Texas State fell at home to the Lousiana Ragin Cajuns 70-61.
Head Coach Terrence Johnson gave due to Interim Head Coach Derrick Zimmerman and the rest of the coaching staff who took over following the firing of former head coach Bob Marlin earlier in the season.
“Credit has to go to Coach Zimmerman and his staff,” Johnson said. “The situation that he's in, to take over a program like that and to get those guys responding to him, the manner in which they do to get those guys playing as hard as he had them playing. [Getting] those guys believing, competing and having fun.”
On the Bobcats' loss, Johnson felt the Bobcats were not connecting as well as the Cajuns despite Texas State’s hot start in the first half.
[The Cajuns] were a more connected team and tonight it showed,” Johnson said.”I don't think they wavered. We got a little lead early on and they didn't budge. They just believed there's a ton of game left and they showed a tremendous amount of toughness to get back into the game.
“Once they got back in their confidence, [Louisiana] just took over and their toughness just took over and we did not respond.”
Johnson also talked about how the Bobcats lack of connectivity was potentially due to the fact Texas State had defeated Louisiana on the road the week before.
“I was able to identify early on that something was off tonight,” Johnson said. “I don't know if it was our focus or whatever. I'm not exactly sure what it was, but maybe we assume because we're home and that we play this team at their place that we were able to get a win that it would just happen. It's a lot of different things, a lot of different factors.
“I think the biggest factor that I think goes into that is a sense of entitlement. It comes through maturity and sometimes it's very difficult for guys to deal with success and being able to figure out how to be in a moment. We were all our own worst enemy tonight.”
The Bobcats jumped out to a 10-2 lead over the Cajuns capped off by a layup from sophomore point guard Kaden Gumbs.
Texas State was able to stretch their lead to 22-12 following a three-pointer from junior guard Coleton Benson.
However for the Bobcats, the offense went cold, making no field goals in the final nine minutes of the first half.
The Cajuns took advantage of the Bobcats cold shooting, closing the first half on a 11-0 run to take the lead going into halftime at 33-27.
After Louisiana hit the opening layup to start the second half, the Bobcats went on a 13-3 run and retook the lead at 40-38.
Both teams traded the lead back and forth before the game was tied at 44-44 following made jumper from Benson.
The Cajuns responded with a 6-0 run to make it a 50-44.
Texas State answered back with a jumper from Gumbs and a layup from senior forward Joshua O’Garro, making it a one possession game at 50-48.
However, back to back three pointers from the Cajuns pushed their lead 56-48 while the Bobcats were unable to make it a one possession game.
The Cajuns went on to win 70-61.
Gumbs finished with a team high 17 points along with six rebounds. O’Garro was tied for second in scoring with 10 points and led the team in rebounds with seven. Benson was tied in scoring with 10 points of his own.
Texas State returns to play Saturday at home against Arkansas State who currently is in first place atop of the Sun Belt Conference standings.
Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
