University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Thursday, January 16
Mobile, Ala.
7:05 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
South Alabama
Cajuns Open Road Swing at South Alabama on Thursday
1/14/2014 10:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 17
Louisiana (11-5, 2-1) at South Alabama (6-11, 0-4)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Mitchell Center (10,000), Mobile, Ala.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None
Series: Louisiana Leads, 24-23
Last Meeting: South Alabama 88, Louisiana 64 (2/14/13, Mobile, Ala.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 54-56 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 279-187 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 402-222 (21st year)
vs. South Alabama: 1-4
SOUTH ALABAMA
MATTHEW GRAVES (Butler '98)
At USA: 6-11 (1st year)
Overall: 6-11 (1st year)
vs. Louisiana: 0-0
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns take to the road for the first two-game Sun Belt Conference weekend of the season when they head to the state of Alabama for a pair of games. The Cajuns open the week in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, Jan. 16 with a 7:05 contest at South Alabama and then play at Troy on Saturday (Jan. 18). The Ragin' Cajuns improved to 8-0 at home this year with dominating wins over UT Arlington on Saturday (90-70) and Texas State on Monday (81-58). Shawn Long (21.3 ppg) teams with Elfrid Payton (20.2) to give Louisiana the only 20-point scoring duo in the country this year. Under the direction of first-year head coach Matthew Graves, South Alabama has opened the year with a 6-11 overall mark, including losses in all four league contests. This will be the 48th meeting between the Cajuns and the Jaguars with Louisiana holding a slight 24-23 series lead, including an 11-10 mark in games played in Mobile.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana is off to an 11-5 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 have taken a big step forward. The team is centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (20.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6.1 apg, 2.5 spg) and forward Shawn Long (21.3 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 3.0 bpg), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long plays mostly at center with Elridge Moore (5.7, 4.1) has returned at small forward after missing five games with an ankle injury. Bryant Mbamalu (8.0, 2.3), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, has returned after missing the first 12 games with a foot injury. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (6.5, 1.5) saw increased playing time with Steven Wronkoski (5.7, 2.8) starting on the other wing. The bench has been a source of a good offensive spark as junior Xavian Rimmer (7.3, 2.2) and sophomore Kasey Shepherd (9.0, 2.5) providing the biggest lift at guard with freshman Hayward Register (2.0) also seeing time. Junior J.J. Davenport (3.3, 3.1), who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshmen Vieux Kande (1.4, 0.9), and Luka Kamber (0.5, 1.3) 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, Jan. 13. Shawn Long was seventh in rebounding (11.0) and field goals made (124), 11th in double-doubles (8), 14th in scoring (21.5), 19th in blocks (3.1) and 46th in field goal percentage (.556). Junior Elfrid Payton was 22nd in assists (6.1), 31st in steals (2.3) and 32nd in scoring (20.1), owning one of seven triple doubles in the nation this year. As a team, the Cajuns were 12th in scoring offense (85.3) and 30th in three-point field goal defense (.292).
MARLIN CLAIMS 400TH VICTORY: Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin used a 90-58 win over Central Methodist on Dec. 30 to claim his 400th as a head coach at the collegiate level. Marlin enters the South Alabama game with a 402-222 record (.645) in 21 seasons as a head coach. He was 123-35 in five seasons at Pensacola Junior College (1990-95), winning the 1993 national championship, and 225-131 in 12 years at Sam Houston State (1998-2010). He reached the 50-win mark at Louisiana in the win over Houston on Dec. 14 and owns a 54-56 record.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100-percent both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 grade point average for the team. They backed that up with a 2.854 during the recently completed fall semester, the second-highest average in the 31 years that athletics has tracked grades, with eight of the 15 players posting a 3.0 or better. In seven semesters under head coach Bob Marlin, the Cajuns have recorded seven of the top 10 semesters in program history.
