University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Rice
Defense Triggers Home-Opening Victory Over Rice
11/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004
The game was a rematch of the two team's meeting in last season's ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday event on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-1) got a balanced scoring effort as four-of-five starters each reached double-figures scoring and all four each scored at least 14 points.
Tiras Wade scored a team-high 16 points as he led UL Lafayette in scoring for the third straight game.
Chris Cameron and Orien Greene each had 15 points while Brian Hamilton tacked on 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds.
The Ragin' Cajuns forced the Owls into 31 turnovers for the entire game and converted 38 points off of the turnovers. Included in the list of turnovers were 17 steals by the Cajuns with six from Hamilton and five from Dwayne Mitchell.
J.R. Harrison scored a team-high 15 points for Rice (2-1). Michael Harris picked up a double-double as he finished with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds (11 defensive).
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette won its home opener for the eighth straight season and extended its non-conference home winning streak, dating back to the 2001-02 season, to 12 games.
The Cajuns handed the Owls their first loss of the season and avenged last season's 81-76 loss in the ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday event.
The two teams opened the game trading scoring spurts. Louisiana-Lafayette scored the first four points of the contest then the Owls responded with the next six points to grab a 6-4 lead at 17:30.
Louisiana-Lafayette trailed 8-6 at the first media timeout, but regained the lead with three-point baskets from Wade and Greene on the next two trips down the court.
The Cajuns built a 16-12 edge at 13:11 when Hamilton grabbed the loose ball off of one of his three first-half steals and raced in for a tomahawk slam.
The Owls pulled in front 17-16 using a 5-0 run as the Cajuns went scoreless over the next two minutes.
Hamilton gave Louisiana-Lafayette a brief lead when he answered the run with an 18-foot jumper on the left baseline. Harris answered for the Owls on the other end to give the visitors a 19-18.
Harris' bucket at 10:54 would be the last Rice score of any kind over the next 5-1/2 minutes as the Cajuns turned up the defensive pressure and used a 10-0 run to build a nine point lead.
Louisiana-Lafayette forced the Owls into five turnovers and held them to just four field goal attempts during the decisive run which didn't end until 5:25 remained in the half and Harrison connected on a 20-foot jumper at the top of key.
Wade hit an inside jumper at 10:39 to put the Cajuns up for good at 20-19.
Thanks in part to turnovers the Cajuns were able to survive a three-minute drought in which neither team scored.
A basket by Hamilton at 7:41 ignited a six-point outburst by the Cajuns which pushed the lead to 26-19 at 7:08.
Harrison's triple pulled Rice within 28-22, but the Cajuns put the clamps down once more forcing five more turnovers and holding the Owls to just two field goal attempts. One of the Owls' two field goal attempts in the final 5:25 was a desperation three-point heave by Brock Gillespie with one second left in the half.
Louisiana-Lafayette ended the opening half with a 10-2 run that gave the Cajuns a 38-24 halftime edge.
The Cajuns had 36 field goal attempts in the opening half while limiting the Owls to just 16 attempts.
The Cajuns lead never got lower than eight points the entire second half.
Rice was able to work its way back into the game in the second half thanks to two early technical fouls called on Hamilton and Wade.
Hamilton started the second half with a slam off a miss by Wade at 19:15 to stretch the lead to 16 points at 40-24.
McKrieth converted four freebies after the two technical fouls to trim the deficit to 12 points.
After a Cameron basket at 16:55 gave the Cajuns a 42-30 lead, the Owls used a 4-0 run to pull within eight points for the first time in the second stanza.
Cameron began the first of several Cajun answers when he scored on the first possession after the 15-minute media timeout to give UL Lafayette a 44-34 lead.
Rice cut the lead back to eight points with a basket from Harris at 14:04. Wade gave the Cajuns another answer and put the lead back into double digits with a three-pointer at 13:22 that made it 47-36.
The Owls made one final push closing to 60-52 with 6:29 left to play. Cameron was there to answer for the Cajuns and start a 6-0 run that increased the lead to 66-52 with 4:54 remaining.
A Harrison three-pointer at 2:10 cut the Cajuns lead to 70-60 and a free throw by Gillespie pulled the Owls within nine points.
A free throw by Mitchell at 1:22 pushed the lead back to 10 points and then a steal by Mitchell on the Owls next possession prevented the visitors from getting within single digits.
Louisiana-Lafayette returns to action on Monday, Nov. 29 as the Ragin' Cajuns visit Georgia State for a 5 p.m. (CST) tip-off in Atlanta.
Box Score
Rice University vs Louisiana-Lafayette
11/27/04 1:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 75, RICE UNIVERSITY 61
RICE UNIVERSITY (2-1)
Harrison 6-7 0-0 15; Harris 5-7 3-4 13; Williams 4-8 1-2 10;
McKrieth 2-10 5-8 10; Gillespie 2-7 1-2 6; Moore 1-2 3-4 5;
Killings 0-0 2-2 2; Okrzesik 0-0 0-0 0; Almond 0-1 0-1 0;
Britton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-42 15-23 61.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (2-1) Wade 7-16 0-2 16; Greene 6-11 1-2
15; Cameron 7-10 1-2 15; Hamilton 7-10 0-0 14; Mitchell 3-6
2-7 8; Mouton 2-5 0-0 5; Fobbs 0-1 2-2 2; Gray 0-5 0-0 0;
James 0-0-0 0. Totals 32-64 6-15 75.
Rice University...............
24 37 - 61
Louisiana-Lafayette........... 38 37 - 75
3-point goals-Rice University 6-9 (Harrison 3-3; McKrieth 1-1; Williams 1-2; Gillespie 1-3), Louisiana-Lafayette 5-17 (Wade 2-4; Greene 2-5; Mouton 1-4; Mitchell 0-1; Gray 0-2; Hamilton 0-1). Fouled out--Rice University-None, Louisiana-Lafayette-None. Rebounds-Rice University 31 (Harris 17), Louisiana-Lafayette 32 (Hamilton 9). Assists-Rice University 10 (Williams 3), Louisiana-Lafayette 12 (Greene 5). Total fouls-Rice University 20, Louisiana-Lafayette 18. A-4071
-Ragin' Cajuns-
