After a poor first half by the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (14-9, 4-6 Sun Belt), it seemed like they would suffer another blowout against Georgia State (15-7, 8-2 Sun Belt). The narrative would change in the second half with the Cajuns rallying back from a 15-point deficit only to fall to the Panthers 85-82.
It would be all Georgia State right from the opening tip as they got out to a 13-5 lead with 16:14 left in the first half. They would get out to as much as a 20 point lead with eight minutes left in the first half before the Cajuns began to fight back and get the lead down to 15 points as they headed into the locker room.
The second half would start much like the first with Georgia State extending their lead and keeping control of the game. However, the Cajuns would fight back in the final 10:04 starting with a three from Jay Wright. The tide would begin to turn in favor of the Cajuns as they went on a 11-5 run to make it a 10 point deficit with 5:29 left. They were able to get it within one point with 55 seconds remaining before D’Marcus Simonds was fouled by Jay Wright and made both of his free throws.
With three seconds left on the clock, the Cajuns got the ball to their most reliable shooter from beyond in Hardy, but he would miss the shot and give the Cajuns their second straight loss.
The Cajuns will head over to Statesboro on Monday when they take on Georgia Southern (14-8, 7-2 Sun Belt) with tipoff set for 6 pm.
By the Numbers:
24: Number of points off of turnovers for the Cajuns. They were able to get things done in this aspect with 18 turnovers committed by Georgia State.
7: Number of threes made by Frank Bartley. This was a career high for Bartley and he ended up leading the Cajuns with 31 points. The more telling aspect of this is that Wright was the only other Cajun to make a three point shot.
16: Points off the fast break for Georgia State. The Panthers tore apart the Cajuns defense in this aspect of the game and made it look easy. It continues to be an issue going forward for the Cajuns to stop the fastbreak.
-Clint Domingue