University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns vs. Loyola-New Orleans Pre-Game Notes
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Cajuns vs.
Loyola-New Orleans Pre-Game Notes
Friday, Nov. 21, 2003
Game Information
Date: Monday, Nov. 24, 2003
Location: Lafayette, La.
Time: 7:05 p.m. (CT)
Arena: Cajundome (12,800)
The Teams: Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (0-1,
0-0 Sun Belt), Loyola-New Orleans Wolfpack (2-2, 0-0 ACC)
The Coaches: Louisiana-Lafayette - Jessie Evans
(112-73, 7th season at UL Lafayette and overall); Loyola-New
Orleans - Jerry Hernandez (90-128, 13th season at Loyola and
overall)
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420-AM and 107.9 KRKA-FM (live
Internet streaming available at
www.ragincajuns.com)
- Jay Walker play-by-play
The Series: Cajuns lead 26-22
Last Meeting: Cajuns 81-61 on Dec. 11, 2001 in
Lafayette
Cajuns Most Recently: Lost to Georgia Tech 45-79
(11/18/03)
Loyola Most Recently: Defeated Pensacola Christian
66-60 (11/15/03)
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team will make its 2003-04 regular season home debut and open the 19th season of play at the Cajundome on Monday, Nov. 24 against in-state foe Loyola-New Orleans in a 7:05 p.m., matchup...The Cajuns are 6-0 under head coach Jessie Evans in Cajundome openers and 14-4 all-time since the facility opened in 1985-86...UL Lafayette enters Monday's game winners of 22 of the last 24 regular season games played at the 'Dome...The game will also be the Cajuns final one before the fall semester final exams begin on Monday, Dec. 1....Following Monday's game the Cajuns will have a two-week break before facing Dayton on Dec. 9.
The Site: Cajundome (capacity: 12,800)
Opened in time for the 1985-86 season…First game was played Nov. 22, 1985 against Georgia (lost 75-78)…Replaced Blackham Coliseum, which served as the home of Ragin' Cajuns basketball from 1950-1984…This season marks the 19th season of play at the Cajundome…UL Lafayette has posted a 193-70 record (.734) within the friendly confines…The Cajuns are 65-14 (.823) under head coach Jessie Evans in the 'Dome with wins over Ohio State, Texas Tech, Southern Mississippi and East Carolina…Played host to the 1998 and 1999 Sun Belt Tournaments…UL Lafayette has won 22 of 24 and 31 of the last 36 games in the 'Dome since the 2000-01 season.
The Series – Cajuns lead 26-22
The UL Lafayette-Loyola series dates back to the 1916-17 season and continued until the 1957-58 season before a 43-year hiatus...Tonight's meeting marks the 49th game between the two teams, but just the second in the last 45 years...The two teams last met on Dec. 13, 2001 in the Cajundome with the Cajuns posting an 81-61 win in the first meeting between the two teams since Feb. 21, 1958... The Cajuns are 1-0 aganist the Wolfpack in the Cajundome.
The Tentative Starters
Louisiana-Lafayette (2003-04
record: 0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
G- 4 Antonie Landry (5-11,
170, Sr., New Orleans, La.)
G- 3 Brad Boyd (6-6, 195, Sr., Opelousas, La.)
Season Stats: 6.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg, 16.7% FG, 25.0% 3FG, 5 turnovers
G- 21 Laurie Bridges (6-4, 206, Sr., New Orleans, La.)
Season Stats: 4.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 4.0 apg, 18.2% FG
F- 45 Brian Hamilton (6-6, 186, Jr., Missouri City, Texas) Season Stats: 8.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 42.9% FG, 33.3% FT, 5 off rebs
C- 11 Chris Cameron (6-11, 256, So., Melbourne, Australia) Season Stats: 10.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 14.3% FG, 66.7% FT, 8/12 FT, 5 off rebs
Loyola-New Orleans (2003-04 record:
2-2, 0-0 GCA)
G- 2 Jonathan Hernandez (6-0,
195, Sr., New Orleans, La.)
Season Stats: 19.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.0
apg, 51.2% FG, 50.0% 3FG, 80.6% FT
G- 5 James Bunn (6-2, 175, So., Tampa, Fla.)
Season Stats: 12.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 37.5%
FG, 39.1% 3FG, 62.5% FT
G- 10 Dawson McCall (6-1, 180, Sr., Bay St. Louis, Miss.)
Season Stats: 10.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 46.7%
FG, 40.0% 3FG, 75.0% FT
F- 21 Zach Tyson (6-7, 210, Jr., Destrehan, La.)
