LAFAYETTE – Greg Williams Jr. matched a season-high with 18 points, but the scoring effort was not enough for Louisiana Men’s Basketball to overtake Georgia State as the Ragin’ Cajuns fell 65-58 in the final regular-season contest of the year Friday night at GSU Sports Arena.
With the loss, Louisiana will enter the 2022 Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 8 seed and face UT Arlington at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Pensacola, Fla. The opening round matchup will be available to be streamed live on ESPN+.
In addition to his point tally, Williams Jr. grabbed three rebounds collected a pair of steals to round out his statline.
Junior guard Jalen Dalcourt totaled 11 points and added a steal in 23 minutes. Dalcourt has scored 10+ in four of the last five games.
Junior forward Theo Akwuba contributed eight points and six rebounds to aid the effort while Jordan Brown, in his first game back following a two-game absence, recorded a team-high nine rebounds and five points.
Trailing 6-4 nearly three minutes into the contest, Louisiana used 3-point shooting to find early separation with a 13-2 run. Redshirt-freshman Kobe Julien and Dalcourt sparked the burst with a pair of shots from beyond the arc while freshman Kentrell Garnett bookended the run with a 3-pointer from the left wing.
With just under six minutes remaining in the first half, Williams, Jr. connected on back-to-back triples to bolster a 12-3 run that stretched the Ragin’ Cajuns’ advantage to 14 at 33-19. The Lafayette, La. native forced a steal and converted a layup on the other end to cap off the streak.
Georgia State found the basket on a pair of possessions in the final minutes to cut Louisiana’s lead to 35-24 at the break.
Freshman guard Michael Thomas assisted Williams, Jr.’s efforts following the break. The freshman and junior each totaled four points in the opening eight minutes of the half.
With 12:11 remaining, Williams’ Jr. caught the ball on the left wing, blew past his defender and threw down an emphatic one-handed slam dunk to push the advantage back to double digits at 47-37.
Following the highlight finish at the rim, Georgia State proceeded on a 12-1 run that spanned three minutes of game time and gave the hosts a 49-48 lead. Prior to the run, the Panthers had not been in front since the 15:53 mark of the first half.
Williams Jr. and Dalcourt quickly knocked down a pair of shots to put Louisiana back in front, but Georgia State closed out the regular-season finale on a 12-4 run to reach the scoreboard’s final tally.
For the latest on Louisiana Men's Basketball, stay tuned to RaginCajuns.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB).
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