzer beaters, the joy, the tears, all those things are already taking place in conference tournaments. March madness is here. Let the fun begin.
Feeling Blue
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college basketball regular season is winding down this week. Before the season began, Duke looked to be head and shoulders above everyone else.
Then they played archrival North Carolina and Zion Williamson was injured 33 seconds after tip off. We all saw his shoe explode and he’s been out with a knee sprain.
Zion is extremely explosive and he will be the top pick in the upcoming NBA draft. He has missed the last three games and we do not know when he will return. The question is can Duke still win a title without Zion?
I’ll give a quick recap of how life has been without Zion. The Blue Devils lost to UNC the game he was injured. They followed that up by getting revenge against Syracuse. Then they lost on the road to No. 20 Virginia Tech. They finally looked good against Miami, routing the Hurricanes 87 – 57.
On paper, Duke has the talent to still be a number one seed. They signed the top three recruits in 2019. RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish are also projected to be top five draft picks. The weak link has been point guard Tre Jones. Jones was five-star recruit and the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2018.
Jones averages 8.5 points per game and 5 assists per game. In the game against Va Tech, the Hokies did not guard him. They dared him to shoot and collapsed the extra defender in the paint. He has to play like the elite player he was projected to be to give the Blue Devils a chance to win it all.
Coach K has given us some updates about Zion and if he will return.
“No. He hasn’t done anything with contact,” Krzyzewski said. “But he’s moving really well. But contact makes you do things that you don’t think about. You have to get past that phase of things. We’re not in any hurry or whatever.
“The other thing with Zion, he’s an exquisite athlete. There aren’t people like him, athletically,” Krzyzewski said. “And so, he has to be 100 percent so that his body has always responded instinctively to what his mind and heart feel. And his body then, well, we’ve seen it. You can’t put him out there with any less than that. You cannot. You cannot. And we won’t. We won’t. But it’s getting better.”
The remaining regular season games are against Wake Forest and at North Carolina. The game against the Demon Deacons will be an easy win so I expect him to sit out. I think the season finale against UNC is where Zion will make his return. There is a lot on the line with that game in addition to being the best rivalry in college basketball.
UNC and Virginia are tied for first place in the ACC. Duke is one game behind them in second place. Winning the final two games will give them at least a share of the regular season ACC title.
That should be enough to guarantee them a No. 1 seed and possibly the top overall seed. This will make the path to the Final Four much easier.
The Madness Begins
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As the college basketball season winds down and teams on the outside looking in began to focus on what they can do to make the tournament, there are a handful of teams that will begin their preparation for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Below is a list of those teams I believe have a legitimate shot at cutting down the nets on April 8. Most teams will seem obvious, but there may be one or two surprises thrown in.
My Projected #1 Seeds: Duke, Gonzaga, Virginia, Tennessee
Duke- Two of their three losses this year have been accompanied with an injury to one of their freshmen (Syracuse- Tre Jones, UNC- Zion). When healthy, Duke has the most talent in the country and their best will beat everyone else’s best.
Problem is they’re as top heavy in talent as a weightlifter who has never used a leg machine. If any of the four freshmen are injured or in foul trouble, they’re vulnerable.
Gonzaga- Tell me if you’ve heard this before: “They’re an experienced team without any glaring weaknesses, but will their weak conference schedule hinder them come tournament time?” This team may be better than one that played UNC for the title a few years ago.
Virginia- Go ahead and get the UMBC jokes out of your system now, this team isn’t losing in the opening round.
They’re pace is slow and they’re not the most exhilarating team to watch, but they may be the best.
Tennessee- Probably one of the deepest, most complete teams in the country. Unfortunately, their coach is as allergic to winning tournament games as my teenage daughter is to cleaning her room.
In 20 NCAA Tournament appearance with Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee, Rick Barnes has made it past the opening weekend six times- none in the last seven tries. The talent is there to make a run, but is the coaching?
If the Bracket Fits: UNC, Kentucky, Michigan State
UNC- Think of a less talented Tennessee team, but with much better coaching. Obviously, I think there’s enough talent for the Tarheels to win or I wouldn’t list them here, but after their win in Durham I may be suffering more from “prisoner of the moment” syndrome than anything.
