McMorrow contributes 13 points, seven rebounds

ATLANTA, Ga. – An uncharacteristically poor offensive outing doomed Tennessee Tech in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament on Tuesday as the Golden Eagles fell 74-43 at Georgia State.

Tech shot 28 percent from the field, and three-pointers were especially hard to come by – the Golden Eagles went 2-for-22 from beyond the arc.

Senior center Liam McMorrow provided a bright spot for Tech, finishing with 13 points – two points shy of tying his career-high – and adding seven rebounds. The Golden Eagles also got seven points apiece from Jud Dillard and Kevin Murphy, who finishes his Tech career as the school's all-time leader in games played and ranks second all-time in scoring.

Terrell Barnes finished the evening with nine rebounds to go with two points and three assists while Zach Bailey added five points and two helpers.

Devonta White paced Georgia State with a career-high 24 points and James Fields added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers. Josh Micheaux added seven assists and five points for GSU.

With the loss, Tech finishes the 2011-12 campaign 19-14 while GSU improves to 22-11 and will continue play in the second round of the CIT this weekend.

After the two teams fought to a 7-7 tie with 15:40 left in the first half, Georgia State went on a 15-2 run to take a commanding 22-9 lead at the 10:03 mark. The Panthers would slowly grow that lead, capping off the first half with a Fields three-pointer that gave them their largest lead so far at 42-21. The Golden Eagles never launched a serious rally in the second half.

Georgia State shot 53 percent from the field and went 7-for-18 from three-point range. The Panthers outscored Tech 40-26 in the paint and 17-7 on fast break points. GSU held a five-rebound advantage over the Golden Eagles.

The TTU bench did outscore the Panther bench 21-16.