Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball team put together their best 40 minutes of basketball this season, crushing the Georgia State Panthers on Saturday 87-54.

Georgia State had only lost one home game in their last 34 before today, as Bob Marlin's squad played great on both sides of the ball.

“We got off to a pretty good start, but fell behind 18-10 and called timeout because I didn’t like the way the game was starting,” head coach Bob Marlin said following the win. “From that point on, we dug in and played really good to end the half and we talked about coming out and being the best second-half team.”

Cajuns big man Shawn Long was dominant in the second half, scoring 19 of his 23, finishing the game with a season-high 18 rebounds.

Louisiana's defense was masterful in the second frame, holding Georgia State to 23 second half points on only 8 made field goals.

"We got our butt whipped," said Panthers coach Ron Hunter.

The 33 point loss for the Panthers is the biggest margin of defeat since Hunter took over as Panthers head coach in 2011.

The Cajuns offense was helped by Kasey Shepard's 19 points, and Hayward Register's season-high of 15.

Louisiana out rebounded Georgia State 38-21, and won the battle of the benches, outscoring the Panther reserves 43-15.

With the victory on Thursday at Georgia Southern, Marlin's squad completes a peach state sweep, improving to 7-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Louisiana returns home where they'll play 7 of their next 8 at the Cajundome. Next up, a Thursday night battle versus South Alabama. Tip-off is set for 7:15.

 

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