Season Stats: 8.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 55.6%
FG, 25.0% FT
C- 30 Mike Senna (6-8, 225, Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.)
The UL Lafayette Head Coach – Jessie Evans
Native of Lebanon, Tenn., and graduate of Eastern Michigan University…In his seventh year at Louisiana-Lafayette…112-73 in Cajun Country and overall…Led the Cajuns to a 20-10 record last season and their third postseason appearance in last four years with a berth in the 2003 NIT…His teams have collected 20 wins the past two seasons marking the first back-to-back 20-win campaigns since 1991-92/1992-93....Guided the Cajuns to a 25-9 record in 1999-00 and a berth in the NCAA Tournament…During each of his previous six seasons, has guided the Cajuns to no worse than a No. 3 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament…Has appeared in the Sun Belt championship game three times out of six seasons…Has led UL Lafayette to 10-plus conference victories in five of six seasons and four straight …Served as an assistant coach at Arizona under the legendary Lute Olsen from 1988-97, winning a national championship in 1997…Was named to the UL Lafayette post on March 14, 1997, and had a national championship when he officially took over the Cajuns program in April 1997…Evans helped tutor a total of 14 Arizona players that have played in the NBA, including Mike Bibby of the Sacramento Kings.
Evans Year-By-Year
1997-98 – 18-13 (12-6 Sun
Belt)
1998-99 – 13-16 (7-7 Sun Belt)
1999-00 – 25-9 (13-3 Sun Belt) NCAA Tournament
2000-01 – 16-13 (10-6 Sun Belt)
2001-02 – 20-11 (11-4 Sun Belt) Owens Corning NIT
2002-03 – 20-10 (12-3 Sun Belt) Owens Corning NIT
2003-04 – 0-1 (0-0 Sun Belt)
Overall – 112-73 (65-29 Sun Belt)
On the Air
Monday evening's game against Loyola-New Orleans can be heard locally on the UL Lafayette Sports Network through its flagship stations SportsRadio ESPN 1420 KPEL-AM and KRKA 107.9 FM in Lafayette. The game will also be available via live Internet streaming at
www.ragincajuns.com. Jay Walker, in his 12th season covering the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball program, will provide all of the play-by-play action live from the the Cajundome in Lafayette, La., on the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus.Shorthanded
UL Lafayette will be without the services of five players for Monday's matchup with Loyola-New Orleans...Orien Greene, Dwayne Mitchell, Michael Southall, Cedric Williams and Chris Williams are all ineligible for the Fall 2003 semester...The fall semester final exams end Saturday, Dec. 6 and the earliest any one of the five could return to the court, should they become eligible, would be Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Dayton.
Coaches vs. the Opposition
Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans meets Loyola-New Orleans for the second time in his career and is 1-0 against the Wolfpack...Loyola-New Orleans head coach Jerry Hernandez, a graduate of UL Lafayette, will be facing the Cajuns for the second time in his career and is 0-1 against his alma mater.
Home Cooking – Cajun Style
Last season the Cajuns went 10-1 at home in the Cajundome and extended their Cajundome-record win streak to 21 games before losing to Western Kentucky in the home finale on Feb. 26… The previous record was set Feb. 4, 1993-Feb. 5, 1994 a span of 14 games…The Cajuns set the record with their 81-74 Sun Belt Conference-opening victory over New Mexico State on Jan. 2 …Since Jessie Evans took over the Cajuns program in 1997-98, UL Lafayette has won 65-of-79 games played at the Cajundome…Since the 2000-01 season, the Cajuns have won 31 of the last 36 games at the Cajundome and 22-of-24 dating back to last season.
Year-By-Year at Home Under Evans
1997-98 – 12-5 (9-3 SBC)
1998-99 – 10-2 (6-2 SBC)
1999-00 – 12-2 (7-1 SBC)
2000-01 – 9-3 (6-2 SBC)
2001-02 – 12-1 (7-0 SBC)
2002-03 – 10-1 (7-1 SBC)
2003-04 – 0-0 (0-0 SBC)
Overall – 65-14 (42-9 SBC)
Cajuns In November
UL Lafayette began its regular season in the month of November for the 10th straight season last Tuesday at Georgia Tech...The last time the Cajuns did not begin their regular season in November was the 1993-94 season when they hosted Texas Wesleyan on Dec. 1, 1993...The Cajuns are 14-15 in November since the 1993-94 season and are 11-11 under Jessie Evans.
