Cajuns Take Fourth-ranked Arizona to the Limits, 72-69

Tuesday, December 30

Tucson, Ariz.

N/A

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

(5) Arizona

Cajuns Take Fourth-ranked Arizona to the Limits, 72-69

12/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003

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TUCSON, Ariz. - Andre Iguodala sank a three-point shot off an in-bounds pass with the shot clock expiring and 10 seconds left in the game to help fourth-ranked Arizona sneak out a 72-69 victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team here Tuesday night at the McKale Center in the championship game of the 2003 Bank One Fiesta Bowl Classic championship game.

With the game tied 69-69 and a nine second differential between the game clock and shot clock Arizona began its basket-winning possession with 37 seconds left in the game.

UL Lafayette forced a loose ball out-of-bounds to stop the clock with 11
seconds and just two ticks remaining on the shot clock.

On the in-bounds pass Iguodala broke free from the defense and was left
wide open in the left corner of the wing and hit a leaning jumper from
beyond the three-point arc to provide the Wildcats with the final
go-ahead basket.

With the win, UA (8-1) extended its win streak to seven games and won
its 18th Fiesta Bowl Classic title.

The loss drops the Cajuns to 4-4 on the season and prevented the second two-game winning streak of the season.

Tuesday's game was the first meeting between UL Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans and his former boss Lute Olson. Evans was an assistant at Arizona from 1988-97 before taking over the Cajuns program in 1997.

Hassan Adams led Arizona with a double-double posting 23 points and 14 rebounds both of which were game-highs. Iguodala scored 20 points.

Antoine Landry led all Cajuns with 20 points making 7-of-13 shots and
6-of-10 three-point attempts.

Brian Hamilton and Dwayne Mitchell each scored 11 as the Cajuns placed three scorers in double-digits.

UA had a 49-32 advantage on the boards including a 20-13 edge on the
offensive glass which created several second-chance opportunities.

UL Lafayette used 16 steals to keep the Wildcats off balance and work
its way back into the game after trailing by eight points at the half.

A three-pointer from Landry, his sixth of the game, capped off a 10-0
run by the Cajuns which helped them erase a 65-57 deficit with 6:03 left
in the game.

Landry's basket put UL Lafayette on top 67-65 with 3:40 left to play.

UA chipped away at the lead tying it with free throws on two different
trips to the lane. A dunk by Adams at the 1:15 mark put the Cats up
69-67.

Mitchell answered with a dunk of his own on the next trip down the court
to tie the game 69-69 with 44 seconds remaining.

Iguodala's heroics came on the next possession and helped Arizona claim the victory.

UA led 40-32 at the break before Louisiana-Lafayette opened the second
half with a 15-1 run to reclaim the lead 47-41 at the 16:30 mark.

UL Lafayette's first five baskets of the second half were all
three-pointers helping to spark the run.

The rest of the game featured a pair of runs which kept the lead
changing hands.

Trailing 52-50, UA went on an 11-2 run to open a 61-54 advantage with
8:04 left to play.

The Wildcats lead grew to eight points, 65-57, before the Cajuns scored
10 unanswered points over a four-minute span to regain the lead 67-65
with 3:40 remaining in the game.

The Cajuns scored the game's first nine points getting a three-point
basket apiece from Brad Boyd, Laurie Bridges and Landry for a quick
9-0 lead at the 17:18 mark.

Trailing 11-2, UA got inside baskets from Adams and Iguodala to pull
within 11-6 at the 15:52 mark.

UL Lafayette's lead reached eight points by the first media timeout when
Brian Hamilton was fouled on a made basket on the next trip down the
floor. His free throw completed the three-point play and made it 14-6
Cajuns.

After the Cajuns lead reached 18-11 with 14:36 remaining in the first
half, Arizona used an 8-2 run to pull within one point at the 11:09
mark.

Adams hit a three in the left corner to pull UA within four points.
Cedric Williams went baseline for a seven foot jumper to extend the
Cajuns lead to 20-14 at the 12:40 mark.

A free throw from Adams followed by a layup from Rogers helped the
Wildcats trim the lead to 20-19 with 11:09 remaining in the opening
frame.

A Chris Cameron putback of an offensive rebound on the Cajuns next
possession pushed the lead back to three points at 22-19.

The two teams would go scoreless for the next two-plus minutes before
Hamilton's hustle paid off taking the ball away from Frye for a layup
and the Cajuns led 24-19.

Trailing 24-20 at the 7:46 mark of the first half, UA turned up the
defense limiting the Cajuns to just four points over the next six
minutes while staging a 20-4 run giving the Wildcats a 40-28 lead with
1:34 left in the half.

Arizona used the three-point shot to create its first lead of the
evening. The Wildcats first three buckets of the run were all treys with
one from Frye giving UA its first lead of the game 26-24 at the 6:26
mark.

The Wildcats lead grew as many as 12 points after a Adams slam dunk
after Cajuns trurnover made it 40-28 with 1:34 left before the break.

UL Lafayette broke a string of seven unanswered points by the Cats with
a pair of freebies from Bridges at 1:16 to make it 40-30. Cameron made
two more free throws with 23 seconds left to trim the UA lead to 40-32
going into the break.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --