The last play of Saturday’s game between Texas State and Louisiana wasn’t the only mistake made by the Bobcats. But it was the untimeliest.
With 10.8 seconds left on the clock in the second half, Ragin’ Cajuns senior guard Cedric Russell received an inbound pass from the right sideline. He took seven dribbles at the top of the key, looking for a way past his defender, redshirt senior guard Marlin Davis. A crease finally opened and Russell pounced, zipping his way down the right side of the lane.
Mason Harrell slid to his right, cutting off Russell’s path. Russell collided into the junior guard and was whistled for an offensive foul. Texas State nearly had the win locked up, leading Louisiana 73-72. All the maroon and gold had to do was run down the final 3.4 seconds of the game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns went to a full-court press on defense. Bobcats senior forward Isiah Small tried sending the inbound pass to junior guard Caleb Asberry. But the ball deflected off Asberry’s hands and was stolen by redshirt freshman guard Devin Butts on the left side of the basket. Butts immediately scored a game-winning layup, leading to a 74-73 victory for Louisiana inside Strahan Arena.
“I thought we played well, you know, in a lot of different ways,” Texas State interim head coach Terrence Johnson said. “I think that we still have room to grow. And I don't know if you ever stop learning how to win. Obviously, that was the case tonight.”
Harrell was a big reason the hosts were still in the game. The point guard dropped a career-high 27 points on Saturday, getting the Bobcats’ offense back in rhythm after it fell out of sorts during Friday’s lackluster shooting performance.
He said the team had a “very long” film session before the game Saturday morning. He noticed Texas State (11-6, 5-3 Sun Belt) wasn’t getting downhill very often and were settling for too many looks from outside against the Ragin’ Cajuns (13-4, 7-3).
“We kind of let them off the leash a little bit, not attacking,” Harrell said. “So today, we wanted to really emphasize that and get to it.”
Harrell scored 11 points in the first half, keeping Texas State afloat as it trailed 38-35 at halftime. With 29 seconds left in the game, Harrell drew a blocking foul on Louisiana junior forward Theo Akwuba, sending the hosts into the bonus. Harrell hit the first and second of his one-and-one free throws to give himself 16 points in the second half and give his team a 73-72 edge.
Russell missed a jumpshot on the other end, but the ball was rebounded by Cajuns sophomore guard Mylik Wilson. Asberry fouled right away, setting up the final two plays of the game.
The Bobcats had just 0.4 seconds on the clock left after Butts’ game-winning layup. Senior forward Quentin Scott attempted a full-court alley-oop pass to senior guard Shelby Adams, but the ball was batted down, ending the game.
“I mean, I'll tell you (the feeling is) one in which we haven't felt in a while,” Johnson said. “I mean, hopefully, you guys saw what I saw, you saw a group of guys that were playing together and working really hard to try to achieve a goal.
“And when you're doing that, then you're supposed to be disappointed. You're supposed to be in your thoughts. You're supposed to be trying to figure out what is it that you could have done better. I can tell you there's no finger-pointing. There's people telling guys to keep their heads up. There's people telling guys, 'We believe in you. We in this together.' But there's nothing to celebrate.”
Harrell was followed by Asberry with 15 points and Small with 12. Adams led the team in rebounds for the second consecutive game with seven to go along with his five points.
Russell and Butts tallied 24 and 18 points, respectively, combining to shoot 10-14 from beyond the arc. It’s the first time Texas State has been swept in a Sun Belt series this year.
The Bobcats will look to recover next weekend when it hosts Little Rock (10-7, 6-4) inside Strahan Arena, both Friday and Saturday’s games taking place at 4 p.m.
“It was tough. You know, it was definitely a game we should have won,” Harrell said. “A lot of the guys are down and everything but we're looking to bounce back next week and go 2-0.”