Non-Conference Notes
The Cajuns are 39-36 in non-conference play (23-5 home, 16-31 away) under head coach Jessie Evans....UL Lafayette has had a winning non-conference record in each of the last two seasons marking the first back-to-back non-conference winning records since 1992-93/1993-94...In each season that the Cajuns have posted a winning non-conference record under Evans they have advanced to postseason play (2000 NCAA, 2002 NIT, 2003 NIT).
Regular Season Non-Conference
Year-By-Year Under Evans
1997-98 – 4-6 (3-2 home, 1-4
away)
1998-99 – 6-8 (4-0 home, 2-8 away)
1999-00 – 9-5 (5-1 home, 4-4 away)
2000-01 – 5-6 (3-1 home, 2-5 away)
2001-02 – 7-5 (5-1 home, 2-4 away)
2002-03 – 8-5 (3-0 home, 5-5 away)
2003-04 – 0-1 (0-0 home, 0-1 away)
Overall – 39-36 (23-5 home, 16-31 away)
Last Time Out...Nov. 18, 2003 at Ga. Tech
The Cajuns struggled from the field shooting 27 percent for the game while last season's leading scorer Brad Boyd was limited to just six points on 2-of-12 shooting as UL Lafayette fell to Georgia Tech 79-45 in first round of the Pre-Season NIT...Ga. Tech used a 24-5 run in the latter half of the first half to break open a 12-10 game...The Cajuns fell victim to a pair of field-goal droughts which allowed the Yellow Jackets to pull away...Trailing 17-11 with 8:34 remaining in the opening half, the Cajuns would not make another field goal until 52 seconds were remaining in the half as the Yellow Jackets went on a 19-4 run to take a 36-15 lead...In the second half, UL Lafayette would trim the lead to 42-27 at the 18:28 mark with a Brad Boyd three but would suffer its second field-goal drought of the game over the next six minutes as GT went on a 15-0 run to stretch its lead to 57-27...Antoine Landry, who ended the first half and began the second half with a field goal, led all Cajuns with 13 points...Chris Cameron scored 10 points, making eight free throws, and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds...UL Lafayette committed 19 turnovers and had just five assists...Laurie Bridges led all Cajuns with four assists.
Last Time vs. Loyola...Dec. 13, 2001
Louisiana-Lafayette got off to a slow start, but freshman center Michael Southall used his best offensive effort of the season in leading the Cajuns to an 81-61 win over Loyola-New Orleans. Southall had a season-high 24 points, 13 in the second half, as the host Cajuns (5-3) stretched a four-point halftime advantage into their biggest victory margin of the season. Senior Shea Whiting, meanwhile, scored 12 points in just his second game of the year as the Cajuns took their third straight win. In the first half, the Cajuns used a good stretch midway through the half to build a double-digit lead. With the game tied at 9-9 seven minutes in, the Cajuns got eight points from Southall during a 14-3 run to grab an 11-point edge. But the gritty Wolfpack used a 9-1 run to close out the frame and actually went into the locker room trailing only 33-29. However Southall continued to dominate the inside in the second half. He had 10 of the Cajuns' first 12 points in the second half — nailing his first five shots – as Louisiana-Lafayette quickly got the lead back to double figures. The Wolfpack got the deficit back down to six with 16:43 left, but the Cajuns continued to go inside during a 15-2 run that closed the NAIA visitors out. Thanks largely to Southall, who did not start for the first time all season, the team also got 63 points off the bench.
Non-Conference Home Win Streak
Dating back to the 2001-02 season, Louisiana-Lafayette has won seven straight non-conference home games...The last non-conference loss in the Cajundome occurred on Nov. 24, 2001 when Mississippi State posted a 79-71 victory...Under head coach Jessie Evans the Cajuns are 23-5 in non-conference outings at the Cajundome.
Nearing a Cajundome Milestone
Louisiana-Lafayette enters Monday's contest with Loyola-New Orleans just seven wins shy of 200 at the Cajundome...Since the facility opened in 1985 the Cajuns have rolled off 193 wins in 18 years...The Cajuns will play 11 games this season within the friendly confines...Should the Cajuns get off to a 7-0 start at the 'Dome this season they would reach the 200th win on Jan. 22 against New Mexico State.
Boyd Chasing the Trifecta Record
Senior guard Brad Boyd, coming off a season in which he drained 104 three-pointers, entered the 2003-04 season needing just 76 three-point baskets to break Sydney Grider's career record of 253 three-point field goals made...Boyd made two 3-point baskets against Georgia Tech last Tuesday moving him to 180 for his career and 74 away from the record.
