University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Florida International
Cajuns Win Fourth Straight Behind Dominant Defensive Effort
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Jan. 22, 2005
Thanks to a defense that forced FIU into 25 turnovers, 17 by halftime, which led to 27 points off those turnovers, the Ragin' Cajuns (10-7, 4-1 Sun Belt) were in cruise control the whole game and were never really threatened.
Louisiana-Lafayette's defense pressed FIU into 11 turnovers before the 10-minute mark of the opening half and used an 18-0 run via those turnovers to jump out to a 23-4 lead with 10:48 left to play before halftime.
The Golden Panthers (7-11, 0-5 Sun Belt) never got closer than 12 points the rest of the evening, with a 26-14 deficit being the closest at 5:10 of the first half, and when they did the Cajuns reeled of 12 unanswered points to stretch the advantage to 38-14.
The Cajuns defense had the inexperienced Golden Panthers, playing without Junior Matias, puzzled for most of the opening half and held FIU to just nine field goal attempts 10 minutes into the contest.
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette picked up its seventh straight victory over FIU dating back to the 1999-2000 season. The Cajuns improved to 4-1 in Sun Belt play – the third straight season that the squad has began SBC play 4-1 after five outings – and picked up the first Sun Belt win at the 'Dome under head coach Robert Lee.
Tiras Wade led Louisiana-Lafayette in scoring for the 15th time this season as he poured in 21 points – his second straight game with 20-plus – on 7-of-16 shooting (5-of-12 from three-point range). Dwayne Mitchell (11 points), Orien Greene (11 points) and Brian Hamilton (10 points) joined Wade in double figures scoring.
Greene led the Cajuns with seven assists while Mitchell was tops on the team with 10 rebounds.
The Cajuns shot 50 percent (13-of-26) in the first half and got 19 points off of FIU turnovers en route to a 39-16 lead at intermission. FIU shot a paltry 28 percent (6-of-21) in the opening stanza.
Everyone on the Louisiana-Lafayette bench played at least two minutes and it was in the final 4:50 that the Golden Panthers took advantage of the Cajuns backups by going on a 13-0 run that made the score seem somewhat respectable.
Louisiana-Lafayette led by as many as 30 points in the second half. A Hamilton inside basket at 4:50 gave the hosts a 67-37 advantage.
Both teams struggled with a lethargic start in the first three minutes. The only basket through the 17:00 mark was a three-pointer by Wade on the first field goal attempt of the game at 19:40. FIU turned the ball over three times and Louisiana-Lafayette twice, contributing to the slow start.
A pair of inside baskets, one by FIU's Cesar Chavez-Jacobo and one by UL Lafayette's Chris Cameron produced a 5-2 Cajuns lead at 16:25.
Ivan Almonte answered for FIU on the ensuing possession, as he slipped through the defense and made an inside basket after drawing a blocking foul on Cameron. Almonte's bucket pulled the Golden Panthers within 5-4 at 16:07.
FIU hung tough until a series of turnovers which the Cajuns defense produced beginning at 14:31 jumpstarted the decisive run which helped Louisiana-Lafayette take complete control of the contest.
The first turnover led to a three-pointer by Orien Greene and gave Louisiana-Lafayette a 10-4 lead.
Following a 30-second timeout called by FIU head coach Sergio Rouco, the Golden Panthers lack of quality ball handlers allowed the game to slip away from the guests. FIU turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions allowing Louisiana-Lafayette to roll of seven straight points and open a 17-4 lead at 13:24.
Back-to-back triples by Greene and Wade increased the Cajuns lead to 23-4 before nine minutes had rolled off the clock. Wade's three-pointer came at the 11:15 mark.
Frustration set in for FIU with 10:48 remaining before the half. Kenny Simms was battling Greene for the loose ball after a steal by Greene forced a change in possession. Simms and Greene pushed for a second and Louisiana-Lafayette's Spencer Ford retaliated against Simms with a two-handed push extension. Officials deemed Ford's actions as an instigation of a fight and he was immediately ejected from the game.
The lull in action seemed to dampen the Cajuns momentum. Following a three-pointer by Ross Mouton at 9:14 made it 26-5, Louisiana-Lafayette went without a field goal for the next five minutes until a tomahawk slam dunk by Mitchell at 4:16.
FIU was held under double digits until an Almonte jumper at 6:12 cut the Cajuns lead to 26-11.
Louisiana-Lafayette will return to action and continue its current three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 27 against Western Kentucky. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. in what will be the first meeting between the two schools at the Cajundome since WKU snapped the Cajuns' 21-game homecourt win streak on Feb. 26, 2003.
Box Score
Florida International at Louisiana-Lafayette
01/22/05 7:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL (7-11, 0-5
SBC) N'Diaye, Ismael 4-9 5-9 14; Almonte, Ivan 4-10 3-5 11;
Chavez-Jacobo, Cesar 3-4 0-2 8; Lewis, Jayce 3-9 0-0 7;
Jones, Antonio 2-5 0-0 5; Simms, Kenny 1-4 1-2 3; Gale,
Warren 0-0 2-2 2; Bailey, Sheldon 0-3 0-2 0; Burnett, Byron
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 11-22 50.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (10-7,
4-1 SBC) Wade, Tiras 7-16 2-2 21; Greene, Orien 4-8 0-0 11;
Mitchell, Dwayne 4-7 3-5 11; Hamilton, Brian 4-11 2-5 10;
Gray, Derek 2-4 0-0 5; Cameron, Chris 2-8 0-0 4; Mouton,
Ross 1-4 0-0 3; Rhodman, Anthony 0-1 1-2 1; James, Adam 0-0
1-2 1; Williams, Alphonso 0-0 0-0 0; Ford, Spencer 0-0 0-0
0; Fobbs, Cletis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 9-16 67.
Halftime Score: UL 39, FIU 16.
3-point goals-FIU 5-16 (Chavez-Jacobo 2-3; Lewis 1-5;
N'Diaye 1-4; Jones 1-3; Almonte 0-1), UL 10-27 (Wade 5-12;
Greene 3-6; Mouton 1-4; Gray 1-2; Rhodman 0-1; Cameron 0-2).
Fouled out--FIU-Simms, UL-Cameron. Rebounds-FIU 37 (Almonte
8), UL 34 (Mitchell 10). Assists-FIU 13 (Lewis 4), UL 15
(Greene 7). Total fouls-FIU 17, UL 18. A-5,101
UL Lafayette's Spencer Ford issued Flagrant Technical
Foul at 10:48 mark of the first half; Ford ejected from game
-Ragin' Cajuns-