Kentucky- One of Calipari’s less talked about teams, in recent years at least. Yet, he always seems to have his players ready come tournament time, and this year’s squad is no different.
A lot is going to be riding on PJ Washington’s shoulders, but if any one of the Keldon Johnson, Tyler Herro, or Reid Travis trio can step up and play consistently, they are as dangerous as anyone.
Michigan State- I’ll be honest, I’m including the Spartans because of Tom Izzo; I just assume his team is going to make tourney run every year. If Izzo doesn’t have to face Duke or North Carolina (I’m pretty sure he’s a combined 1-2387 against them) Michigan State will probably be in the mix.
Visit from the Fairy Godmother: Marquette
Marquette- It’s not always the best team that wins, sometimes it’s the team whose best player has the hot hand. Dwayne Wade came close to pulling it off when he carried the Golden Eagles to the Final Four in 2003; could Markus Howard be that guy in 2019?
If Duke is completely healthy by the start of the tournament, they’re my pick to win it all in Minneapolis. Of course, if my past predictions are any indication, you’re better off betting the field.
Destination Unknown
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
To say that the Sun Belt men’s basketball race is wide open might not be doing things justice.
If the regular season race were put in terms of a horse race, the pack would be rounding the final turn with mud flying in all directions and no one hitting their finishing kick just yet.
With seven games remaining for most Sun Belt teams, Texas State and UT Arlington are tied for the top spot. But there are six more teams within three games of the top and no listing of the conference standings will be safe until the dust settles on March 9.
Georgia Southern is one of the huge mob of teams sitting just off the pace. The Eagles split a pair of tough road games in Louisiana last week and are currently tied with UL Monroe and Coastal Carolina at 6-5 in conference play.
A strong finish could easily see the Eagles snag a top-2 finish and a free pass all the way to the semifinals of the conference tournament, but a few more losses could force them to win as many as four games in New Orleans if they want to take home the title.
It’s been an up-and-down ride for Georgia Southern this season, but now is the time for it to show the talent and leadership that has been four years in the making.
When this year’s senior class were freshmen, they were thrown right into the fire. Guys like Tookie Brown, Ike Smith and Montae Glenn showed promise, but also had to learn lessons about the college game the hard way as they were immediately inserted into the lineup.
The trio has grown – and has soaked up plenty of help in the classes that have come after them – and knew it would have one more shot for a tournament run this spring.
Unfortunately, Smith will have to watch from the sidelines as he has been ruled out for the year with a back injury. Glenn felt that pain – literally – last season when he injured a knee during conference tournament practice and never saw the floor in New Orleans.
Brown has been the steady hand throughout his career and this is unquestionably his team, but it will take a trip to the NCAA tournament to elevate his status at Georgia Southern from great to legendary.
So, while things haven’t gone to script and the Eagles will be short-handed down the stretch, it’s also fair to say that this should be their time to shine.
The Sun Belt is as deep as it has ever been, but the Eagles have already proven that they can play with anyone in the league. Come conference tournament time, the majority of players in the lineup will have played big roles and meaningful minutes in previous trips to New Orleans.
While the win-loss record isn’t where many hoped it would be at this point in the season, the Eagles have to realize that everything important – including, hopefully, their best basketball – is still ahead of them.
For the upperclassmen on this year’s team, no refresher course is needed on what can go wrong at the end of the season. Bad breaks, fluke injuries and hot-shooting opponents have all spelled disaster for Georgia Southern in previous late-season games and conference tournaments.
They’ve learned all of the tough lessons and no one doubts their ability to be the better team when things are going right for them. But they’re out of time to worry about what obstacles might pop up in the coming weeks.
If the Eagles want to win, they’ll have to put it all together and they’ll have to start right now.
Blue Blooded
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Duke is one of the blue blood programs in college basketball. The Blue Devils have won five national championships under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. This year’s team might be the best he has ever coached.
