Ragin' Cajuns Host Houston On Saturday

Contact: Brian McCann

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Game 10
Houston (6-4) at Louisiana (6-3)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Cajundome (11,550), Lafayette, Louisiana
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None
Series: Houston Leads, 9-6
Last Meeting: Houston 85, Louisiana 63 (12/15/12, Houston, Texas)

THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 49-53 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 274-184 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 397-219 (21st year)
vs. Louisville: 0-0

HOUSTON
JAMES DICKEY (Central Arkansas '76)
At Houston: 53-49 (4th year)
Overall: 206-183 (15th year)
vs. Louisiana: 4-1

SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns return home after playing six of their last seven games on the road when the Cajuns host Houston on Saturday, Dec. 7 beginning at 7:05 p.m. in the Cajundome. The game will also serve as a celebration of Ragin' Cajuns basketball history when the number of Cajun alumnus Jerry Flake (1965-69) is honored during a halftime ceremony. The game will start a stretch that has the Cajuns playing three of their four games heading into the new year at home. Shawn Long (20.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and Elfrid Payton (19.0, 6.1, 5.6 apg) continue to lead the Cajuns while sophomore Kasey Shepherd averaged 20.0 points off the bench in two games last week. After a 5-0 start, Houston (6-4) has dropped four of its last five games and will host Alcorn State on Monday night before coming to town.

PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana is off to a 6-3 start in 2013-14, benefiting from the return of five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20, leading fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin to feel confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team is centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (19.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, 2.5 spg) and forward Shawn Long (20.7 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 2.8 bpg), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long plays mostly at center with Elridge Moore (6.6, 4.9) starting as an under-sized forward. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7 in 2012-13), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a foot injury in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (6.3, 1.6), who is returning after missing most of last season with an injury, has taken over with Steven Wronkoski (6.4, 2.9) starting on the other wing. The bench has been a source of a good offensive spark as junior Xavian Rimmer (7.7, 2.0) and sophomore Kasey Shepherd (8.1, 2.4) providing the biggest lift at guard with freshman Hayward Register (2.6) also seeing time. Junior J.J. Davenport (2.9, 3.0), who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshmen Vieux Kande (0.5, 0.6), and Luka Kamber (0.7 ppg) are the primary reserves inside with both Davenport and Kande playing center and Kamber a forward. Marlin is utilizing the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.

LOUISIANA IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns were featured prominently in the latest NCAA stats, which were released on Monday (Dec. 2). Junior Elfrid Payton was 13th in steals (2.5), 43rd in assists (5.0) and 52nd in scoring (19.9). Shawn Long is sixth in rebounding (11.6), 10th in double-doubles (5), 25th in blocks (3.1) and 45th in scoring (20.1).

JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the season when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored at halftime of the Houston game this week. Over four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jersey, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.

$5 TICKET OFFER FOR CENTRAL METHODIST: Cajuns fans who wish to attend the Dec. 30 home game against Central Methodist will be able to take advantage of a special $5 seat offer for that game. The special applies to third level

PAYTON CLOSES IN ON 1,000 POINT MARK: Averaging 19.0 points through the first nine games, junior guard Elfrid Payton is quickly closing in on the 1,000 point mark for his career. Payton enters the week with 924 points, needing 76 more to become the 40th player in school history to reach that plateau.

CAJUNS CHASE RECORD HEADING INTO NEW YEAR: With a 6-3 record and four games left to play before the new year, the Cajuns are within reach of the school record of nine wins before the new year, which was set in both 1982-83 and 1990-91.

SCORING OFF THE GLASS: Shawn Long has made the most of his rebounding opportunities this year, scoring 24 baskets off his 36 offensive rebounds this season or an average of 5.3 points a game. Long ranks third in the Sun Belt averaging 4.0 offensive rebounds a game and third in scoring (20.9).

20-POINT GAMES: The versatility of the Louisiana lineup this season is evident by the four Cajuns who have combined to score 20 or more points in a game 13 times in the first nine games this season. Shawn Long and Elfrid Payton lead the way with nine 20-point games each with Xavian Rimmer (2) and Kasey Shepherd (1) coming off the bench to reach the mark. Last year, Cajuns players had 25, 20-point games, with all but one coming from a starter. Payton and Long had nine each with Bryant Mbamalu adding five and Alan-Michael Thompson getting two.

PAYTON NEARS ASSIST TOP 10: With 50 assists in nine games this year, Elfrid Payton has moved into 13th place on the Louisiana career assist list. Payton has 328 assists, and needs two assists to catch 12th place Carl Jordan (330 assists from 1979-80) and 60 to pass 10th place Andrew Toney (387 from 1977-80).

PAYTON SHOWS IMPROVEMENT AT THE LINE: A career .611 shooter from the stripe entering the season, Elfrid Payton is intent on raising that figure further this year. Through nine games, Payton is shooting .694 from the line (59-85), including making all seven attempts in the opener against Louisiana College and going seven-for-eight at Louisiana Tech last week. The improvement is not a surprise as Payton shot .719 (41-57) during his three summer tours, including .900 (9-10) at the FIBA World Championship. Payton shot just .564 (75-134) as a freshman but came back to go 134-for-209 (.641) last year.