CAJUNS ARE FINALLY HEALTHY: Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin has disputed the fact listed in most preseason stories that Louisiana has benefited from the return of all five starters this year because up until Saturday (Jan. 11), he had not had the good fortune to have all five starters from last year healthy at the same time. The return of Elridge Moore for the UT Arlington contest gave Marlin a complete roster of 15 healthy players for the first time all season. Bryant Mbamalu, who started 25 games last year, missed the first 12 games of the year with a foot injury and Moore had been sidelined with an ankle sprain since mid-December. The Cajuns are now 2-0 playing with all 15 players available.
STREAKING FROM THE LINE: The Cajuns have shown improvement from the foul line over the last four games, going 90-for-125 (.720) to improve to .681 for the year (303-445). Kasey Shepherd leads the team, making 30-of-32 attempts to shoot .938 from the stripe. He opened the year with 16 straight makes before missing once each in back-to-back games against Central Methodist (Dec. 30) and at ULM (Jan. 4). Xavian Rimmer is shooting .844 from the line (27-32), owning a current streak of 19 straight makes going back to the Louisiana Tech game (Dec. 4). Center J.J. Davenport opened the year by making just one of his first four attempts, but has bounced back to make 16 straight. Davenport is shooting .850 (17-20) for the year.
. . . AND PAYTON HAS SPENT THE SEASON AT THE LINE: With 164 free throw attempts this year, Elfrid Payton enters the week ranked third nationally in free throw attempts. Niagara's Antoine Mason leads the country with 201 attempts through Monday while Delaware's Jarvis Threatt is second with 165. Payton has shot 506 career free throws, including 133 as a freshman in 2011-12 and 209 in 2012-13. He has attempted eight or more free throws in a game 12 times this season.
THE DRIVE FOR 1,000: With Elfrid Payton already surpassing the 1,000 point mark for his career this season, the attention turns to sophomore Shawn Long and senior Bryant Mbamalu, who are each closing in on the scoring plateau and should become the 41st and 42nd Cajuns to accomplish the feat. Long enters the South Alabama game with 852 career points while Mbamalu has 826 points. Long is also attempting to become just the fifth player to reach 1,000 points as a sophomore, joining Bo Lamar (1,631 points), Andrew Toney (1,269), Kevin Brooks (1,053) and Jerry Flake (1,042).
20-POINT PARTNERS: Midway through the 2013-14 season, the Cajuns duo of Shawn Long (21.3 ppg) and Elfrid Payton (20.2 ppg) have emerged as the only duo in the country to both average 20 points per game. There are 35 players averaging 20 points or more this year with Long ranking 14th and Payton 32nd. Long leads the team with ten 20-point efforts this year (19 in his career) with Payton owning nine, 20-point games (19 career). Payton however has the upper hand by producing three 30-point games this year while Long has one.
A TRIPLE-DOUBLE FOR PAYTON: After flirting with it a half-dozen times over the last 40 games, junior Elfrid Payton recorded the first triple-doule of his career when he set career highs for scoring (34), rebounds (11) and assists (11) at ULM on Jan. 4. It was the sixth triple-double in school history and one of seven in the nation this year. Michael Southall recorded the last triple-double by a Cajun when he had one at North Texas in 2005-06. Here are a list of triple-doubles in Cajuns basketball history (all are points-rebounds-assists except where noted with *):
Elfrid Payton at ULM (Jan. 4, 2014) (34 pts, 11 reb, 11 asst.)
Michael Southall @ North Texas (Jan. 5, 2006) (19 pts, 12 reb, 11 blocks)
Aaron Mitchell vs. Jackson State (Dec. 1, 1989) (21-10-10)
Randal Smith vs. Rider (Jan. 8, 1987) (22-11-11)
George Almones vs. Long Island (Jan. 28, 1985) (12-16-11)
George Almones vs. ULM (Feb. 14, 1983) (14-10-12)
. . . AND LONG FLIRTS WITH GETTING ONE OF HIS OWN: One game after Elfrid Payton recorded a triple-double, his running mate, Shawn Long, flirted with one of his own. Against UT Arlington on Saturday (Jan. 11), Long totalled 22 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks, playing just 28 minutes. Long has 26 career double-doubles, but that was the first time he came that close to registering the third part of the feat.
