University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Back at Blackham on Thursday to Face Oral Roberts
12/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Cajuns Back at Blackham on Thursday to Face Oral Roberts
Louisiana-Lafayette looking for its first home win
of the season
Thursday, Dec. 14, 2005
Cajuns Return Home to Face Oral Roberts…
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team continues its current stretch of four games in seven days with game three on Thursday, Dec. 15 against Oral Roberts at Blackham Coliseum.The game will be the Cajuns' second home game of the 2005-06 regular season and the first since hosting Charlotte on Saturday, Dec. 3.
UL is in search of its first home win of the season after falling to Charlotte 67-62 in the home opener on Dec. 3. Louisiana-Lafayette is 11-2 at home under head coach Robert Lee and 43-5 at home since the 2001-02 season.
The Cajuns are coming off of a split of a two-game road trip to UTEP and Louisiana Tech. UL defeated UTEP 65-59 in overtime on Sunday before succumbing to the three-point shooting of Louisiana Tech in an 85-78 loss on Tuesday night.
Oral Roberts comes into the contest with a 5-3 record. The Golden Eagles are currently in the midst of a seven-game road trip which keeps them away from home until Saturday, Jan. 7. ORU comes into the contest shorthanded as only seven players are available due to recent injuries.
The two schools are meeting for the first time since the 1972-73 season when then-USL claimed a 104-89 victory on Feb. 24, 1973 at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, Okla. Ironically, the last time these two teams met in Lafayette the game was played in Blackham Coliseum (Dec. 2, 1970).
"Back to Blackham"…
Thursday's game against Oral Roberts is the second of four home games at venerable Blackham Coliseum this season for Louisiana-Lafayette – the university's former home facility from Feb. 6, 1950 through the end of the1984-85 season in which the program posted a 336-95 record.During the months of September and October the Ragin' Cajuns current home arena, the CAJUNDOME, was utilized as an evacuee center for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It was estimated that during that time nearly three years worth of wear and tear was brought upon the facility. Now, the facility is being cleaned and repaired in preparation for the Cajuns' return on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006, against South Alabama, making necessary the move to Blackham Coliseum for the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Blackham Coliseum was home to many Ragin' Cajuns' legends – Dwight "Bo" Lamar (1969-73), Andrew Toney (1976-80), Marvin Winkler (1966-70), Jerry Flake (1965-69), Graylin Warner (1980-84), Roy Ebron (1970-73), Dean Church (1961-65) and Alonza Allen (1980-84) to name a few greats to grace the court of Blackham.
The Series With Oral Roberts – Cajuns lead 2-0
Thursday's game will mark the third meeting all-time between the two programs, but the first since the 1972-73 season (first meeting in 34 seasons).Louisiana-Lafayette holds a 2-0 edge in the overall series and a 1-0 lead in games played in Lafayette.
This is the second meeting between the two programs in Lafayette. Ironically, the last time the two schools played in Lafayette the game was held in Blackham Coliseum on Dec. 2, 1970.
The two schools first met on Dec. 2, 1970 in the 1970-71 season opener with the then-USL Bulldogs posting a 124-114 victory. Both schools met again on Feb. 23, 1973, in Tulsa, Okla., and the visiting Ragin' Cajuns posted a 104-89 victory.
Coaches vs. the Opposition...
Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Robert Lee meets Oral Roberts for the first time as the Ragin' Cajuns head coach.Oral Roberts head coach Scott Sutton will be facing the Ragin' Cajuns for the first time in his coaching career.
Did You Know – UL vs. Oral Roberts...
When then-USL and Oral Roberts met for the first time ever on Dec. 2, 1970, at Blackham Coliseum it was the very first game that Louisiana-Lafayette played on the NCAA level. That season, the 1970-71 campaign, UL was competing on the NCAA College Division Level.
Did You Know – Blackham Coliseum...
Blackham Coliseum provided a huge homecourt advantage for the Ragin' Cajuns' teams it housed from 1950-85. UL teams posted a 336-95 record in the 35 seasons played in the facility.
