Georgia State Basketball: 3 keys for Round of 64 matchup against Gonzaga

The Guards

Every team in the tournament has their key players who they can turn to bail them out and get some clutch baskets. Every successful team also has a core group of players who have been through the trials and the tribulations and have learned how to win and play their brand of basketball.

The Panthers have just that in their three guards. All guards are seniors and have all been in the program for four years and they all used their extra Covid year to run it back to make the NCAA tournament. They succeeded and now get the chance to show everyone what they can do.

Georgia State only scores about 70 points per game and their three guards Corey Allen, Kane Williams and Justin Roberts are the only players who average over double-figure scoring. These three also anchor the defense and each of them is great and different things.

Allen is the leading scorer and a good shooter from deep. Williams and Roberts are both guys who get downhill and get fouled a ton. They both shoot over 75% from the free throw line. Roberts is the best shooter of the lot as he shoots about 40% from deep.

These guys are going to have to control the game, they are going to have to keep their heads on a swivel as Gonzaga is very adept at passing. All three guys average over a steal per game and are all great individual defenders. They are going to be tasked with picking up their usual scoring load and trying to disrupt Gonzaga’s offense and force them to be very deliberate in the half-court. The goal is going to be to try and deny Gonzaga easy looks at the rim.

It is all obviously easier said than done but the guards are going to be up for the task. If they are not playing well this could get ugly for Georgia State in a hurry. If they play as they have during their run in March, the game has a chance to be the closest 1 vs 16 game in the tournament.