SHEPHERD SPARKS THE CAJUNS: The emergence of Kasey Shepherd has provided the Cajuns with a scoring spark off the bench this season. Shepherd, who averaged 3.4 points in 10.9 minutes of action last year, started the year slowly, averaging just 2.7 points over the first six games. He has now settled into the offense, averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games, including 17 or more points five times. He leads the Sun Belt shooting .615 from three-point (24-39) while also shooting .556 from the field (45-81) and .938 from the line (30-32). He earned the LSWA Player of the Week award on Dec. 9 after scoring 22 points at Louisiana Tech and 18 at Louisville.
RIMMER COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Junior Xavian Rimmer has only been with the Cajuns for 16 games, but he is quickly gaining a reputation for making the last-second shot. At Jackson State on Dec. 19, he made a three-pointer with nine seconds left to tie the game at 67-67. On Jan. 4 at ULM, he was fouled with 2.3 seconds left and made all three free throws to tie the game at 74-74 and force overtime.
SHEPHERD & RIMMER ARE A ONE-TWO PUNCH: The graduation of Alan-Michael Thompson and the injury to Bryant Mbamalu left the Cajuns without their two most effective three-point shooters at the start of the season. Their loss has been offset by the addition of Xavian Rimmer and the maturation of Kasey Shepherd. Shepherd leads the Sun Belt shooting .615 from three-point (23-38) while Rimmer is fourth at .472 (25-53). With Shepherd and Rimmer leading the way, the Cajuns rank second in the Sun Belt, making 121 of their 324 three-point attempts (.373). Last year, Louisiana shot .341 from three-point (226-663).
MBAMALU BACK: After missing the first 12 games of the season with a foot injury suffered in September, senior Bryant Mbamalu returned to the lineup on Dec. 30 and has played in the last three games. After totalling nine points and four rebounds in the first two games, he broke loose to average 11.5 points and 2.5 rebounds over the last two games. Mbamalu scored a season-high 14 points vs. Texas State on Monday, improving to seven-for-10 from three-point this year (.700). As a junior in 2012-13, Mbamalu started all but seven games as a wing guard, averaging 13.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, finishing second on the team with 49 treys. He scored in double figures 21 times, including five 20-point games.
PAYTON MOVES UP SCORING CHART: A 21-point effort against Texas State on Monday (Jan. 13) has moved Elfrid Payton past both Blane Harmon (1,060 points from 1998-01) and
Randall Daigle (1,075, 2007-11) into 33rd place on the school career scoring chart with 1,076 career points. Payton became the 40th Cajun to score 1,000 career points in the win over Central Methodist on Monday (Jan. 4). Payton, who is averaging 20.2 points, has three career 30-point games and nineteen 20-point efforts.
SCORING OFF THE GLASS: Shawn Long has made the most of his rebounding opportunities this year, scoring 37 baskets off his 64 offensive rebounds this season for an average of 4.6 points a game. Long ranks third in the Sun Belt averaging 4.0 offensive rebounds a game and second in scoring (21.3).
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 22 times in the first 16 games this season. Shawn Long (10) and Elfrid Payton (9) lead the way, including four contests in which they both scored 20 points. Xavian Rimmer (2) and Kasey Shepherd (1) have come 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.
. . . AND 30-POINT EFFORTS: When Elfrid Payton set a career-high with 34 points at ULM, it marked the fourth time this season that Ragin' Cajuns player scored 30 or more points in a game. Payton owns three of the efforts, scoring 31 points against Houston (Dec. 14) and a 32 points vs. Oakland (Nov. 23) while Shawn Long has the other, a 30-point effort vs. Centenary. Last year, Payton scored 32 points against Western Kentucky for the only 30-point game by a Cajun.
