Georgia State has had the full attention of college basketball fans around the state for a few days, thanks to the early conference-tourney exits of Georgia Tech and UGA.
Come Sunday, the Panthers will expand that attention base to the nation at large as they chase their third NCAA Tournament berth in five years.
How did Georgia State cruise to the championship game of the Sun Belt Conference tourney?
For Saturday's neutral-court semifinal in New Orleans, GSU's ball-hawking defense coerced Texas State into shooting only 21.3 percent from the field; and the offense had just enough timely punch and balance to produce the 59-46 win over the Bobcats.
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In victory, the Panthers were led by the rock-solid trio of Jeff Thomas (12 points, six rebounds), D'Marcus Simonds (11 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and Malik Benlevi (15 points, 10 rebounds).
As the regular-season champion and the Sun Belt tourney's top seed, Georgia State (23-9 overall) should be a prohibitive favorite in Sunday's title game – regardless of opponent.
That said, it's only natural to cheer for Georgia Southern knocking off Texas-Arlington in the other semifinal game ... setting up an all-Georgia clash for the Sun Belt crown.
For 11Alive Sports' updated Bracketology projections, including Georgia State's presumptive seed destination for the NCAA tournament, click here.
