Texas State (12-9) vs Louisiana (6-15)
January 30, 2025 at 08:00 PM EST
The Line: Betting Odds: Texas State -12.5 — Over/Under: 146.5
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns and the Texas State Bobcats meet Thursday in college basketball action from Strahan Coliseum. Here’s a Louisiana vs Texas State prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Louisiana vs Texas State pick. We will examine:
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns’ recent form and player performance
The Texas State Bobcats’ recent form and player performance
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Texas State Bobcats
Recent betting trends in games played between Louisiana and Texas State
A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Louisiana vs Texas State game
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Betting Preview
Louisiana opened the season on a pretty rough run, and things haven’t gotten much better since then. The Cajuns hit a 1-8 stretch in their first nine, falling to Kent State, Houston, Rice, Liberty, George Washington, UAB, Nicholls, and Louisiana Tech in that time. A 3-2 run came in the next five with wins over SE Louisiana, App State, and Coastal Carolina amid losses to Lamar and McNeese. Since then it’s been a 2-5 stretch with wins over LA Monroe (twice) and losses to Georgia State, Old Dominion, Arkansas State, Texas State, and Southern Miss. The result so far has been a 6-15 overall record through the first 21 games of the season.
In the Southern Miss game on Saturday, the Cajuns came out of the locker room with a 35-31 edge. Louisiana was outscored 36-24 the rest of the way, however, resulting in a tough home loss of 67-59 in the end. Leading the way in scoring was Mostapha El Moutaouakkil with 23 points, eight boards, and three steals. The only other team player in double-figures was Kentrell Garnett with 13 points in 37 minutes of work on the floor.
Texas State Bobcats Betting Preview
Over on the Texas State side, they’ve been a mixed bag so far this year. The Bobcats went 7-3 out of the gate with losses to TCU, Abilene Christian and Bradley among wins over Eastern Michigan, McMurry, Princeton, Ohio, Texas Southern, Arlington Baptist, and Rice. A 2-5 stretch came next with wins over Georgia Southern and Troy amid losses to FAU, Texas Arlington, Marshall, App State, and Southern Miss. Texas State would beat Georgia State, Southern Miss, and Louisiana before a loss to Arkansas State, giving the team a 12-9 overall record this year.
Matched up against Arkansas State on Saturday, the Bobcats went into the second half with a 36-34 deficit. Texas State was blitzed from there 44-31 and ended up losing 80-65 by game’s end. Joshua O’Garro led the team with 21 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. Tylan Pope added 19 points with five boards and one assist. Leading the bench scorers was Coleton Benson with his 15 points in 27 minutes of action.
Why the Texas State Bobcats will win
- Texas State has won each of its last eight games against the Sun Belt Conference at Strahan Arena at the University Events Center.
- Louisiana has lost four of its last five night games against the Sun Belt Conference.
- Louisiana has lost the first half in each of its last five road night games against Conference opponents.
Why the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will win
- Louisiana has won four of its last five games at Strahan Arena at the University Events Center.
- Louisiana has won the first half in four of its last five games at Strahan Arena at the University Events Center against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Louisiana vs Texas State Prediction
I’ll stay with Texas State. The Bobcats need a good bounce-back effort here after a rough loss to a pretty good Arkansas State squad, though. Texas State posted just 3-of-15 (20 percent) from 3-point range in that one and coughed up 17 turnovers for 20 Red Wolves points. The Bobcats had previously been scoring great, with 85 or more points in four straight games.
One of those games was the last time these teams met up in an 89-74 road win for the Bobcats on January 23. Texas State closed with 51 second-half points and ended up shooting a stellar 64.1 percent from the field with a 32-21 rebounding edge. The Bobcats were incredibly sloppy with the ball in that one as well, however, giving away 11 points on 17 turnovers. If Texas State can fix the butterfingers in this home rematch, they’ll walk away with the cover easily.