PAYTON NEARS ASSIST TOP 10: With 98 assists in 16 games this year, Elfrid Payton has moved into 11th place on the Louisiana career assist list. Payton has 376 assists, and 12 assists to pass 10th place Andrew Toney (387 from 1977-80).
LONG PASSES 100 BLOCK MARK: A six blocked shots effort at ULM on Jan. 4 allowed sophomore Shawn Long to become just the sixth player in program history to block 100 shots in a career. Long's subsequent eight blocks over the two home games over the weekend moved him past Marvin Lancaster (110 blocks from 1987-89) and into fifth place on the career blocked shots chart with 113 blocks. Long had 65 blocks as a freshman, the sixth-highest single season total in school history, and has started his sophomore campaign with 48 blocks in the first 15 games, ranking him ninth on the single season list.
PLAYING OVERTIME: The Jan. 4 ULM game marked the second time in five games that the Cajuns played to overtime this season. The Cajuns previously toppled Houston in OT on Dec. 14 and are now 7-5 in overtime in the four seasons under head coach Bob Marlin. The ULM game was the first double overtime game since Louisiana dropped double overtime decision at Texas Southern (74-71) and vs. South Alabama (91-89) last year.
LONG LIKES TO DOUBLE UP: Sophomore Shawn Long picked right up where he left off last spring, registering double-doubles in eight of the first 16 games to rank 11th nationally. Long has 26 double-doubles in 48 career games. He enters the week leading the SBC in blocked shots (3.1), rebounding (11.0) and defensive rebounding (6.9), ranked second in scoring (21.5), third in offensive rebounds (4.0) and fourth in field goal percentage (.556).
NEXT UP: The Cajuns stay in Alabama, traveling to Troy for a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday (Jan. 18) to end a stretch of playing four games in eight days. Louisiana then heads home to play games against two of the top teams in the Sun Belt this season, Georgia State (Jan. 23) and WKU (Jan. 25) in the Cajundome.
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 17
Louisiana (11-5, 2-1) at South Alabama (6-11, 0-4)
Date: Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Mitchell Center (10,000), Mobile, Ala.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None
Series: Louisiana Leads, 24-23
Last Meeting: South Alabama 88, Louisiana 64 (2/14/13, Mobile, Ala.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 54-56 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 279-187 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 402-222 (21st year)
vs. South Alabama: 1-4
SOUTH ALABAMA
MATTHEW GRAVES (Butler '98)
At USA: 6-11 (1st year)
Overall: 6-11 (1st year)
vs. Louisiana: 0-0
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns take to the road for the first two-game Sun Belt Conference weekend of the season when they head to the state of Alabama for a pair of games. The Cajuns open the week in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, Jan. 16 with a 7:05 contest at South Alabama and then play at Troy on Saturday (Jan. 18). The Ragin' Cajuns improved to 8-0 at home this year with dominating wins over UT Arlington on Saturday (90-70) and Texas State on Monday (81-58). Shawn Long (21.3 ppg) teams with Elfrid Payton (20.2) to give Louisiana the only 20-point scoring duo in the country this year. Under the direction of first-year head coach Matthew Graves, South Alabama has opened the year with a 6-11 overall mark, including losses in all four league contests. This will be the 48th meeting between the Cajuns and the Jaguars with Louisiana holding a slight 24-23 series lead, including an 11-10 mark in games played in Mobile.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana is off to an 11-5 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 have taken a big step forward. The team is centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (20.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 6.1 apg, 2.5 spg) and forward Shawn Long (21.3 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 3.0 bpg), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long plays mostly at center with Elridge Moore (5.7, 4.1) has returned at small forward after missing five games with an ankle injury. Bryant Mbamalu (8.0, 2.3), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, has returned after missing the first 12 games with a foot injury. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (6.5, 1.5) saw increased playing time with Steven Wronkoski (5.7, 2.8) starting on the other wing. The bench has been a source of a good offensive spark as junior Xavian Rimmer (7.3, 2.2) and sophomore Kasey Shepherd (9.0, 2.5) providing the biggest lift at guard with freshman Hayward Register (2.0) also seeing time. Junior J.J. Davenport (3.3, 3.1), who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshmen Vieux Kande (1.4, 0.9), and Luka Kamber (0.5, 1.3) 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, Jan. 13. Shawn Long was seventh in rebounding (11.0) and field goals made (124), 11th in double-doubles (8), 14th in scoring (21.5), 19th in blocks (3.1) and 46th in field goal percentage (.556). Junior Elfrid Payton was 22nd in assists (6.1), 31st in steals (2.3) and 32nd in scoring (20.1), owning one of seven triple doubles in the nation this year. As a team, the Cajuns were 12th in scoring offense (85.3) and 30th in three-point field goal defense (.292).
