Men’s Basketball Battles Ragin’ Cajuns But Come Up Short
“We probably played Louisiana at home better than anyone has this year,” said head coach Danny Kaspar. “If we had played the first half like we did the second half…”
LAFAYETTE, La. – The Texas State men’s basketball team trailed by as many as 16 in the second half before coming back to cut the deficit to five with just over four minutes remaining. However, Louisiana came out on top 73-63 Thursday night in the Cajundome.
With the loss, the Bobcats drop to 14-13 on the season and 7-7 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Ragin’ Cajuns are now 22-4 overall and 12-1 in league play.
“We probably played Louisiana at home better than anyone has this year. If we had played the first half like we did the second half, I think it would have been another one of those games that went down to the wire,” said head coach Danny Kaspar. “Our guys gave great effort tonight and battled. Next up is ULM and we hope to get at least one of the road this trip.”
Nijal Pearson hit a jumper and Tyler Blount followed with a three-pointer in transition to give TXST a 5-0 lead nearly two minutes into the game. UL countered with nine straight points over a 3:25 span.
Blount ended the scoring drought and put the Bobcats back in front with back-to-back treys. The Cajuns responded again another scoring run, this time 10 consecutive points.
A layup from Shelby Adams ended the offensive drought for TXST. Nedeljko Prijovic scored the Bobcats’ next five points with a three-pointer from the left corner cutting the deficit to 21-18 with 7:48 remaining in the opening stanza.
That would be as close as TXST would get the rest of the half as UL took a 12-point advantage following nine straight points over a 2:55 span.
Immanuel King netted the final six points for the Bobcats over the last 3:34 that began with a dunk. The senior also knocked down two free throws and hit a turnaround hook shot that was the final points of the period for either team.
Blount nearly cut the halftime deficit to seven when he got off a last-second heave after a missed shot by the Cajuns. The ball rattled in and out of the rim as TXST went into halftime down 34-34.
Alex Peacock put back his own miss and King connected on a free throw attempt to cut the deficit to 36-29 with 17:29 left in the game. That would be as close as the Bobcats would until there were six minutes remaining.
Prijovic got a feed from Pearson after a missed shot and laid it in to cut the score to 58-49.
Following a basket by the Cajuns, Pearson converted an old-fashion three-point play and Shelby Adams hit a three-pointer from the right corner to cut the deficit to 60-55 with 4:21 remaining.
Six consecutive UL points ended any chance of an upset on the bayou for the Bobcats. Twice TXST got to within eight, the first on a three-pointer by Blount from the left corner and the second time when Quentin Scott made a free throw with 26.9 seconds left on the clock.
Pearson scored a game-high 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the charity stripe.
The sophomore also grabbed four rebounds and handed out two assists. Also dishing out two assists for the Bobcats were Tre’Larenz Nottingham, Eric Terry and Prijovic.
King also reached double-digits with 14 points as he made five field goals and converted 4-of-7 free throw attempts. The senior also blocked three shots and grabbed a team-high six boards.
He now has 60 blocks in his career to move into sixth place in program history and surpass Tony Bishop (2009-11).
Netting 12 points, nine in the first half, with four made three-pointers was Blount. Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to ULM on Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 2 p.m.
For the latest on Texas State men’s basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.
Box Score: http://txstatebobcats.com/