SHEPHERD IS HEATING UP: Sophomore guard Kasey Shepherd is in a zone, averaging 19.0 points and 5,7 rebounds over the last three games. Shepherd averaged just 2.7 points in his first six contests before scoring 17 points with six rebounds against Northwestern State. He came back on Wednesday to score a career-high 22 points with six rebounds at Louisiana Tech and add 18 points with five rebounds at Louisville. Over the last three games, Shepherd is shooting .667 (18-27) from the field, .545 from three-point (6-11) and a perfect 15-for-15 from the foul line to raise his scoring average to 8.1 points per game. He ranks third in the Sun Belt, shooting .556 three-point (10-18).

LONG RECORDS QUICK DOUBLE-DOUBLES: After ranking sixth nationally last year with 18 double-doubles, sophomore Shawn Long has started the year with five double-doubles in the first nine games, achieving two before halftime. He scored 23 points with 14 rebounds in the season-opening win over Louisiana College. He needed just 18:07 to get his first double-double of the year, grabbing his 10th rebound of the night (to go with 14 points at the time) as part of an 18-point, 11-rebound effort in the first half. Against Northwestern State on Nov. 26, Long had 16 points and 12 rebounds at halftime, accomplishing the double-double with 2:51 to play. He finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Long did not have a double-double by halftime during the 2012-13 season.

. . . AND PAYTON ADDS HIS SIXTH: Elfrid Payton is also getting into the double-double action, recording three already this season including in back-to-back games against Louisiana Tech and Louisville last week to give him six career double-doubles. He had 17 points and 10 rebounds at Louisiana Tech and came back to record 12 points and 10 assists against the Cardinals. Payton has been diverse in putting his double-doubles together, owning three point-rebound double-doubles and three with points and assists. Payton registered his first double-double of the year in the season opener, scoring 21 points with a career-high matching 10 assists.

LONG STARTS YEAR ON A ROLL: Sophomore Shawn Long picked right up where he left off last spring, registering double-doubles in five of the first nine games to rank 10th nationally. He enters the Houston game leading the Sun Belt in both rebounding (10.9) and defensive rebounding (6.9), ranked second in blocks (3.1), third in scoring (20.7) and offensive rebounds (4.1) and eighth in field goal percentage (.569).

LONG NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP: Sophomore forward Shawn Long was tabbed as the most valuable player of the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland after averaging 21.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in the two games, shooting .667 from the field (14-for-21) and .600 from three-point (3-for-5). He scored 24 points with a career-high matching 17 rebounds and five blocks in the opening round comeback win over Oakland and came back to score all 18 of his points in the second half in the title game vs. Coastal Carolina.

. . . AND LONG RECEIVES FIRST LSWA HONOR: Shawn Long's strong start to his sophomore year has also led to him earning the first player of the week award of the year rom the Louisiana Sports Writers Association on Dec. 3. The award covered the first month of the season, during which Long averaged 20.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game in helping the Cajuns to a 5-2 record and the team championship at the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland Classic.

. . . AND LONG EARNS SECOND SUN BELT HONOR: It took Shawn Long just three weeks to garner a pair of Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week awards. Long earned the honor on Nov. 12 after scoring 23 points with 14 rebounds and four blocks in the season opener against Louisiana College. He came back on Nov. 26 to pick up the award again after being named the MVP of the EA Sports Maui on the Mainland.

PAYTON NAMED TO WOODEN AWARD PRESEASON TOP 50: Cajuns junior point guard Elfrid Payton earned a big preseason honor on Nov. 12 when he was named to the 2013-14 John R. Wooden Award preseason top 50 list by the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Named after the legendary UCLA head coach, the Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation's best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation.

. . . AND MORE HONORS FOR PAYTON: Being selected to the Wooden Award list is the latest in a long list of preseason awards for Elfrid Payton. Earlier in the fall, Payton was named to the preseason watch list for the Bob Cousy Award, which is presented to the nation's top point guard by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. In addition, Payton was named to the Mid-Major All-America first team by NBCSports.com and to the Lou Henson All-America team, which honors the nation's top mid-major players and is presented by CollegeInsider.com.

CAJUNS SNAP ROAD STREAK: The win at Coastal Carolina on Nov, 24 snapped a 19-game road losing streak against non-conference opponents that dated back to the end of the 2009-10 season. The win did not come easy as the basketball gods toyed with the Cajuns, nearly allowing Coastal Carolina to rally back from 15 points down with 5:13 left before Louisiana escaped with a 73-69 win. The Cajuns did that streak one better by winning at Louisiana Tech on Wednesday, before having their modest two-game win streak snapped at Louisville.

NEXT UP: The Cajuns play their final two games before a short Christmas break, hosting Centenary on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7:05 p.m. in the Cajundome before traveling to Jackson, Miss. on Thursday, Dec. 19 for a 7:30 p.m. game at Jackson State.

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