MARLIN CLAIMS 400TH VICTORY: Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin used a 90-58 win over Central Methodist on Dec. 30 to claim his 400th as a head coach at the collegiate level. Marlin enters the South Alabama game with a 402-222 record (.645) in 21 seasons as a head coach. He was 123-35 in five seasons at Pensacola Junior College (1990-95), winning the 1993 national championship, and 225-131 in 12 years at Sam Houston State (1998-2010). He reached the 50-win mark at Louisiana in the win over Houston on Dec. 14 and owns a 54-56 record.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100-percent both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 grade point average for the team. They backed that up with a 2.854 during the recently completed fall semester, the second-highest average in the 31 years that athletics has tracked grades, with eight of the 15 players posting a 3.0 or better. In seven semesters under head coach Bob Marlin, the Cajuns have recorded seven of the top 10 semesters in program history.
CAJUNS ARE FINALLY HEALTHY: Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin has disputed the fact listed in most preseason stories that Louisiana has benefited from the return of all five starters this year because up until Saturday (Jan. 11), he had not had the good fortune to have all five starters from last year healthy at the same time. The return of Elridge Moore for the UT Arlington contest gave Marlin a complete roster of 15 healthy players for the first time all season. Bryant Mbamalu, who started 25 games last year, missed the first 12 games of the year with a foot injury and Moore had been sidelined with an ankle sprain since mid-December. The Cajuns are now 2-0 playing with all 15 players available.
STREAKING FROM THE LINE: The Cajuns have shown improvement from the foul line over the last four games, going 90-for-125 (.720) to improve to .681 for the year (303-445). Kasey Shepherd leads the team, making 30-of-32 attempts to shoot .938 from the stripe. He opened the year with 16 straight makes before missing once each in back-to-back games against Central Methodist (Dec. 30) and at ULM (Jan. 4). Xavian Rimmer is shooting .844 from the line (27-32), owning a current streak of 19 straight makes going back to the Louisiana Tech game (Dec. 4). Center J.J. Davenport opened the year by making just one of his first four attempts, but has bounced back to make 16 straight. Davenport is shooting .850 (17-20) for the year.
. . . AND PAYTON HAS SPENT THE SEASON AT THE LINE: With 164 free throw attempts this year, Elfrid Payton enters the week ranked third nationally in free throw attempts. Niagara's Antoine Mason leads the country with 201 attempts through Monday while Delaware's Jarvis Threatt is second with 165. Payton has shot 506 career free throws, including 133 as a freshman in 2011-12 and 209 in 2012-13. He has attempted eight or more free throws in a game 12 times this season.
THE DRIVE FOR 1,000: With Elfrid Payton already surpassing the 1,000 point mark for his career this season, the attention turns to sophomore Shawn Long and senior Bryant Mbamalu, who are each closing in on the scoring plateau and should become the 41st and 42nd Cajuns to accomplish the feat. Long enters the South Alabama game with 852 career points while Mbamalu has 826 points. Long is also attempting to become just the fifth player to reach 1,000 points as a sophomore, joining Bo Lamar (1,631 points), Andrew Toney (1,269), Kevin Brooks (1,053) and Jerry Flake (1,042).
