The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Men's Basketball team took a trip to San Marcos, Texas to face Sun Belt Conference opponent Texas State.

Both teams played things pretty evenly halfway through the first half as Texas State got out to an 18-17 lead. However, the Bobcats proceeded to go on a 10-0 run from there and snag a 28-17 advantage.

The Cajuns were really struggling from the field towards the end of the first half as they went more than 10 minutes without a field goal, the only thing that was keeping them in the game was that the Bobcats were consistently turning the ball over.

Unfortunately, the nightmare first half concluded with Texas State shooting 52% from the field while Louisiana shot an abysmal 27% and was trailing 35-23. Coach Marlin always talks about how important the three-point shooting is and UL didn't shoot it well at only a 14% clip...

Something needed to change after the half.

As the second half got underway the misfortune continued for Louisiana as the Bobcats went on a 9-0 run to take a 44-28 lead.

At the 7:42 mark the Cajuns went on a 13-3 run to close the gap on Texas State as the Bobcat lead was trimmed to seven at 53-46. Cedric Russell then hit a big three to pull UL to within four at 55-51!

As the game was coming down the stretch, UL continued to press forward and actually took the lead briefly when Jakeenan Gant hammered home a dunk, 62-61. On the following possession, it was Nijal Pearson who nailed a three to give the Bobcats back the lead at 64-62 with just over a minute to go.

Louisiana then turned the ball over down two, Bobcats couldn't extend the lead and Justin Miller got an open look at a three but it came up short. Louisiana would fall at Texas State and just like that their three-game winning streak was snapped.

Cedric Russell got the Cajuns back into the game as he poured in a career-high 25 points and shot 5-9 from distance. Jakeenan Gant added 13 points, all in the second half and a career-high 17 rebounds.

Overall, UL shot just 32% from the field, 6-24 from three-point range, and were outrebounded 40 to 34.

With the loss, the Cajuns fall to 16-11 overall and 7-7 in the Sun Belt Conference.

Up next, Louisiana will return home for their final two games at the Cajun Dome of the 2019 season to face Coastal Carolina on Thursday, February 28th at 7 pm.

 

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