There's an old saying in sports.

Never let a team beat you twice.

And, after the Cajuns'101-86  loss to Georgia State Monday night, Bob Marlin alluded to that very point.

"We hung our heads after Saturday night's game (an 81-76 loss to Georgia Southern) and we were still hanging our heads yesterday (in practice.)  I've got to do a better job of helping this team bounce back from a loss," Marlin said.

Whatever the reason, the visiting Panthers shot over 60 percent in each half, built a ten point lead by the 7:27 mark of the first half and never looked back in garnering the relatively easy win.

It was the first time the Cajuns had given up 100 points to a conference foe since January 29, 2004 in a 110-102 win over Western Kentucky.  It was the first time an opponent scored 100 points in a game at the 'Dome since a 128-105 win over Grambling State in December 1,1990 and the first loss when allowing 100 points at home since a 101-76 loss to Louisiana Tech on February 1, 1990.

Isaiah Williams and freshman D'Marcus Simonds each scored 24 points for the Panthers (10-7, 3-2 Sun Belt), while Jeremy Hollowell tallied 19 points and Devin Mitchell scored eleven in just eleven minutes of action.

Frank Bartley IV led the Cajuns with 19 points, while Bryce Washington notched his nation's-best 15th double double of the season with 18 points and ten rebounds.  Johnathan Stove added 17 before fouling out in the final minute, while freshman Jerekius Davis scored a career high 15 points.

Louisiana (12-6, 2-3) lost the game despite shooting 36-42 from the free throw line in the tightly officiated contest, compared to 19-25 for the visitors and outrebounded the Panthers 36-28.  The Cajuns also committed only eight turnovers in the game.

But Georgia State shot 60.7% in the first half, making 8-12 from three point range in taking a 53-42 halftime lead and shot even better in the second half, tallying 63.3% on 19-30 shooting.

"They made some well defended shots at times in the first half, but the bottom line is we didn't defend well enough and they beat us off the dribble in the second half," Marlin said.

The Cajuns, meanwhile, shot just 40% in the first half and 35.5% in the second half, making just 6-22 from three point range.

Hollowell''s three point play at the 17:38 mark of the first half gave the Panthers the lead for good and after Williams' jumper at the 7:27 mark increased the lead to ten, the Cajuns got no closer than seven the rest of the half.

Georgia State outscored the Cajuns 17-6 to open the second half, taking a 22 point lead, 70-48 with 3:25 left.  The Cajuns got as close as eleven,but the Panthers kept scoring and had their biggest lead at 100-77 with 2:07 to play.

The Cajuns will now hit the road for their next two games, traveling to San Marcos to take on Texas State in a 4:30pm contest before taking on preseason favorite UTA Monday night at 8:00 pm.

 

More From 103.3 The GOAT