University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
South Alabama
Cajuns Turn Up the Heat on Defense In Rout of South Alabama
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, March 6, 2004
Top-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette (18-8) turned to its defense to set the tone here Saturday evening in an 84-58 rout of eighth seed South Alabama in the quarterfinals of the 2004 Aeropostale Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The Cajuns forced 11 first-half turnovers and applied a suffocating defense that held the Jaguars to 36 percent shooting as the top seed extended its win streak to three games and advanced into Monday's semifinals at 5:30 p.m., against the Middle Tennessee-Western Kentucky winner.
The victory avenges a frustrating 2003 tourney loss when the Cajuns, top seed from the West Division, lost their quarterfinal contest to Denver and had to settle on an NIT berth.
While the defense was tenacious and sometimes impenetrable, the offense was clicking as the Cajuns scorched the nets for a 59 percent clip that smothered the Jags.
“We
knew coming in we'd have to compete very hard and I
thought we responded very well,” said UL Lafayette head
coach Jessie Evans (left). “We split with South Alabama
over the regular season so they were confident they
could beat us and we were confident that if we played
like we were capable of playing we could be successful
tonight.”
South Alabama was making a contest of the game in the first half after Henry Williams' layup pulled the Jags within one point at 17-16 with 10:09 left to play in the opening frame.
Back-to-back three-point baskets from Brad Boyd and Orien Greene would give UL Lafayette at 23-16 lead at the 8:22 mark at prompt a timeout from USA.
Following the seven-minute media timeout the Cajuns' defensive pressure went into overdrive shutting down the Jaguars.
Louisiana-Lafayette held South Alabama to just two field goal attempts and forced four turnovers as the Cajuns staged an 11-2 run that opened up a 34-18 lead with 3:49 left to play in the half.
“Out
coaches stress that defense wins championships,” said
Cajuns guard Dwayne Mitchell (left) who finished with a
game-high 17 points. “That's our main goal right now –
to win a Sun Belt championship, get into the NCAA
Tournament and try to win that championship.
“As long as you don't let them score, we can get out points off defense,” Mitchell quipped.
Another three from Boyd following the timeout stretched the margin to 19 points at 37-18. USA responded with its first field goal in over seven minutes when Seth Miller knocked down a three-pointer at 3:14.
Back-to-back layups from Cedric Williams and Dwayne Mitchell helped the Cajuns build a 20-point cushion just before intermission.
Mitchell paced the Cajuns with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. He was one of five Cajuns six Cajuns, and four starters, to put up double-figure scoring.
Brian Hamilton (right), added 14 points and six boards – with
all of his production coming in the dominating first
half.
Richard Law led the Jaguars (12-16) with 13 points, and Henry Williams had a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds).
Louisiana-Lafayette shot 67 percent in the first half (18-of-27) and held USA to just three baskets in the last 7:49, outscoring the Jaguars 22-10.
UL Lafayette dominated inside pouring in 42 points in the paint to just 22 from USA.
The Ragin' Cajuns tallied 19 total assists as its assist total reached double-figures for the 25th consecutive game
The Cajuns defensive pressure continued to haunt the Jaguars in the opening of the second half.
USA was held without a field goal for nearly the first six minutes of the half as the Cajuns extended its advantage to 55-28 five minutes into the second half.
“The second half we really stayed
focused and they guys remembered their assignments,”
Evans said. “I thought they responded really well
defensively. As a result we did not allow South Alabama
to get back into
the game.
“I could not be prouder of our guys,” Evans added. “They did a superb job and took the first step toward accomplishing our No. 1 goal.”
Chris Young ended the Jags' scoreless drought with a triple on the left wing at 14:02.
The Cajuns, who never trailed the entire contest, led by as many as 32 points in the second half when a jumper from Antoine Landry made it 80-48 with 5:20 left to play.
Everyone on the Cajuns bench saw action in at least one minute of play as the reserves were brought in.
GAME NOTES:
• The 26-point victory by Louisiana-Lafayette is the largest margin of victory since South Alabama defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in the semifinals on March 1, 1998.
• Louisiana-Lafayette earned its first win in the quarterfinals against South Alabama after losing the first two meetings between the two schools in such contests. UL Lafayette has now won two straight in the tournament against USA (won 51-50 in 2000 tournament title game).
• For just the second time in the last 16 tournament games, South Alabama allowed an opponent to score more than 65 points. The 84 points was the most scored by a USA opponent since Arkansas State scored 83 points against the Jaguars on March 5, 1995.
• The Cajuns are just two wins away (semifinals and finals) to reach 20 wins for the third consecutive season and its first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2000 season.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