They signed the top 3 players in the 2019 recruiting class which is something that has never been done before. Those players are R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish. They also snagged point guard Tre Jones. He was ranked No. 10 overall and the top point guard.
So far, the star freshmen have lived up to the hype. They opened the season pummeling No. 5 Kentucky 118 – 84.
Williamson looks like a lock to be the top pick in the 2019 draft. He’s one of the most explosive players I’ve ever seen. It seems like every game he has an amazing dunk or blocked shot. He averages 22 ppg, 9 rpg, 2 steals per game and 2 blocks.
Barrett leads the team in scoring with 23 ppg. He also gets 7 rpg and 4 assists per game. Reddish adds 14 ppg.
They are currently ranked second in the nation behind Tennessee. Their two loses came against No. 3 Gonzaga and unranked Syracuse. The Blue Devils have one loss in conference play and are first in the ACC.
The schedule consists of wins against several top 15 opponents like Kentucky, Auburn, Texas Tech, Florida State and Virginia. They swept both meetings against the No. 3 Cavaliers, which are their only losses of the season. They beat them over the weekend 81 – 71 in Charlottesville. LeBron James was there to watch the talented freshmen.
“We were just in our zone and it’s great to see when our team is like that,” Barrett said.
“It’s any given night for all of us,” Reddish said after finishing 5 of 8 from beyond the arc, with three coming in a span of less than three minutes.
The next game is at No. 16 Louisville. The remaining schedule has two games against arch rival No. 8 North Carolina, NC State, Miami, Wake Forest, No. 22 Virginia Tech and a rematch at home against Syracuse.
The only game I think they could be in danger of losing is one of the match ups with Carolina. I think it will be difficult to sweep the Tar Heels.
I expect Duke to finish as the best team in the ACC after the regular season and they should also win the conference tournament. I think they will be the top seed in the NCAA tournament.
Once March Madness begins anything can happen. There are always upsets so the most talented teams can get sent home. With a team led by freshmen they could struggle against an experienced team.
For instance, I think the best team at Duke was the 98-99 team. That team had four players drafted within the first fourteen picks of the 1999 draft. They were undefeated in the ACC and only lost one game during the season. They lost the national championship game to UConn by three points.
They will be the favorite to win it all but it’s not a sure thing. If this team can stay focused and win the championship, they will be the best team in program history.
Bee Killer
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Josh Pastner era at Georgia Tech has not been successful thus far. Since taking over as head coach in 2016, he had his best record during his first season, going 21 – 16. The following 2017 – 18 season Tech was 13 – 19.
At this point it might be time for Tech (11–9, 3–4 ACC) to pull the plug. Judging from his previous track record the Yellow Jackets are in for diminishing returns. Pastner replaced John Calipari at Memphis in 2009 and he initially had success.
He led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in four of the seven seasons he coached. In his final two seasons his teams went 18 – 14 (2014-15) and 19 – 15 (2015-16).
He has struggled to have consistent success in Atlanta and that has caused the program to accept mediocrity. He has a losing record against Clemson, only beating them once. Clemson is not a basketball powerhouse so that is alarming. The Tigers lost their first three ACC games going in to the Tech game and they won, 72 – 60.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has actually lost their last 14 games at Clemson. Tech has to win games against these types of opponents in order to have a chance at making it into the postseason. I can understand not having success against Duke and UNC but they have to beat the average ACC teams.
Before conference play began, they lost games against teams that are also struggling. In the ACC/Big Ten Challenge they lost to Northwestern. This is a program that just made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 and they are currently ninth in the Big Ten.
They also lost to St. John’s, Gardner-Webb and Georgia. St. John’s is sixth in the new Big East. A non-power five team like Gardner-Webb should not be able to come to Atlanta and win by ten points like they did. The Bulldogs (12-9) are seventh in the Big South so they are not one of the elite small school teams.
Losing to UGA is not acceptable because that’s obviously Tech’s biggest rival. It’s also alarming because the Dawgs (10-9) are struggling and are 11th in SEC play.
It’s going to be an uphill battle to have a winning record in conference play. They lost a close game to No. 12 Virginia Tech 52 – 49.