20-POINT PARTNERS: Midway through the 2013-14 season, the Cajuns duo of Shawn Long (21.3 ppg) and Elfrid Payton (20.2 ppg) have emerged as the only duo in the country to both average 20 points per game. There are 35 players averaging 20 points or more this year with Long ranking 14th and Payton 32nd. Long leads the team with ten 20-point efforts this year (19 in his career) with Payton owning nine, 20-point games (19 career). Payton however has the upper hand by producing three 30-point games this year while Long has one.
A TRIPLE-DOUBLE FOR PAYTON: After flirting with it a half-dozen times over the last 40 games, junior Elfrid Payton recorded the first triple-doule of his career when he set career highs for scoring (34), rebounds (11) and assists (11) at ULM on Jan. 4. It was the sixth triple-double in school history and one of seven in the nation this year. Michael Southall recorded the last triple-double by a Cajun when he had one at North Texas in 2005-06. Here are a list of triple-doubles in Cajuns basketball history (all are points-rebounds-assists except where noted with *):
Elfrid Payton at ULM (Jan. 4, 2014) (34 pts, 11 reb, 11 asst.)
Michael Southall @ North Texas (Jan. 5, 2006) (19 pts, 12 reb, 11 blocks)
Aaron Mitchell vs. Jackson State (Dec. 1, 1989) (21-10-10)
Randal Smith vs. Rider (Jan. 8, 1987) (22-11-11)
George Almones vs. Long Island (Jan. 28, 1985) (12-16-11)
George Almones vs. ULM (Feb. 14, 1983) (14-10-12)
. . . AND LONG FLIRTS WITH GETTING ONE OF HIS OWN: One game after Elfrid Payton recorded a triple-double, his running mate, Shawn Long, flirted with one of his own. Against UT Arlington on Saturday (Jan. 11), Long totalled 22 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven blocks, playing just 28 minutes. Long has 26 career double-doubles, but that was the first time he came that close to registering the third part of the feat.
SHEPHERD SPARKS THE CAJUNS: The emergence of Kasey Shepherd has provided the Cajuns with a scoring spark off the bench this season. Shepherd, who averaged 3.4 points in 10.9 minutes of action last year, started the year slowly, averaging just 2.7 points over the first six games. He has now settled into the offense, averaging 12.8 points over the last 10 games, including 17 or more points five times. He leads the Sun Belt shooting .615 from three-point (24-39) while also shooting .556 from the field (45-81) and .938 from the line (30-32). He earned the LSWA Player of the Week award on Dec. 9 after scoring 22 points at Louisiana Tech and 18 at Louisville.
RIMMER COMES THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Junior Xavian Rimmer has only been with the Cajuns for 16 games, but he is quickly gaining a reputation for making the last-second shot. At Jackson State on Dec. 19, he made a three-pointer with nine seconds left to tie the game at 67-67. On Jan. 4 at ULM, he was fouled with 2.3 seconds left and made all three free throws to tie the game at 74-74 and force overtime.
SHEPHERD & RIMMER ARE A ONE-TWO PUNCH: The graduation of Alan-Michael Thompson and the injury to Bryant Mbamalu left the Cajuns without their two most effective three-point shooters at the start of the season. Their loss has been offset by the addition of Xavian Rimmer and the maturation of Kasey Shepherd. Shepherd leads the Sun Belt shooting .615 from three-point (23-38) while Rimmer is fourth at .472 (25-53). With Shepherd and Rimmer leading the way, the Cajuns rank second in the Sun Belt, making 121 of their 324 three-point attempts (.373). Last year, Louisiana shot .341 from three-point (226-663).
