Georgia State will face Louisiana-Lafayette in the semifinals of the Sun Belt men’s basketball tournament in New Orleans on Saturday. Tip-off is 2 p.m. and can be heard on 680AM and 93.7FM. The winner will advance to Sunday’s championship game.
The Cajuns, the tournament’s fourth seed, defeated Texas State 53-43 on Friday in the quarterfinals. The Panthers are the top seed after defending their regular-season title.
Things looked bleak for Louisiana-Lafayette when all-conference forward Shawn Long picked up his fourth foul with 12:56 left and the Cajuns trailing by six. Plus, Texas State was in the bonus for the rest of the game.
But the Bobcats’ poor shot selection and poor free-throw shooting, combined with the Cajuns ability to attack the basket, turned that deficit into a seven-point lead with seven minutes left. The Bobcats missed seven of their 19 free throws and shot 27.7 percent in the game. The Cajuns shot 30.8 percent, but outrebounded the Bobcats 44-28.
The Panthers and Louisiana-Lafayette have a history, one Georgia State fans would like to forget. The Cajuns defeated the Panthers in overtime in the finals of last year’s tournament. Georgia State blew an 11-point lead in the final six minutes of regulation.
The teams split their two games in the regular season. Georgia State blew a 17-point lead in the first half and the Cajuns won 84-80 in Lafayette. The Panthers won 75-64 at the Sports Arena.
Ryan Harrow, who has been nursing a sore hamstring but is expected to play, scored 44 points in the two games against Louisiana-Lafayette. R.J. Hunter, named the Sun Belt player of the year earlier this week, scored 40.
Long scored 37 points and grabbed 29 rebounds for the Cajuns in the two games against Georgia State.
