Eliel Nsoseme, strong guard play carried Panthers into March Madness, date with Gonzaga

PORTLAND – Georgia State doesn’t receive a ton of publicity in the Atlanta media market, but the Panthers made some noise last week capturing the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship.

The 16th-seeded Panthers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and a cross-country flight to Portland to face top-ranked Gonzaga on Thursday.

We connected with 247sports’ Ben Moore for a Q&A to learn more about the Panthers. He’s covered Georgia State basketball for 15 years and, in his words, attempted to walk-on in 1999-2000 when Lefty Driesell was Panthers head coach.

Spokesman-Review: The Panthers lost their first four Sun Belt games but responded by winning 12 of their last 13, including the last 10 in a row. What triggered the turnaround?

Moore: The Panthers were without the heart and soul of their team for the first 15 games and it showed in their energy level and especially on the defensive end. When All-Sun Belt center Eliel Nsoseme returned, GSU was far more organized on the defensive end and allowed the guards to take risks in the passing lanes, leading to a higher percentage of steals. The team is also senior laden with four senior starters and they have all mentioned that they were a bit embarrassed at how poorly they had played, especially on the road early on and they wanted to stamp themselves as champions after losing in the Sun Belt Tournament title game a year ago.

S-R: Eliel Nsoseme didn’t play for the Panthers until Jan. 6 because of a knee injury. How much of an impact has he had at both ends of the floor?

Moore: Eliel is a game wrecker and it’s not always just in his numbers but his energy, emotion and ability to allow the rest of the team to feed off him. He’s an extremely skilled offensive rebounder and gives relentless effort, which is contagious. His presence also allows fellow big man Jalen Thomas to block shots on the defensive end and move out to 15-18 feet to shoot outside jumpers which can stretch opposing defenses.

S-R: The Panthers’ defense has posted some impressive numbers, forcing 132 more turnovers than they’ve committed and accumulating 74 more steals than their foes. What’s Georgia State’s defensive philosophy?

Moore: Coach (Rob) Lanier will mix and match defense at times, but he demands a tough hard-nosed effort including full-court man to man and he has the experience at guard to make this happen. Super senior Kane Williams is the program’s all-time leader in steals and is a ballhawk in open space. The Panthers will mix in half-court traps as well as zone from time to time. GSU rotates very well defensively and tracks stops, including three straight stops which they call “kills.” This season, especially in conference play, they’ve been able to force teams in go on prolonged droughts from the field, including holding multiples teams to significantly below their season average in both field-goal percentage and points scored.

S-R: Georgia State’s top three scorers, Corey Allen, Kane Williams and Justin Roberts, are guards/wings and it sounds like they have the ability to score in different ways. Describe their games.

Moore: Allen is a potent shooter from distance and has been able to round out his game off the dribble. He has the ability to get in the lane and is very adept at getting his shot off.

Williams is a sleek lefty guard who prefers to drive to either create for himself or others. He’s excellent at drawing contact and is the program’s leader in free throws made and attempted.

Roberts is a clutch shooter and very solid from 3-point range. He’s smaller than his two senior counterparts but knows how to get to the rim and is very comfortable with an outside-in game.

S-R: What are one or two keys for Georgia State’s matchup with Gonzaga?

Moore: The Panthers will most definitely have to keep the pace slower. GSU will likely prefer to keep the game in the mid- to high 60s. Georgia State has been one of the better teams in the nation protecting the basketball and keeping their fouls down. The challenge gets significantly tougher on Thursday with a team that will have size, skill and athleticism that the team does not see in the Sun Belt. If the Panthers can keep the Bulldogs within reach in the second half and hit shots, things could get interesting.