Georgia Tech beat Syracuse (14-6) on the road so that is a good win. The next game Syracuse beat No. 1 Duke. That gave fans hope that maybe they have a chance against the Blue Devils.
We saw that game this past weekend and Tech played much better than I expected. They played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is probably the toughest venue for road teams. They actually led No. 2 Duke at halftime by two points. They held the Blue Devils to a season-low 27 first-half points.
Then the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to eight points early in the second half. After that, Duke’s superior talent took over and they won 66 – 53.
“That’s our only way of survival in this league,” Pastner said. “We have to be really, really good defensively, and that’s who we’ve been in our time here. … That’s just kind of who we are and what we do, and if we don’t do that, we’re not going to have any chance of success.”
The next game is at home against No. 9 North Carolina. At this point we can almost guarantee another season without a tournament appearance. Once that happens, it’s time to make a coaching change.
A Louder Bark
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I was a sophomore in high school, driving around in a lime-green Chevy Chevette with a neon orange bumper sticker that read “Save gas, fart in a jar” the last time the Georgia men’s basketball program “officially” won a game in the NCAA tournament. (I’m sure I don’t have to remind you the 2002 win has been vacated, but just in case, that’s why it’s not counted.)
It’s been twenty-three years since the ‘96 team advanced to the round of 32 and while I don’t think that feeling of loss is going to change this year, there are definitely signs the streak could come to an end within the next two years.
Normally when a program has suffered through this type of drought, especially when playing in a major conference, it has to do with some mixture of coaching, talent, and sanctions. In Georgia’s case they hit the ineptitude trifecta.
It’s always been difficult to recruit top level talent to Athens, but I know the hope was all that would change when Tom Crean was hired; finally, a coach with the cache to bring in that top tier talent.
Crean has already started to show promise on the recruiting trail with two commitments from 4-star recruits and could really bolster things if he is able to land Anthony Edwards, a 5-star guard out of Atlanta. (Edwards is a heavy Florida State lean, but stranger things have happened.)
That being said, the likelihood of the Bulldogs making and winning a NCAA tournament game in the next two years isn’t based on who is entering the program, but rather the three standout sophomores currently on the team.
I doubt there was much fanfare when Nicolas Claxton, Rayshaun Hammonds, and Teshaun Hightower arrived on campus, but the trio are proving to be a sturdy foundation on which Crean can rebuild the program on.
Claxton is having an all-conference season this year and Hammonds isn’t too far behind and should be mentioned in the conversation of all conference player next year.
Hightower on the other hand has that aura of a being the player who tends be an afterthought when compared to the other two, but is quietly one of the most vital players on the team.
Really, besides injury or someone leaving early for the NBA, the only thing I see preventing them for turning things around is the fact the SEC has become a very good basketball conference. If I’m not mistaken it was just a few seasons ago where you had Kentucky in the Top 25 and maybe one other SEC team, but that was about it.
Now the conference has two to three legitimate top 10 teams and about six or seven that deserve the be in the top 25.
Georgia could arguably have their best team in years when the season starts next year, but struggle because the rest of the league has upped their game.
The talent is starting to show, as evident in Georgia’s recent victory over Texas, but it’s still a young team.
Tom Crean was brought in to bring respectability back to the men’s basketball program. Entering this season, it would’ve been easy to think he would need to bring in his own players to achieve that, but there are a few current players who don’t want to wait.
I parted ways with my old Chevette years ago; I think Georgia’s basketball team will be parting ways with their years of futility soon, too.
State Champs?
By: JJ Lanier
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
While both the Georgia and Georgia Tech basketball programs seem to be in a race back to mediocrity- one that neither team looks to be in a hurry to achieve- Georgia State has made a strong argument to carry the mantle of “best college basketball program in Georgia”.
It’s easy to dismiss what the Panthers have accomplished over the last five years. Including this season, since they play in the Sun Belt conference, but that would be a mistake.
Over that five years span, Georgia State has had more appearances in the NCAA than both Georgia and Georgia Tech combined (two to one) and is the only school with a tournament win, advancing to the Round of 32 in 2015 and 2018.
