Kane Williams
Daniel Wilson
78
Georgia State GSU 15-9,8-5 Sun Bel
80
Winner Louisiana LA 10-14,5-8 Sun Be
Georgia State GSU
15-9,8-5 Sun Bel
78
Final
80
Louisiana LA
10-14,5-8 Sun Be
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Georgia State GSU 37 41 78
Louisiana LA 43 37 80

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Panthers Fall on the Road at Louisiana 80-78

LAFAYETTE, La.-Georgia State overcame a 15 point first half before falling to Louisiana 80-78 on Thursday night at the Cajundome.

Georgia State (15-9, 8-5 Sun Belt) led by nine points with 3:44 to play before Louisiana (10-14, 5-8 Sun Belt) responded with a 7-0 run to cut the Panthers lead to two with just over two minutes to play.

The Panthers still led by four with just over a minute to play before Cedric Russell knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead 78-76 with 25 seconds to play. After a pair of free throws by Georgia State's Kane Williams, Mylik Wilson's lay-up with 2.1 seconds to play proved to be the winner.

Redshirt-sophomore Justin Roberts finished with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, while Williams also finished with 17 points going 9-of-10 from the free throw line for Georgia State. The Panthers finished the night 17-of-18 from the line.

Four Ragin' Cajuns finished in double figures as both Russell and Jalen Johnson each scored 17 points. Johnson finished with a double-double adding 10 rebounds. Wilson added 16 points and eight rebounds for Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns went 19-of-20 from the free throw line.

Georgia State nearly won its fourth game this season when trailing by 14 or more points.

Early on Louisiana used a 10-0 run to take an early 23-12 lead with 11:52 to play. After the Panthers responded with five straight points, the Ragin' Cajuns used a 9-0 run to go ahead 32-17 with 8:33 remaining.

Georgia State started to heat up and after making six of seven field goals over a stretch cut Louisiana's lead to just six with under a minute to play and went into the half trailing just 43-37.

Georgia State opened the second half on a 7-0 run to take the lead by one. After Louisiana knocked down two free throws, the Panthers responded with an 8-0 run to take a 52-45 lead with 13:09 to play.  

Louisiana missed its first 10 field goals of the second half as the Panthers pushed the lead to eight with just over 12 minutes remaining.

The Panthers continued to apply pressure and went ahead by 13 with 9:30 to play before Louisiana started to mount the comeback.

Freshman Jalen Thomas came off the bench to tie a career-high with 14 points and seven rebounds while redshirt-junior Corey Allen added eight points and seven rebounds. Freshman Joe Jones III and junior Josh Linder each chipped in six points and five rebounds a piece.

Battling injuries Louisiana played just seven players and went just 7-of-27 from 3-point range, but turned 15 Georgia State turnovers into 24 points.

Notes:
  • The Panthers are 16-8 in the state of Louisiana since returning to the Sun Belt in 2013-14.
  • Georgia State still leads the all-time series with Louisiana 13-7.
  • Georgia State and Louisiana are the two winningest programs in the Sun Belt Conference since 2013-14. The Panthers have 149 wins while Louisiana has 141.
  • Since 2013-14, Georgia State (86) and Louisiana (77) have won the most conference games in the league.
  • With a 3-pointer tonight, Georgia State has made at least one 3-pointer in 772 games dating back to Feb. 18, 1995.
Georgia State will remain on the road and face ULM on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+ and can be heard on the GSU Mobile App.
 
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