Beryl Shipley, the winnigest coach in school history, guided the Cajuns to a 178-25 record in the venerable facility. In the last 10 seasons played at Blackham Coliseum, the Ragin' Cajuns posted a 114-28 record (1975-76 season through 1984-85 season).
Call Him Mr. Double-Double...
Dwayne Mitchell posted his third consecutive game with a double-double on Tuesday at Louisiana Tech as the New Orleans native scored 14 points and collected 16 rebounds.Mitchell extended his streak of games with double digits points to six and for the sixth time this season he posted at least eight rebounds
Mitchell is averaging a double-double for the 2005-06 season – 17.5 points and 12.7 rebounds.
The Louisiana Tech double-double was the ninth (9th) for Mitchell in a Cajuns uniform.
At his current pace of 12.7 rebounds per game, Dwayne Mitchell would finish the 2005-06 regular season with an additional 267 rebounds over the remaining 21 games – added to the 76 he's got already and Mitchell is on pace to end the regular season with 343 rebounds. Only seven players in school history have ever reached 300 rebounds in a single season.
THE MITCHELL WATCH
17.5
12.7 – rebounds per game
8.3 – defensive rebounds per game
DOUBLE-DOUBLES
12/3 – 25 pts, 13 rebs vs. Charlotte
12/11 – 17 pts, 11 rebs at UTEP
12/13 – 14 pts, 16 rebs at La. Tech
Winning the Rebound Battle...
Louisiana-Lafayette outrebounded Louisiana Tech 44-40 on Tuesday night – the fifth straight game in which the Ragin' Cajuns have won the battle of the boards.
For the season, UL has a +4.6 rebounding margin by averaging 41.3 rebounds to the opposition's 36.7 rebounds per game.
By outboarding La. Tech, it marked the 23rd time out of 37 games under Robert Lee that the Cajuns won the rebound battle.
Mitchell's Rebounding Ranks Third in NCAA Stats...
As of Wednesday, Dec. 14, Dwayne Mitchell's average of 12.7 rebounds per game ranked him third (3rd) in the NCAA stats.
After Tuesday's performance against Louisiana Tech (16 rebounds) his average jumped to 12.7 rebounds per game which is now higher than Harding Nana of Delaware who was ranked third on Tuesday with an average of 12.4 rebounds per game.
The last UL player to end a season averaging double digits in rebounds was Reggie Poole who did so in the 1996-97 season when he averaged 10.3 rebounds per game.
NCAA'S TOP 5 REBOUNDERS
Player Rebs/G
Joe Martin (Alabama A&M) 13.3
Ivan Almonte (FIU) 13.1
Dwayne Mitchell (UL) 12.7
Harding Nana (Delaware) 12.4
Paul Millsap (Louisiana Tech) 12.3
A Cajuns Win Would...
Improve the team's record to 2-5 overall…Give the squad its first home win of the 2005-06 season…Increase the Cajuns series lead over Oral Roberts to 3-0…Mark the second win in the last three outings for the team…Improve the Cajuns to 12-2 at home under Robert Lee…Give the Cajuns another win over a team that won 20-plus games during the 2004-05 season.A Cajuns Loss Would...
Drop the team to 1-6 overall…Give the team a 0-2 home record – the first 0-2 start at home since the 1996-97 season…Be the second straight loss since defeating UTEP in overtime for the first win of the season on Sunday, Dec. 11…Drop the Cajuns to 11-3 at home under Robert Lee…Give Oral Roberts its first win in the all-time series.Up Next for the Cajuns...
Louisiana-Lafayette will complete its journey of four games in seven days when the Ragin' Cajuns travel 50 miles eastward on Interstate 10 to Baton Rouge to face Louisiana State University in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.The Ragin' Cajuns and Tigers will be meeting in the regular season for the second straight season. The two met in last season's LSU Louisiana Classic championship game with the Tigers winning 83-69.
It will be the Cajuns' second game against an SEC team this season. UL lost 83-76 at Tennessee on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