As a point of reference, the last time Tech won a NCAA tournament game was 2010. Georgia’s last tournament victory came in 2002, which technically has been vacated, so it’s actually 1996.
This year the Panthers have the most dynamic and arguably the best player of the three schools in D’Marcus Simonds, as well as Ron Hunter, whom I believe is the second-best coach of the three, behind Tom Crean.
(I’ve always thought Josh Pastner was overrated, and to be completely honest with you, I’d be surprised if he’s still coaching the Yellow Jackets after next season. Crean, I think, is a good coach that was in a little over his head in Indiana, but is a good fit in Athens.)
Georgia State was also crowned the de facto winners of the completely made up title “Intrastate champions of the sport most Georgia fans only watch when their remote is broken and they don’t want to walk over to the TV to change the channel”.
They were awarded this absolutely ridiculous title after Georgia defeated Georgia Tech, courtesy of Georgia State’s 91-67 victory over the Bulldogs. Basically, they’re state champions, in the loosest sense of the word.
There’s also a good chance when you include Georgia State’s victory over Alabama, that even though they aren’t in the SEC they will enter February with as many SEC conference wins as the Bulldogs-two.
Again, while they play in a lesser conference, they have more than proven they can compete when going up against a team from a major conference. Sure, they may not be able to hang with the Duke’s and Kentucky’s of the world, but there aren’t a lot of teams that can.
Even though their entire season and whether they’ll be back in the NCAA tournament will basically come down to the Sun Belt Conference tournament, they are still the state’s best shot at making the big dance.
Barring some unforeseen miracle occurring with either the Yellow Jackets or Bulldogs, both of their tournament hopes will rest on winning their respective conference tournaments, too. I don’t know about you, but if I have to choose between those three, I’m going with the Panthers.
As I mentioned, given the chance I think Tom Crean will have the Georgia program back to respectability within the next years. And given the law of averages, Georgia Tech is bound to trip up and bring in someone that can lead them back to the tournament with some semblance of consistency.
Until that time arrives, when it comes to basketball in the state of Georgia, the Georgia State Panthers are the team to beat.
Add another trip to the tournament this year and the rest of country may find out just how good they are, too.
Eagles Unlucky Feathers
By: Mike Anthony
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
To say that this season is “now-or-never” for the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team might be laying it on thick.
Sure, the Eagles have a trio of seniors in Tookie Brown, Ike Smith and Montae Glenn that have been the core of the team since forced into action as freshmen. It would be a shame for the group to rack up over a half-dozen All-Sun Belt nods between them without an NCAA tournament appearance to show for their effort.
But college basketball is as fickle a game as ever. A tough-luck loss here and an injury there can take even the best teams and leave them scrambling for a spot in March Madness.
There are still two full months of play remaining before the national tournament field is filled out, but Georgia Southern currently sits in that unenviable spot of being a team with a lot of potential that can’t seem to catch a break.
The season began with Iowa State transfer and expected frontcourt starter Simeon Carter sidelined for the first few weeks as he recovered from offseason surgery.
The concussion bug that bit Brown last season sank its teeth into two more Eagle reserves early in the season. That hurt the depth that head coach Mark Byington said would be key in the up-tempo transition game that the Eagles attempt to run throughout each game.
Soon after Carter got onto the floor, both Smith and Glenn went down with injuries. The Eagles were down two starters in their first two conference games and while Glenn was back in limited action.
Smith had to undergo surgery on his back. He hasn’t played since Dec. 14 against Brewton-Parker. Word from the team is that he will suit up soon, but no official return date has been announced.
Adding insult to the Eagles’ injury was a Saturday night showdown with Sun Belt power UL Lafayette. The Eagles and Ragin’ Cajuns have played plenty of exciting games at Hanner Fieldhouse since becoming conference rivals in the 2014-15 season.
Saturday was no exception as ULL controlled the action early before Georgia Southern attempted to win for a sixth time this season after trailing by at least 10 points in a game.
The Eagles looked to have pulled it off when Quan Jackson forced a steal and hit a layup for a one-point lead with 12 seconds to play, but a highly suspect traveling call took the points off the board and the Eagles went on to lose.