MBAMALU BACK: After missing the first 12 games of the season with a foot injury suffered in September, senior Bryant Mbamalu returned to the lineup on Dec. 30 and has played in the last three games. After totalling nine points and four rebounds in the first two games, he broke loose to average 11.5 points and 2.5 rebounds over the last two games. Mbamalu scored a season-high 14 points vs. Texas State on Monday, improving to seven-for-10 from three-point this year (.700). As a junior in 2012-13, Mbamalu started all but seven games as a wing guard, averaging 13.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, finishing second on the team with 49 treys. He scored in double figures 21 times, including five 20-point games.
PAYTON MOVES UP SCORING CHART: A 21-point effort against Texas State on Monday (Jan. 13) has moved Elfrid Payton past both Blane Harmon (1,060 points from 1998-01) and
Randall Daigle (1,075, 2007-11) into 33rd place on the school career scoring chart with 1,076 career points. Payton became the 40th Cajun to score 1,000 career points in the win over Central Methodist on Monday (Jan. 4). Payton, who is averaging 20.2 points, has three career 30-point games and nineteen 20-point efforts.
SCORING OFF THE GLASS: Shawn Long has made the most of his rebounding opportunities this year, scoring 37 baskets off his 64 offensive rebounds this season for an average of 4.6 points a game. Long ranks third in the Sun Belt averaging 4.0 offensive rebounds a game and second in scoring (21.3).
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 22 times in the first 16 games this season. Shawn Long (10) and Elfrid Payton (9) lead the way, including four contests in which they both scored 20 points. Xavian Rimmer (2) and Kasey Shepherd (1) have come 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.
. . . AND 30-POINT EFFORTS: When Elfrid Payton set a career-high with 34 points at ULM, it marked the fourth time this season that Ragin' Cajuns player scored 30 or more points in a game. Payton owns three of the efforts, scoring 31 points against Houston (Dec. 14) and a 32 points vs. Oakland (Nov. 23) while Shawn Long has the other, a 30-point effort vs. Centenary. Last year, Payton scored 32 points against Western Kentucky for the only 30-point game by a Cajun.
PAYTON NEARS ASSIST TOP 10: With 98 assists in 16 games this year, Elfrid Payton has moved into 11th place on the Louisiana career assist list. Payton has 376 assists, and 12 assists to pass 10th place Andrew Toney (387 from 1977-80).
LONG PASSES 100 BLOCK MARK: A six blocked shots effort at ULM on Jan. 4 allowed sophomore Shawn Long to become just the sixth player in program history to block 100 shots in a career. Long's subsequent eight blocks over the two home games over the weekend moved him past Marvin Lancaster (110 blocks from 1987-89) and into fifth place on the career blocked shots chart with 113 blocks. Long had 65 blocks as a freshman, the sixth-highest single season total in school history, and has started his sophomore campaign with 48 blocks in the first 15 games, ranking him ninth on the single season list.
PLAYING OVERTIME: The Jan. 4 ULM game marked the second time in five games that the Cajuns played to overtime this season. The Cajuns previously toppled Houston in OT on Dec. 14 and are now 7-5 in overtime in the four seasons under head coach Bob Marlin. The ULM game was the first double overtime game since Louisiana dropped double overtime decision at Texas Southern (74-71) and vs. South Alabama (91-89) last year.
LONG LIKES TO DOUBLE UP: Sophomore Shawn Long picked right up where he left off last spring, registering double-doubles in eight of the first 16 games to rank 11th nationally. Long has 26 double-doubles in 48 career games. He enters the week leading the SBC in blocked shots (3.1), rebounding (11.0) and defensive rebounding (6.9), ranked second in scoring (21.5), third in offensive rebounds (4.0) and fourth in field goal percentage (.556).
NEXT UP: The Cajuns stay in Alabama, traveling to Troy for a 7:30 p.m. game on Saturday (Jan. 18) to end a stretch of playing four games in eight days. Louisiana then heads home to play games against two of the top teams in the Sun Belt this season, Georgia State (Jan. 23) and WKU (Jan. 25) in the Cajundome.
Quannas White Media Availability (Nov 28, 2025)
Saturday, November 29
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Wednesday, November 12
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Wednesday, November 12
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Monday, November 10
