The UL Ragin’ Cajuns overcame a 13-point deficit with a hot streak early in the second half.
But the Cajuns had more turnovers and missed shots than points over the final six minutes of play to lose a 59-54 road decision to Texas State on Wednesday at Strahan Arena in San Marcos.
UL falls to 4-15 overall and 2-5 in league play with the loss, while Texas State improves to 10-9 and 3-4. The Cajuns will now play at South Alabama on Saturday.
The Bobcats are now 9-1 on the season at home, while UL dropped to 1-9 on the road. It was Texas State first win over the Cajuns since 2022. UL is now 22-9 in the all-time series against the Bobcats.
Tay Knox’s layup with 2:26 left until halftime gave Texas State its largest lead at 29-16. But after trimming that lead to 29-22 at halftime, the Cajuns got hot early in the second half with a 15-3 run to actually grab a 37-36 lead with 12:44 left on a Karris Bilal free throw.
UL couldn’t maintain that momentum, though, allowing the Bobcats to respond with an 11-2 run to grab a 47-39 lead with 7:51 left to play.
The Cajuns trailed the rest of the way with a handful of their 10 turnovers over the final six minutes to prevent any comeback attempts.
Free throws continued to be a problem for the Cajuns, but for a slightly different reason. UL actually made more free throws than the Bobcats, taking advantage of a game allowed to be more physical that usual.
The Cajuns made 13 of their 19 attempts at the line, compared to 6-of-10 shooting at the line for Texas State.
The problem is two missed free throws down the stretch only allowed Milan Mejia’s 3-pointer with 1:04 left to cut Texas State’s lead to 54-51.
The Bobcats then responded with a 5-0 run to sew up the win.
UL finished the game shooting 36% from the field to 50% for Texas State, which outrebounded the Cajuns 34-24 in the game.
Kaden Gumbs led the Bobcats with 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and DJ Hall with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Dorian Finister continued his consistent season with 18 points and four rebounds. De’Vion Lavergne was UL’s only other double-figure scorer with 10 points.