Georgia Southern is far from out of the running in what should be a very competitive Sun Belt race, but the bad breaks already suffered have to be wearing on the Eagles.
A blown lead at Texas State and Saturday’s controversial loss have the Eagles sitting at 2-2 in conference action. A quick look at the 14 remaining Sun Belt games also reveals that the Eagles’ toughest road games still lie ahead. Due to some unlucky scheduling, they will only have one game against some of the weaker Sun Belt teams as other front-runners have a pair of chances to fatten up.
None of this should be an excuse for the Eagles. They’re far from the only team dealing with injuries or ‘what-ifs’ of close games, but the first two months have been a stinging reminder that having a deep, talented and experienced roster on paper doesn’t win any games on the court.
The good news is that the Eagles are trending towards being healthier and still have plenty of time to work their way up the standings.
But the regular season will be over before long and a conference-wide letdown in early season play pretty much guaranteed that the Sun Belt will be just a one-bid league to the NCAA tournament.
So, it’s time for the Eagles to kick it into gear. They have the talent to get the job done, but it will take a good finish to the regular season and an even better showing for one final week in New Orleans in March.
Eagles Hard-Court Landing
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
In a back-and-forth ballgame, Georgia Southern rarely had the upper hand and couldn’t find a way to come out on top in the end.
Georgia Southern battled East Tennessee State on Tuesday night at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Buccaneers held a small lead throughout most of the game, but the Eagles fought hard and edged ahead several times down the stretch.
Georgia Southern took a 59-58 lead with 5:17 to play, but East Tennessee powered through the final minutes to claim a 69-64 victory and hand the Eagles their first loss of the season.
“I thought we battled and I thought we showed toughness,” GS coach Mark Byington said. “This will come back and help us later on. We missed some shots late and they made them. We did a lot of things right. The things we did wrong that cost us, I know we can fix.”
Tookie Brown led the way for the Eagles (5-1) with 16 points and Quan Jackson added 13 more in his return from an ankle injury suffered last week, but Georgia Southern was never able to turn the game into the free-flowing and high-scoring contests that it has benefitted from so far this season.
The slower pace was, in part, due to a solid effort from the Buccaneers (6-2), who utilized a big lineup to out-rebound the Eagles on both ends of the floor and prevent Georgia Southern from cranking up its transition game that has been a huge weapon so far this season.
At the same time, an Eagle lineup that saw the return of Jackson and the first minutes of the season from junior forward Simeon Carter may have also played a role in keeping the Eagles from finding their rhythm.
“I like our depth, but that means that we’re having a lot of guys working their way back from injuries and getting everyone involved,” Byington said. “We’re going to be a work in progress for a couple of weeks. We were out of rhythm in spots. We just need to learn what we’re like as a whole team.”
Tray Boyd III led ETSU with 17 points, with Isaiah Tisdale adding 15 and Patrick Good chipping in 13 more.
Neither team led by more than seven points during the game and the lead shifted several times in the middle of the second half.
The Bucs took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Boyd with 4:27 to play.
Brown made a pair of free throws to close within 66-64 with 57 seconds to play. Solid defense by the Eagles appeared to force a few extra steps by Mladen Armus, but no whistle sounded and Armus found Good for a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left that sunk the Eagles’ comeback hopes.
Georgia Southern began Tuesday night as just one of 25 Division I squads that were still undefeated. That lofty title is now gone, but the Eagles still have plenty to prove as they continue a very challenging non-conference schedule.
The Eagles won’t have to worry about Tuesday’s loss for long as travel plans are now in order. Georgia Southern is scheduled to catch a 5 a.m. flight out west as they now look forward to a Thursday night matchup against perennial national power Arizona.
“We want to improve on where we’ve come up short, but we don’t have time to dwell on this loss,” Byington said. “Arizona will be a tough test. East Tennessee will win 20 games and maybe be a tournament team.
“We don’t have a single second to feel sorry for ourselves. The games will keep getting tougher, but we’re going to be battle-tested by the time we get into conference play.”
