NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Frank Bartley scored 23 points, Justin Miller added 14 off the bench and Louisiana cruised past Texas State 80-54 in the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinals on Friday, keeping its record-setting season alive.
Top-seeded Louisiana (27-5) will face Appalachian State or 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'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.
Louisiana Notes
• The Ragin’ Cajuns have now recorded at least one dunk in 15 straight games dating back to January 13th. This matches their longest streak of the season.
• Justin Miller’s four made three-pointers tied a career high.
• Frank Bartley has now scored in double figures in 29 straight games, with 11 20-point contests.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns’ 14 made three pointers and 31 made field goals were the most allowed by TXSU all year.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns limited Texas State to only 15 points in the first half. The Sun Belt Tournament record for fewest points in a half is 6 by South Alabama vs. New Orleans in the 1978 championship game. New Orleans led 7-6 at halftime of that game and went on to win the game 22-20. This “slow down” game between was before the shot clock was invented. As a result of that game, the Sun Belt got approval from the NCAA to use a 45-second shot clock in regular-season games, making the conference a leader in the future of NCAA basketball.
Texas State Notes
• After shooting 0-5 from behind the arc in the first half, TXSU made its first three pointer at the 18:39 mark in the 2nd half and finished 3-14 (21.4 percent) on the day.
• Today marks Nijal Pearson’s 69th career start, meaning he has now surpassed Ojai Black for the tenth-most in program history.
• After scoring 14 points against the Ragin’ Cajuns, Pearson’s season total amounted to a career high 502.
• The Bobcats limited the Ragin Cajuns to only six attempts from the free throw line, their best mark of the season.
• After shooting 38.5 percent (20-52) from the field, the Bobcats ended the season 0-6 in the conference when they shot below 40 percent.
Quotes
Texas Head Coach Danny Kaspar
Opening Statement:
“We played a very talented team today. I am playing with team that as far as time at Texas State, we are young. We were playing in front of a very good Louisiana crowd and they took it to us. After the first six-seven minutes, it was all them. They shot the ball well from the three. We had some guys that put their heads down once that lead got to about 15-18, and I am disappointed in that. We played four poor games all year and two of them have been to Lafayette, and almost the exact scores. I don’t know how to expain this other than they were very focused, they shot the ball well, the turnovers were about the same, the rebounds – they outrebounded us, but that’s because we had more misses than they did. As far as offensive rebounds, both teams got seven. This team that I have has been inconsistent on the defensive end, and it showed today. We ran into a very good team, one of the better mid-major teams in the country.”
On the first 6-7 minutes that contributed to your decline:
“Justin Miller came in and hit some threes. And Cedric Russell, another sub, came in and hit some threes. I think their subs came in and knocked down some shots and got them rolling. They had some people come off the bench and really hurt us from the three-point line, and separate us from them in the early going. I give credit to their two subs, Russell and Miller, in terms of them pulling away…I don’t know if it was eight minutes or 10 minutes into the game, but somewhere in there, you saw a championship team pull away. We told them that Russell and Miller can shoot the three, so why we didn’t get in their face and make them put it on the floor, I don’t know.”
Regardless of what happens in this tournament, is UL and NCAA Tournament caliber team?
“I do. I think they are a very good team. Coach Marlin has them playing great defense and they share the basketball very well. I see an unselfish team that just seems to like one another, seem to pull for one another, and their defense is very good. I would put my money on them against some of these at-large teams from bigger conferences on a neutral floor. They deserve the opportunity to be in the NCAA, with the exception of two losses in conference play, one of them being on the road to a good Georgia State team, their three non-conference losses were to quality teams.”
Louisiana Head Coach Bob Marlin
Opening Statement:
“In the first half we did a really good job defensively and held them down to six field goals. We gave an upfield pass for a layup or it would have been five. I was really proud of our defense early. We wanted to win the second half and we did that by four. We got off to a little bit of a slow start but were able to make enough shots and defend well enough to win the basketball game. We got a good team and they’re hard to play, so we’re excited to win this game and advance to the second round.”
On bench play:
“We feel like we’ve got the deepest bench in the league and we knew that we would need them. JaKeenan has been under the weather for the last couple days, and we had guys step up. It’s pretty impressive that you don’t have the Defensive Player of the Year or the Newcomer of the Year out there on the court and still win a game by 26 points. That’s a compliment to our bench and our guys one through 15. They work hard. Jerekius has gotten better. He had a great game at South Alabama a couple weeks ago. PJ’s had some good games. Larenz has given us some minutes. Of course Cedric can shoot the ball. Justin started 30 games as a freshman and he continues to work. I thought the three point shot he hit when he leaned in and tried to draw the foul in the first half really gave us some momentum and pushed it forward for us. We have a lot of faith in our bench and we can play big or small. We’re versatile and we’re going to need that in the rest of the tournament.”
On giving Justin Miller the green light to shoot the three:
“He has the green light. I’ve always liked my big guys to step out and shoot threes because I feel like those players are lazy defensively at times. I’d rather have an open three from a guy like Justin than a contested one with a really good player. But I have confidence in him that he can step out and shoot the three. It was a really good effort by him and he just got it going. When he makes one then he’s going to go up to get another one. He can score in a hurry. He had 11 points at halftime in 12 minutes.”
Louisiana Senior Guard Frank Bartley
On the team being hot from three:
“I think our focus was there from the jump. The loss we had on Senior Night was a big wakeup call that we needed. But I’d rather lose any game at home than lose the first round of the tournament. So we came out hungry and everybody stepped up.”
On the Justin Miller and the bench stepping up:
“It’s a great thing to have when you’ve got a big time scorer coming off the bench. Justin started for us last year and took the role of coming off the bench. He has the same attitude to come in and make plays and score the ball for us. He’s a shooter, PJ’s a shooter, and JD’s a shooter so we’ve got a well-balanced team and anybody can step up in any given game.”
Louisian Sophomore Forward Justin Miller
On his performance today:
“It’s a real confidence booster for me. I’ve been battling injuries for about a month and a half. But I’ve been staying ready and Coach Marlin and my teammates have confidence in me. I’ve been keeping faith, doing what I do and accepting my role. We’re just trying to win and whatever I have to do for the team to win I’ll do it. That’s the attitude I’ve had all season about it.”