Texas State men’s basketball (11-5 overall, 5-2 Sun Belt) fell to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (12-4 overall, 6-3 Sun Belt) in a 62-60 loss on Jan. 29. The defeat ended the Bobcats’ five-game winning streak.
Going into the contest, the Bobcats played eight straight road games, making it their first home game since Dec. 15.
Texas State previously faced the Ragin’ Cajuns in a doubleheader on Jan. 1-2, with each team coming away with a victory.
Texas State and Louisiana started the first half with high intensity. The Ragin’ Cajuns were first on the scoreboard after a dunk by junior forward Theo Akwuba. The Bobcats started 0-4 from the field, but a dunk by senior forward Isiah Small got the team its first field goal to bring the score to 5-3.
Louisiana’s lead hovered around five points for most of the half until it began to pull away late in the half. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ lead reached a high of nine points at 29-20 with 1:49 left in the period. The game went into halftime with Louisiana leading 31-24.
The Bobcats shot 34.6% (9-26) from the field overall and finished 0-11 from three-point land. Junior forward Alonzo Sule led the way for Texas State with eight points (3-3 FGS, 2-4 FTS).
Louisiana shot 40.7% (11-27 FGS, 4-11 3FGS) from the field. Senior guard Cedric Russell matched Sule’s scoring with eight points (3-7 FGS, 2-5 3FGS) in the first half.
When the second half began, the Bobcats went on a 7-0 run, beginning with a mid-range jumper from Sule and a three-pointer from senior forward Isiah Small to tie the game up at 31-31.
Louisiana seemed to get its groove back and scored six straight points to retake the lead 37-31. Texas State then went on a 7-0 run to take its only lead of the second half just over five minutes in.
The Ragin’ Cajuns retook the lead but, once again, the Bobcats made a comeback and tied the game at 44-44 with 7:22 to go.
Louisiana led by as much as seven points in the final five minutes, but a last-minute push by Texas State made the game a one-possession contest with under a minute left to play. A free throw by Russell brought the score to 62-58 with seven seconds on the clock. Texas State senior guard Shelby Adams made a layup with five seconds left, but it was too little too late.
Louisiana won the game 62-60, ending the five-game win streak for the Bobcats. In the second half, the Bobcats slightly increased their shooting percentage, finishing 35.9% from the field (23-64), 19% (4-21) for three-pointers and 62.5% (10-16) on free throws.
Harrell was the top scorer for the Bobcats, contributing 14 points (5-12 FGS, 4-6 FTS, 5 REBS). Sule finished with a total of 11 points (4-11 FGS, 3-6 FTS, 4 REBS).
For the Ragin’ Cajuns, Russell came out of the game with 21 points (7-15 FGS, 3-8 3FG, 5 REBS) to lead his team. Senior forward Dou Gueye had a double-double with 11 points (3-6 FGS, 4-6 FTS) and 10 rebounds.
Interim Head Coach Terrence Johnson says the team was under a lot of pressure going into the game which weighed on his players throughout the game.
“We were just a tad bit too emotional today, a little bit tight, living and dying with every mistake and every shot made or missed,” Johnson says. “Too up and down and too emotional which is often the case when you put that amount of pressure on yourselves.”
The Bobcats will complete their doubleheader against the Ragin’ Cajuns at 4 p.m. on Jan. 30 at Strahan Arena.
