Louisiana cruises by Texas St. 80-54 into SBC semifinal
NEW ORLEANS -- Frank Bartley scored 23 points, Justin Miller added 14 off the bench and Louisiana-Lafayette cruised past Texas State 80-54 in the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinals on Friday, keeping its record-setting season alive.
Top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (27-5) will face no. 4 seed Texas-Arlington in a Saturday semifinal.
The Ragin' Cajuns pushed their school-record for wins to 27, continuing a pace that began in conference when they won a school-record 16 Sun Belt games, 15 by double digits, and earned top seed to the tournament for the first time since 2004.
Bartley knocked down five of Louisiana-Lafayette's 14 3-pointers and Miller drained four as Louisiana shot 53 percent from the field (31 of 59) and was 14 of 27 from distance (52 percent).
Miller, a starter last season, led a deep Cajuns bench, outscoring the Texas State bench 40-21. JaKeenan Gant, averaging 14.7 points per game, sat down due to illness after three minutes.
Nijal Pearson led the Bobcats (15-18) with 14 points.
Game Information
- Referees:
- Tim Gattis
- Coy Gammon
- Sean Casey
2023-24 Sun Belt Conference Standings
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State | 16-2 | - | 27-7 |
| James Madison | 15-3 | 1 | 32-4 |
| Troy | 13-5 | 3 | 20-12 |
| Arkansas State | 11-7 | 5 | 20-17 |
| Louisiana | 10-8 | 6 | 19-14 |
| Southern Miss | 9-9 | 7 | 16-16 |
| South Alabama | 8-10 | 8 | 16-16 |
| Georgia State | 8-10 | 8 | 14-17 |
| Georgia Southern | 8-10 | 8 | 9-24 |
| Texas State | 7-11 | 9 | 17-18 |
| Marshall | 7-11 | 9 | 13-20 |
| UL Monroe | 6-12 | 10 | 11-19 |
| Coastal Carolina | 5-13 | 11 | 9-22 |
| Old Dominion | 3-15 | 13 | 7-25 |
Men's College Basketball News
