Ragin’ Cajuns Advance Past Texas State In Sun Belt Tournament

It wasn't pretty. As a matter of fact, it was downright ugly at points, but the Ragin' Cajuns defeated Texas State, 53-43, to advance in the Sun Belt Tournament.

The rims at Lakefront Arena tried their hardest to foil the Cajuns' efforts, denying 16 straight shot attempts at one point. At the end of the first half, Shawn Long and Jay Wright had a combined one, count it, one point. A win is a win, so we take back that part about it being ugly.

Associate Head Coach and Director of Basketball Operations Mike Murphy saw the Cajuns push through adversity that could have broke a weaker team.

"They very easily could have wilted when Texas State went up by nine in the second half," Murphy said.

Kasey Shepherd provided 13 of his 16 total points (5-11 FG, 2-6 3pt, 4-4 FT) down the stretch to help seal things, which coincided with the 25 total points off the bench for UL. Freshman Johnathan Stove was the only other Cajun in double figures (10 pts, 2-3 FG), taking aggressive drives that resulted in whistles and some easy shots (6-6 FT).

On a night where the shots weren't falling and Shawn Long sat down with 12:56 still left to play because of four fouls, the defending Sun Belt Champions simply found a way to push through.

"Tonight we got it done by committee," Coach Murphy said. "Kasey Shepherd on offense, Devonta Walker on defense..."

When shots aren't falling, which they weren't (16-52 FG, 30.8%), you end up relying on defense and second-effort chances. The Cajuns came up with both of those in clutch time, outrebounding the Bobcats 23-8 in the second half, while holding them to 2-10 FG's down the final stretches to secure the victory.

In tournament scenarios, there is no time to watch the tape from your losses and improve. It's survive and advance or pack your bags and watch the Madness from the couch. Knowing that Shawn Long would only score six points and Jay Wright would have half that number, no betting man would have laid down cash on the Cajuns...but they defied the odds.

Georgia State awaits them Saturday at 2 pm. Both teams have wanted a piece of each other all year, and they'll finally get to relive last year's Sun Belt Championship game with a chance to advance to this year's trophy game. It was clear from Coach Bob Marlin's team's win over Texas State that they're willing to do whatever necessary to reach the next round, so what will be the formula against the Panthers?

One thing will be for certain: it would be hard for them to overcome much more than they did against Texas State.