University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Tripped up by La. Tech's Second Half Three-Point Shooting
12/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Cajuns
Tripped up by La. Tech's Second Half Three-Point Shooting
Louisiana Tech hits 10 three-pointers in the
second half to offset the inside production of Michael Southall
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005
RUSTON – Louisiana Tech's second half three-point parade and first half foul troubles for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team resulted in an 85-78 Bulldogs victory here Tuesday evening at the Thomas Assembly Center.
The game was the first non-conference regular season meeting in the Thomas Assembly Center between the two in-state rivals since Feb. 8, 2001.
Tech poured in six 3-point field goals in the first six minutes of the second half that sparked a 24-15 run which changed a 32-29 halftime lead for Tech into a 56-44 advantage with 14:08 left to play in the game.
The Ragin' Cajuns (1-5) kept pace with the Bulldogs thanks to the inside play of Michael Southall who poured in 16 second half points. However, foul trouble in the first half forced the senior center to miss the final 12 minutes of the first half and the Cajuns missed his inside presence.
Southall picked up his fourth foul of the contest when UL trailed 60-51 with just over 11 minutes left to play. The Bulldogs got a three-point basket from Corey Dean at 10:10 and Trey McDowell at 8:43 to push the lead to 69-55.
Southall re-entered the contest with 9:29 left to play and UL went to him inside to mount a rally which cut the Bulldogs lead to 74-67 with 3:10 remaining in the game.
Michael Wilds, who knocked down four triples in the first 5:30 of the second half came up in the clutch for the Bulldogs when he converted his fifth triple of the second stanza at 2:40 to push the lead back to double digits at 77-67.
UL wouldn't go away quietly. The defense made a pair of stops and Ed Turner hit four free throws to close the gap to 77-71 with 1:31 left to play.
The three-point weapon, used by the Bulldogs to pull away in the second half, helped the Bulldogs again when Marcus Elliott was good in the right corner for a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 80-71. The three-pointer by Elliott was Tech's 10th of the second half as the 'Dogs outscored the Cajuns 30-12 from three-point land.
Ed Turner answered for UL with a three-point field goal of his own that closed the gap to 80-74. Daevon Haskins missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 foul shot, but Turner committed the first of three straight UL turnovers in the final 50 seconds which diminished the chances of an incredible comeback attempt.
Tech finished off the victory from the free throw line – the Bulldogs seventh straight win over Louisiana-Lafayette at the Thomas Assembly Center. The Cajuns fell to 4-17 all-time in the facility with the loss.
Dwayne Mitchell registered his third consecutive double-double for the Cajuns as he scored 14 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Mitchell had a team-best 12 defensive rebounds.
Southall led all Cajuns with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
Five UL players reached double figures in points. Joining Southall and Mitchell with twin digits were Ed Turner (16 points), Chris Cameron (13 points) and Maurice Barksdale (11 points).
Tech received a double-double from two-time NCAA rebounding champion Paul Millsap who scored a game-high 24 points and collected a game-high 19 rebounds with six boards coming on the offensive end.
Tech shot 14-of-26 from three-point range (54 percent) which included a 10-of-15 performance in the second half which helped offset the inside production of UL's Southall.
Three straight possessions with three-point field goals made helped Louisiana Tech break open a three-point contest three minutes into the second half.
Back-to-back triples from Wilds and another from Elliott increased the Bulldogs lead to 45-33 with 16:59 remaining in the game.
UL fought back to trim the lead to 47-40 on a Mitchell dunk at 15:14, but the Bulldogs used a series of three consecutive triples over the next minute to stretch the lead back into double figures.
The Bulldogs opened a 5-0 lead by scoring on back-to-back possessions after the two teams traded scoreless trips down the floor.
Daevon Haskins drove the baseline for a layup at 19:09 for the game's first two points. After an Ed Turner miss inside on the ensuing possession, Jerome Richardson knocked down the first of two triples he would hit before the first media timeout for a 5-0 Tech lead at 18:42.
UL answered with a five-point swing of its own during the 17-minute mark to even the game. A Michael Southall dunk on a 3-and-1 fastbreak at 17:36 put the visitors on the board.
After a stop of the defensive end the Cajuns benefited from the hustle of Mitchell who fought through traffic to grab three offensive rebounds and convert the putback on the third attempt. He drew contact and made the free throw to convert the three-point play and tie the game 5-5 with 17:13 left in the first stanza.