Toeing the Line
After not attempting a free throw in the last seven games last season, sophomore Chris Cameron attempted a team-high 12 freebies last Tuesday at Georgia Tech...The Melbourne, Australia, native made eight of those attempts to set a new personal career-high for free throws made.
Fixture in the Lineup
With a start against Georgia Tech, Laurie Bridges extended his streak of consecutive games started to 22 - the longest current streak of any Cajuns player...The New Orleans native broke into the starting lineup Dec. 28 of last season against Loyola-Chicago and remained a starter for the final 21 games of the season.
It's Worth Mentioning
There might be a silver lining behind the Cajuns 34-point loss to Georgia Tech in the season opener last Tuesday...In the 1999-2000 season, the Cajuns opened with an 82-48 loss to Texas in the season opener only to end the season with 25 wins, a Sun Belt Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Cajuns vs. In-State Teams
UL Lafayette is 366-306 all-time against teams from the state of Louisiana...Since Jessie Evans took over the Cajuns are 24-10 against in-state schools (.706).
Semester Break
Following Monday's game against Loyola-New Orleans, UL Lafayette will take a break from action for the Fall 2003 semester final exams which begin on Monday, Dec. 1 and end Saturday, Dec. 6...The Cajuns will be off for 14 days before returning to action on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Dayton.
Boyd's Three Streak Continues
With his three-point basket at the 14:43 mark of the first half Tuesday at Georgia Tech, Brad Boyd extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one 3-point field goal made to 19 straight games...The last time Boyd failed to make at least one 3-pointer came on Dec. 27, 2002 against Colorado in the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte.
Another Three-Point Streak
As a team, UL Lafayette has made at least one 3-point field goal in 49 straight contests dating back to the 2001-02 season...The last time the Cajuns failed to make at least one three-point field goal occurred on Jan. 3, 2002 in the Cajundome against South Alabama (0-for-6).
Iron Unkind...And Then Some
The Cajuns shot below 30 percent in each half last Tuesday at Georgia Tech and ended the game shooting 27.3 percent...It marked the first time since Feb. 11, 2002 at North Texas that the Cajuns shot below 30 percent...The field goal percentage was the lowest under Jessie Evans since the Dec. 11, 2001, game against Bradley in which the Cajuns shot 27.8 percent (15-of-54)...The lowest field goal percentage under Evans came on Dec. 4, 1999, against Texas Tech (UL Lafayette shot 26.5 percent).
Bombs Away Boyd
One of the Cajuns most deadly weapons, especially from beyond the arc, senior guard Brad Boyd led UL Lafayette with 104 three-point baskets last season and ranked fourth in the nation in three-point field goals made per game (3.9)...The Opelousas, La., native and 2003 All-Sun Belt Conference performer appears to be in for an encore performance in 2003-04 after an excellent showing in the Cajuns exhibition season...Boyd connected on 14 three-point shots and made 49 percent of his attempts...He also led the team with a 25.5 scoring average over the two exhibition contests....Last season's leading scorer, at the tune of 16.8 points per game, Boyd has scored in double-figures in 23 of his last 28 outings....Boyd has made at least one three-pointer in his last 19 regular season games - the last time he was held without a three came in the Cajuns game against Colorado at the Pepsi Classic in Charlotte on Dec. 27, 2002.
Closing In On A Milestone
Senior guard Brad Boyd is close to joining an elite group...Boyd, a 6-6 guard and last season's leading scorer, enters Monday's game with 792 career points – leaving him just 208 points shy of 1,000 in his career...Boyd averaged 25.5 points in both of the Cajuns exhibition victories topping the 20-point mark twice...Once he hits the 1,000-point mark, he will be the 35th player in UL Lafayette history to reach 1,000 points in a career...Should Boyd reach the milestone it would mark the second straight season that a Cajuns player broke 1,000 in a career – Anthony Johnson did so last season.
Fastbreak Points
>Georgia Tech (NIT) was the first of five postseason teams which the Cajuns are guaranteed to face this season. UL Lafayette also plays Dayton (NCAA), Xavier (NCAA), Valparaiso (NIT) and Western Kentucky (NCAA) this season. The Cajuns also have the possiblity of facing Arizona (NCAA) at the Fiesta Bowl Classic.
>The loss to Georgia Tech snapped a three-game winning streak in season openers and was the first season-opening loss since the 1999-2000 season when the Cajuns lost to Texas 82-48 on Nov. 20, 1999.
>Brad Boyd has scored in double-figures in 23 of his last 28 outings and had a string of nine straight games with double-digit points snapped last Tuesday at Georgia Tech.
