March 19, 2015: Georgia State guard Ryann Green, left, and Baylor guard Austin Mills, right, battle for the ball during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Rick Wilson)
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Baylor was in complete control, and then it fell apart in the final three minutes. It was quite the surprise for coach Scott Drew.
No. 3 seed Baylor was unable to handle Georgia State's full-court defensive pressure down the stretch and lost 57-56 on R.J. Hunter's long 3-pointer in the closing seconds of their NCAA Tournament game on Thursday.
Rico Gathers' two foul shots with 2:54 left put Baylor up by 12, but the Bears (24-10) didn't score again. They finished with 21 turnovers.
"The thing I'm disappointed with is all year long we've executed down the stretch," Drew said. "We've been a tough team, and I feel bad the way that the last five minutes went."
Hunter's 3 with 2.7 seconds remaining capped the comeback for No. 14 seed Georgia State and knocked his proud father, coach Ron Hunter, right off his seat.
With dad working the sideline in a rolling chair less than a week after tearing his left Achilles tendon while celebrating the Sun Belt Conference championship, R.J. shrugged off a slow start to come through when his team needed him the most.
Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year Taurean Prince had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Baylor.
Pesky Georgia State (25-9) forced three crucial turnovers as Hunter scored nine in a row during the closing surge, including a 3-pointer that brought chants of "R.J. 3! R.J. 3! R.J. 3!" from Panthers fans at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
The junior guard's steal and layup trimmed Baylor's lead to 56-53, and he drained another NBA-range 3 for the win after the Bears' Kenny Chery missed the front end of a 1-and-1 that could have put the game away.
"He just made a contested 3. There was nothing we could do about it. We did our job and he just made it," Chery said.
Baylor, which also squandered a double-digit lead in the first half, appeared to be in good shape after Royce O'Neale and Lester Medford made 3-pointers during a 12-1 burst that turned a one-point deficit into a 52-42 lead. But the Bears couldn't finish the job.
"We've been preparing all season for moments like these," O'Neale said of the shot that ended the Bears' season. "He just made a good shot."
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