Richardson, who entered the contest 1-for-14 from beyond the arc, connected on his second trey of the evening at 17:01 and the Bulldogs quickly regained the lead at 8-5.
The Cajuns closed to 9-7 at 15:17 on inside basket from Mitchell off of a feed from Southall and 14-11 at 13:36 when Mitchell fed Southall for an alley-oop dunk.
UL would be held without a field goal until a Maurice Barksdale three-pointer with eight minutes left in the half and Tech used an 8-0 run to open a 22-11 lead.
Trailing 14-11 with 12 minutes on the clock, Adam James missed a short-range jumper and the Bulldogs were off and running. Millsap was on the end of a long pass and was open for a slam dunk. Southall committed a foul and Millsap added the freebie to give Tech a 17-11 lead.
The 'Dogs lead reached 20-11 when McKenzie hit a triple on the left wing at 11:18. A pair of free throws over the next two minutes increased the lead to 22-11.
The Cajuns defense tightened up and held Tech without a field goal until 3:58 remained in the opening half. UL used a 8-1 run during the time span to trim the Bulldogs lead to 23-19 on Chris Cameron's first field goal of the game.
The Cajuns next two baskets were from Cameron as he knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key and got an inside scoop layup to go down at 3:11 and UL trailed 27-24 with three minutes remaining before the half.
Millsap answered for Tech with a fadeway jumper at 2:53 to make it 29-24. Cameron was fouled on the next trip down the floor and converted the front end of a 1-and-1 chance at 2:41. His second attempt came off the back of the rim and a scuffle occurred in the rundown of the rebound. The Cajuns came up the winner and Ed Turner was found wide open for a dunk that cut the Bulldogs lead to 29-27.
Millsap converted the front end of a 1-and-1 chance at 1:34 and was found inside at 1:03 for a layup that gave the hosts a 32-27 advantage.
Tech made a stop, but turned the ball back over to UL when XXX was whistled for a traveling violation. The Cajuns cashed in when Mitchell found James down low in the post for a layup with 17 seconds remaining in the half that pulled UL within three points at the break.
The Ragin' Cajuns will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 15 at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette against Oral Roberts. Game time is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., in what will be the Cajuns second of four games this season at venerable Blackham Coliseum.
GAME SUMMARY
LOUISIANA TECH 85, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 78
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (1-5) Southall, Michael 10-15 2-3 22; Turner, Ed 5-11 5-7 16; Mitchell, Dwayne 6-13 2-6 14; Cameron, Chris 5-13 1-2 13; Barksdale, Maurice 4-8 0-0 11; James, Adam 1-2 0-0 2; Mouton, Ross 0-0 0-0 0; Pesoli, Lucian 0-1 0-0 0; Fields, J.T. 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 10-18 78.
LOUISIANA TECH (5-4) Millsap, Paul 7-14 10-17 24; Elliott, Marcus 7-11 3-4 21; Wilds, Michael 5-8 0-0 15; Richardson, Jerome 2-7 0-0 6; Haskins, Daevon 3-5 0-3 6; Dean, Corey 1-6 2-4 5; McDowell, Trey 1-4 1-2 4; McKenzie, Chad 1-5 0-0 3; Washington, Drew 0-0 1-2 1; Disy, Harry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 17-32 85.
Halftime Score: Louisiana Tech 32, Louisiana-Lafayette 27. 3-point goals-Louisiana-Lafayette 6-19 (Barksdale, Maurice 3-5; Cameron, Chris 2-5; Turner, Ed 1-4; Pesoli, Lucian 0-1; Fields, J.T. 0-3; Mitchell, Dwayne 0-1), Louisiana Tech 14-26 (Wilds, Michael 5-6; Elliott, Marcus 4-5; Richardson, Jerome 2-4; McDowell, Trey 1-4; McKenzie, Chad 1-3; Dean, Corey 1-3; Millsap, Paul 0-1). Fouled out--Louisiana-Lafayette-Cameron, Chris; Southall, Michael, Louisiana Tech-None. Rebounds-Louisiana-Lafayette 44 (Mitchell, Dwayne 16), Louisiana Tech 40 (Millsap, Paul 19). Assists-Louisiana-Lafayette 13 (Mitchell, Dwayne 5), Louisiana Tech 19 (Haskins, Daevon 10). Total fouls-Louisiana-Lafayette 23, Louisiana Tech 18.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