>The last time the Cajuns allowed an opponent to score over 100 points was Dec. 6, 1997 at Texas Tech – a span of 179 straight games. In fact, opponents have hit the century mark just three times in the last 10 years.
>The 45 points scored against Georgia Tech marked the first time that the Cajuns scored below 50 since Dec. 11, 2001 against Bradley (W, 43-42).
>In their two exhibition games at the Cajundome this season, Louisiana-Lafayette made 13 three-point field goals in each outing. Brad Boyd, alone, made 14-of-29 three-point tries in the two pre-season contests.
>Before last Tuesday's game at Georgia Tech, the Cajuns bench players combined had no regular season Division I experience.
A Cajuns Win Would...
Give the Cajuns their first victory of the season and even their record at 1-1 going into the fall semster break...Mark the seventh straight home-opening win and improve UL Lafayette to 7-0 in Cajundome openers under Evans...Extend the squad's winning streak over non-conference teams at the Cajundome to eight games.
A Cajuns Loss Would...
Drop them to 0-2 for the first time since the 1998-99 season and would mark the first home-opening loss since Nov. 25, 1996 when SW Missouri State posted an 81-74 overtime victory...Snap the Cajuns seven-game winning streak over non-conference teams at the Cajundome...Would be the first time that the Cajuns failed to win a game in November under head coach Jessie Evans.
Homegrown Talent
Of the 14 rostered players for Louisiana-Lafayette this season, seven (7) hail from the Bayou State...The Cajuns have two Lafayette natives in freshmen Adam James and Ross Mouton while Opelousas native Brad Boyd gives Louisiana-Lafayette three players from the Acadiana area...The Cajuns list of Louisiana natives includes: Brad Boyd (Opelousas), Laurie Bridges (New Orleans), Chris Cucchiara (Covington), Adam James (Lafayette), Antoine Landry (New Orleans), Dwayne Mitchell (New Orleans) and Ross Mouton (Lafayette).
Cajuns Picked To Defend Sun Belt Crown
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team was picked to defend its back-to-back Sun Belt Conference West Division titles according to the preseason coaches poll released at the conclusion of the annual Sun Belt basketball media days. The Cajuns received seven-first place votes to edge out New Mexico State's four first-place votes as the favorite in the West. In the Sun Belt East, three-time defending champion Western Kentucky was the front-runner with eight of 11 first-place votes. Louisiana-Lafayette has won the SBC West the past two seasons and since the league split into divisions prior to the 2000-01 season has claimed two of the three championships. The Cajuns enter the 2003-04 season having won 23 of their last 30 SBC games.
Boyd Earns Pre-Season Sun Belt Honor
Senior guard Brad Boyd (Opelousas, La. - St. Thomas More HS) represented the Cajuns on the 2003-04 All-Sun Belt Conference Preseason Team, earning first team honors. It marks the first time in his career that the Opelousas native received such honor. Boyd's pick comes as no surprise as he is coming off a career year in which he led the team in scoring with a 16.8 points per game average and ranked fourth in the nation in three-pointers per game with 3.9. He made a personal single-season best 104 three-point baskets last season and scored in double-digits in 23 of 27 games played...Boyd was a member of the 2002-03 All-Sun Belt Team.
Cajuns Selected To Participate In Bracket Buster
ESPN announced in September the field of 46 teams which will participate in the second annual Bracket Buster Saturday men's college basketball extravaganza to be held on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette men's basketball program was one of the 46 teams chosen for the event as one of three representatives from the Sun Belt Conference. UL Lafayette will face an opponent, to be announced on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2004, on Saturday, Feb. 21. As part of the agreement, the Cajuns will host a “return” game at the Cajundome against their Bracket Buster Saturday opponent in November or December of the 2004-05 season. Ten of the 23 match-ups pitting potential NCAA tournament hopefuls against each other will be televised nationally, highlighted by five games on ESPN or ESPN2. The other five televised games will be produced and distributed in the markets of the competing teams through ESPN Regional Television and will be available nationally on ESPN FULL COURT, an out-of-market pay-per-view service.
In A League of Their Own
Louisiana-Lafayette is the only team in the Sun Belt to win at least 10 conference games in each of the last four years. The Cajuns are 65-29 under head coach Jessie Evans in Sun Belt play and have won double-digit league games in five of six seasons under his direction.
Year-By-Year
Sun Belt Record Under Evans
1997-98 – 12-6
1998-99 – 7-7
1999-00 – 13-3
2000-01 – 10-6
2001-02 – 11-4
2002-03 – 12-3
2003-04 - 0-0
Overall Record – 65-29
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
