Georgia State knocks off Cajuns 75-64

A turnover-plagued first half dug too deep a hole for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to climb out of Saturday at the Georgia State University Sports Arena as the Georgia State Panthers picked up a 75-64 win.
Louisiana (11-9 overall, 5-4 Sun Belt Conference) turned the ball over 13 times and shot just 5-for-20 from the floor in the opening half, digging itself a 14-point deficit that it was never able to erase. The Cajuns trailed by as much as 22 points early in the second period but were never able to get closer than nine in the final minutes.
Shawn Long, a former Morgan City High School standout, turned in his seventh double-double this season with 21 points and 16 rebounds, and Jay Wright had 14 points — all in the second half — to lead UL.
But the Panthers (13-7, 6-3 SBC) shot 51.9 percent from the floor, got 19 points from Ryan Harrow and another 13 from R.J. Hunter on a night in which he became the all-time leading scorer in Georgia State history.
The win avenged an 84-80 loss to the Cajuns on Jan. 8 in Lafayette.
UL’s Brian Williams chipped in nine points and had five rebounds and three assists, and Bryce Washington and Steven Wronkoski had six points apiece.
Turnovers and cold shooting plagued the Cajuns throughout the first half, with Harrow pumping in 15 of his 19 points in the opening 20 minutes for the Panthers.
Long started the Cajuns off well with a contested three-pointer as the shot clock expired on the game’s opening possession, but the Cajuns scored just two more field goals in the next nine minutes and were down 17-10 just about midway through the half.
Georgia State scored nine straight points and went up 22-10 at the 6:34 mark of the half on a layup from Harrow.
Wronkoski gave the Cajuns some life with a three-point play late in the half, but Georgia State scored 10 of the half’s last 15 points to take a 14-point lead into the break.
Ryan Green and T.J. Shipes sparked the Panthers early in the second half with a combined 10 of their first 12 points as they upped their lead to 44-22 just more than four minutes into the half.
The Cajuns then showed their first true signs of life as Long got things going with a layup, followed by two threes from Jay Wright as part of an 11-2 run that cut the lead to 13 points at the 11:52 mark.
After 13 turnovers in the first half, the Cajuns surrendered the ball just two times in the second half, and that ball security helped extend the game.
UL trailed by just 10 points with 3:07 to play before trading scores with Georgia State on the next four possessions.
Georgia State hit each of their final eight foul shots to withstand the late Cajun rally.
Louisiana will next travel to South Alabama Thursday to face the Jaguars before heading to Texas State Saturday for its first look at the Bobcats.