Georgia State faces a challenging road at Sun Belt tournament

“A short memory,” coach Jonas Hayes said.

Georgia State (10-21, 7-11) will open the tournament against No. 12 seed Louisiana-Lafayette (also 10-21, 7-11) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. GSU lost its only meeting to the Rajin’ Cajuns, 82-72, on the road Jan. 29.

A win would send the Panthers into a second-round game against No. 9 seed James Madison.

While a streak to the final is far-fetched, the Panthers have shown an ability to compete against everyone in the league. GSU split with No. 2 Marshall, No. 3 Coastal Carolina and No. 4 Appalachian State. The Panthers lost their lone meeting against No. 1 Troy and No. 6 South Alabama.

“I think from No. 1 to No. 13, it’s a three- or four-game separation,” Hayes said. “It’s going to be competitive.”

Friday’s regular-season finale against Old Dominion was a microcosm of the Georgia State season. The Panthers led at halftime and trailed by 2 points with two minutes left, but could not find a way to nail down the win, losing 81-73.

“Give credit to our guys who played hard,” Hayes said. “But playing hard and coming up short is not ever going to be good enough.”

During its past 10 games GSU has been in similar circumstances against South Alabama, James Madison, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern, succeeding only against its rivals from Statesboro. On the other hand, the Panthers were only beaten badly twice.

The Panthers enter the playoffs with one of the strongest trios of guards in the league — Jelani Hamilton, Malachi Brown and Micah Tucker. Hamilton (17.7 points), Brown (12.2 points) and Tucker (13.4 points) combine for 43 of the team’s 70 points per game.

Hamilton, a preseason all-conference pick, has enjoyed a breakout season. The 6-foot-2 redshirt sophomore from Wheeler High School scored 20 in the season finale, his 10 in double figures. Hamilton is an outside threat (51 3-pointers) but doesn’t hesitate to drive to the basket and draw fouls. It’s been a successful strategy; he ranks No. 22 in the nation by making 88.8% of his free throws (158-for-178).

Brown, a 6-1 junior from Buford, remains the team’s most effective 3-point shooter, leading the team with 59 and making 36.2%. He also has a team-high 94 assists and makes 81.3% of his free throws.

Tucker, a 6-3 freshman who emerged from Atlanta’s Overtime Elite, has made the biggest breakout. He has embraced his role as point guard (88 assists) and makes 81.4% of his free throws. Tucker is also an iron man; he played 38 minutes in the final game and averages almost 32 minutes.

“I’ve gotten to the point where I just don’t feel comfortable taking him off the floor,” Hayes said. “If you’d told me at the beginning of the year that Micah was going to play 38 minutes, I would have looked at you like (you) had 17 eyes. But he’s earned it.”