University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas
Mitchell Ignites Cajuns Sixth Straight Victory
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Feb. 7, 2004
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette (12-5, 7-1 Sun Belt) extended its season-high win streak to six games. North Texas (10-10, 5-3 Sun Belt) fell for the first time on the road in Sun Belt play and lost its sixth straight game in the Cajundome.
The Cajuns improved to 7-1 in Sun Belt play and created a two-game lead over North Texas, which fell to 5-3 in Sun Belt play, for the lead in the Sun Belt West Division and the overall lead for the league's regular season title.
The win was also UL Lafayette's 200th all-time in the Cajundome (200-71 in 19 seasons since 1985-86).
Mitchell made 10-of-12 field goals as he scored 15 points in the second half.
Laurie Bridges added a double-double for the Cajuns tallying 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Brad Boyd scored 12 points and Cedric Williams added 12 as the Cajuns placed four players in double-figures scoring – the 14th straight game with at least three players in double-figures scoring.
Boyd, held scoreless in the first half, hit a three-pointer at 16:58 of the second half to move over 1,000 points in his career. The senior guard entered the game with 999 points and became the 35th 1,000-point scorer in school history with the basket.
NT was led by 14 points from Leonard Hopkins. Michael DeGrate grabbed a team-best nine rebounds.
The Cajuns went into the locker room with a 37-34 lead. UL Lafayette made just 35 percent of its shots in the opening frame.
Louisiana-Lafayette heated up in the second half making 63 percent (22-of-35) its shots as it opened the half with a 7-0 run to take a 43-34 lead.
Boyd's three-pointer gave the Cajuns a 46-36 advantage – its first double-digit lead of the game.
The Mean Green would cut the lead to 50-40 at the 14:22 mark when Calvin Watson hit a 15-foot jumper in the left wing.
After Watson's bucket, the Cajuns would reel off 10 unanswered points to stretch its lead to 60-40 with 12:58 remaining in the contest.
Leonard Hopkins converted two free throws to end the run. The Mean Green would pull within 15 points, 62-47, but the Cajuns would use a 9-1 run to open the lead back to 20-plus points.
Louisiana-Lafayette's lead swelled to as many as 26 points when a Chris Williams basket at 5:41 made it 80-54.
The Mean Green would outscore the Cajuns 13-3 in the final 2:12 after a Boyd three-pointer put the Cajuns up 91-68.
NT led for much of the first half, opening the game with a 6-0 run after Chris Cameron made two freebies to give UL Lafayette a 2-0 lead at 19:40.
Watson scored inside to even the game at 2-2. On the next Cajuns possession, NT would force a turnover and Shawnson Johnson was left open for the slam and a 4-2 lead. Watson made 2-of-3 free throws on the Mean Green's next possession to finish the run.
The Cajuns would battle back to take the lead 7-6. Antoine Landry drained a three-point basket at 17:47 to end a stretch of six unanswered by NT. A slam by Brian Hamilton off a miss by Boyd on the next possession gave the Cajuns the lead at 17:30.
NT then scored the next five points and gained its largest lead of the night when Michael Jones buried a 20-footer on the right wing to give the Mean Green an 18-11 lead at 13:21.
Louisiana-Lafayette went on top for good when Cedric Williams tipped in his own miss at 1:36 giving the Cajuns a 35-34 advantage.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
