The University of Louisiana men’s basketball team is now 10-15 overall after their 86-79 loss to Georgia Southern inside the Cajundome.
How It Happened:
UL jumped out to an 11-8 lead. Cedric Russell nailed back-to-back 3-pointers after the Ragin’ Cajuns didn’t score for the first two minutes.
Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin was ejected with 14:08 left in the first half after two technical fouls for arguing with the referees.
They responded with a 7-0 run to take a 20-14 lead with 11:32 remaining in the first half.
Georgia Southern made their next four field goals to earn a 23-21 advantage.
The game remained back-and-forth throughout the first half. No team was able to break away, but Russell continued to shine for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Russell led UL with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field.
P.J. Hardy finished the first half with 13 points, but Georgia Southern took a 47-43 lead into the halftime break behind Ike Smith’s 17 points.
Smith opened up the second half for Georgia Southern by scoring five of their first 10 points. They expanded their lead to 57-50 with 15:50 left in the game.
UL proceeded to go on a 9-0 run to regain the lead after a pair of layups by Mylik Wilson and Russell.
The Ragin’ Cajuns continued to make shots and made five straight field goals to give themselves a 69-65 lead with 8:50 left in the game.
UL’s defense ramped up during this stretch, as Georgia Southern went over two minutes without scoring.
Georgia Southern scored back-to-back field goals to cut UL’s lead down to 74-71 with 5:10 left.
They eventually tied the game at 74 after a 3-pointer from Quan Jackson.
Georgia Southern took a 79-77 lead over UL with 2:38 remaining. The Ragin’ Cajuns drew a charge with two minutes left and they were able to tied the game at 79 with 1:37 to go.
Calvin Wishart gave Georgia Southern an 81-79 lead with 1:19 left in the game.
Russell missed a 3-point attempt and the front end of a 1-and-1 from the free throw line. Georgia Southern led 82-79 with 33.7 seconds remaining.
After getting fouled on a drive to the rim, Russell missed his first free throw of an 1-and-1 again. Georgia Southern made their two proceeding free throws to eventually win this one 86-79.
UL is now 5-9 in the Sun Belt Conference after the loss.
Big Number: 30
That was the number of times this game was either tied or the lead changed. There were 14 times the game was tied and 16 time the lead changed throughout the course of the game. it was back-and-forth but Georgia Southern came away with the win.
Player of the Game: Ike Smith
Georgia Southern’s Ike Smith led all scorers with 25 points. He also shot 9-of-10 from the field and recorded seven rebounds in the win.
Up Next: On the road vs South Alabama, Thursday Feb. 13; Tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m.