Bobcats upset by Louisiana in Sun Belt tournament, await NIT

Unfortunately for Texas State, history repeats itself.

Despite working for a full year to get back to the exact same place that last season ended, the Bobcats couldn’t advance any further. No. 1 seed Texas State fell in the second round of the Sun Belt tournament for the second year in a row on Sunday, suffering an upset at the hands of No. 8 seed Louisiana in Pensacola, Fla., 79-72.

“(The Ragin’ Cajuns) were hot and that’s what being in this thing is about, man. It’s a one game season,” head coach Terrence Johnson said. “You know, there’s not a whole lot that, that you can do in the regular season that it matters right now. You know, you get to this point, it’s a one game season, so all your mistakes are magnified. But at the end of the day, you gotta give those guys credit, they hit big shots, rebounded the crap out of the ball, and the big fella (Brown) was the best player on the floor tonight.”

Texas State looked like itself through the opening minutes of the first half. Senior guard Caleb Asberry hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key for the first points of the game. He scored another five points to help build a 13-11 lead. The team started forcing turnovers on defense, leading to points at the other end. Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin picked up a technical foul, allowing the Bobcats to extend the lead to six. Ragin’ Cajuns sophomore forward Jordan Brown scored a layup at the other end, but Texas State sophomore forward Nate Martin matched it with a bucket in the post to keep the maroon and gold ahead, 20-14, with 8:27 remaining in the half.

The Bobcats would go another eight minutes without scoring a field goal, though, only earning points from the free throw line. A push shot from senior forward Nighael Ceaser at the buzzer ended a 17-3 run for Louisiana, as the Ragin’ Cajuns took a 31-25 lead into halftime.

It was a spot the maroon and gold had been in before — the team trailed in the second half and came back to win in both of its games against Louisiana during the regular season. But the Cajuns opened the second half with a quick six points to push the lead back to double digits. Asberry hit a 3-pointer to get the maroon and gold on the board, but Louisiana added another six points to push the lead to 43-28.

Isiah Small and Mason Harrell, two of Texas State’s three leading scorers, each stepped up in the second half after both seniors ran into foul trouble and were held to two points combined in the first. Small and Harrell each poured on 14 in the second to give the Bobcats the scoring punch they were missing in the first.

But the team had no answers for Brown, who erupted for a career-high 31 points. Texas State trimmed the deficit down to single digits in the closing minutes but couldn’t string enough stops together to complete the rally, falling 79-72.

“I feel like energy just played a big factor in this game,” senior guard Shelby Adams said. “You could tell that Louisiana had way more energy than us throughout the whole game consistently. So I feel like that was a big factor, for sure.”

Harrell finished the game with a team-high 16 points, followed by Asberry with 15. Small posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Bobcats’ season isn’t over yet. By winning the Sun Belt regular season championship, Texas State will receive an automatic berth to the National Invitational Tournament. The team will wait to find out where it will be seeded and who it will play when the field of 32 teams is revealed on March 13.

“The good thing is we play another game. You know, we’ve put in the work to put ourselves in position where we can play another game,” Johnson said. “I love my team, I love their fight, their grit, their toughness, competitive nature, and I’d ride with them any day.”