The Louisiana men’s basketball team completed another weekend series sweep on Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns defeated the Texas State Bobcats 74-73 to improve to 13-4 on the season and 7-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Louisiana earned their first weekend series sweep last week against Arkansas State.
How It Happened:
Louisiana jumped out to a 7-point lead early in the first half. They led 17-10 with 12:23 left in the first.
Texas State responded with an 18-8 run to take a 28-25 lead with 5:48 remaining in the half.
Bobcats’ Mason Harrell made a jumper to give his team a four-point lead with 4:36 remaining.
Cedric Russell and Brayan Au tied the game at 32 after a jumper and made free throws.
Devin Butts and Russell hit back-to-back 3-pointers for the Ragin’ Cajuns, but the Bobcats kept it close with a 3-pointer of their own.
Louisiana led 38-35 going into halftime.
Harrell continued his career-night scoring performance and provided the Bobcats with a 45-40 lead with 17:53 left in the contest.
The game remained close as Texas State only held a four-point lead, 71-67, with over four minutes to play.
Mylik Wilson’s layup and a Butts 3-pointer put the Ragin’ Cajuns back on top 72-71.
Harrell made two free throws for a 73-72 Texas State lead.
Then, the play of the game happened. Butts stole the ball and converted a layup with two seconds remaining to give Louisiana the road win.
Big Number: 57
Louisiana shot 57.1 percent from the floor, which is a season-high for the Ragin’ Cajuns. They were efficient from all parts of the floor, going 11-of-17 from the 3-point line and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Player of the Game: Devin Butts
Butts came off the bench for Louisiana and was second on the team in scoring while providing the game-winning play. Butts scored 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from three.
Up Next: On the road against Arkansas State, Friday Feb. 5; Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.