University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Orleans
All Five Starters Hit Double Figures as Cajuns Cruise Past UNO
2/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2005
With the win, the Ragin' Cajuns (15-8, 9-2 Sun Belt) remained in a tie with Denver (15-8, 9-2) for the lead in the Sun Belt Conference's West Division race with four games remaining in the 2004-05 regular season.
The win also allowed Louisiana-Lafayette to even the all-time series between the two I-10 rivals at 30-30 – marking the first time that the series is knotted up since a 77-66 UNO win on Jan. 28, 1989 created a 9-9 tie (42 meetings prior to Saturday's game). It was the Cajuns eighth straight victory over the Privateers at the CAJUNDOME dating back to the 1998-99 season.
Louisiana-Lafayette had let UNO creep within two points after the two squads opened the second half trading scores from the 19 minute mark through 12:33. A Jamie McNeilly jumper at the 12:33 mark pulled the Privateers within two points at 51-49.
Tiras Wade answered on the ensuing possession with the first of two critical triples for Louisiana-Lafayette over the next three minutes that allowed the hosts to pull away for the easy victory. Wade knocked down a three-pointer on the left wing at 12:06 that increased the Cajuns lead to 54-49.
The Privateers (11-13, 6-5 Sun Belt) made the biggest mistake that they could have when playing the Ragin' Cajuns in the CAJUNDOME. UNO tried to run an up-tempo style and try to keep up with the Cajuns. It didn't work as the Cajuns defense forced two turnovers and converted at the charity stripe on the other end that resulted in five unanswered points that extended the lead to 59-49. Louisiana-Lafayette then forced UNO to miss four straight field goals and was able to stretch the lead to as many as 19 points.
A Kenny Simelton putback at 10:33 pulled UNO back within single digits at 59-51. Two scores later, Orien Greene delivered the final dagger in the hopes of the Privateers with a three-point basket off of another UNO turnover to put Louisiana-Lafayette up 64-51.
The Cajuns led by as many as 20 points on two occasions, the last was 76-56 when Dwayne Mitchell converted a three-point play at 4:50.
UNO worked the deficit back to 12 points over the final three minutes as the Cajuns emptied the bench allowing the Privateers to end the game on a 12-4 run.
All five of Louisiana-Lafayette's starters reached double figures scoring led by a team-best 20 points from Wade.
The Cajuns took advantage of 30-of-35 shooting at the free throw line (85.7 percent) to offset the fact the UNO made one more field goal. The Privateers shot 24-of-59 while the Cajuns shot 23-of-59, but Louisiana-Lafayette outscored the visitors 30-19 at the charity stripe.
Louisiana-Lafayette extended its CAJUNDOME win streak to five games since the Sun Belt-opening loss to Denver and picked up a victory for the 27th time in the last 30 Sun Belt outings in the 'Dome.
Neither team shot well in the opening half, as the teams combined to shoot 3-of-19 from three-point range. Both teams compensated by thriving from the charity stripe. UL made 12-of-15, while UNO converted 10-of-11 from the line.
The Cajuns steadily built a double-digit lead early in the first half. A dunk by Tiras Wade put UL ahead 19-8 just eight minutes into the game.
The Cajuns played excellent defense, holding UNO to just one field goal over an 8:37 span near the middle of the half, but the Privateers went to the free throw line eight times over that span.
Bo McCalebb scored nine straight points for UNO to keep the Privateers within 10 points over the next six minutes, as UL led 27-17 with 5:52 to play in the first half.
The Cajuns attacked the paint four straight possessions and Chris Cameron benefited, scoring four times. His two free throws at the 3:21 mark kept the Cajuns 10-point lead.
After Adam James two free throws gave UL a 36-26 lead with 2:12 to go in the opening half, UNO scored the final five points of the half to cut the Cajuns lead down to five at the break.
NEW ORLEANS (11-13, 6-5 SBC)
McCalebb, Bo 7-23 9-11 23; Malloy, Shawn 3-4 3-3 9; Barnes,
Chad 1-7 5-6 7; Elias, Ben 3-4 1-2 7; Simelton, Kenny 3-5
0-0 6; McNeilly, Jamie 3-5 0-0 6; Manning, Jacob 2-4 1-2 5;
Bostic, Todd 2-7 0-0 5; Parlow, James 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
24-59 19-24 68.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (15-8, 9-2 SBC) Wade, Tiras 6-17 7-7 20;
Mitchell, Dwayne 7-8 5-7 19; Greene, Orien 3-11 5-6 13;
Hamilton, Brian 3-8 6-6 12; Cameron, Chris 4-11 2-2 11;
James, Adam 0-0 2-3 2; Mouton, Ross 0-1 2-2 2; Ford, Spencer
0-1 1-2 1; Gray, Derek 0-2 0-0 0; Fobbs, Cletis 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 23-59 30-35 80.
Halftime Score: UL 36, UNO 31. 3-point goals-UNO1-14 (Bostic 1-4; Malloy 0-1; Barnes 0-5; McCalebb 0-4), UL 4-24 (Greene 2-6; Cameron 1-6; Wade 1-9; Ford 0-1; Gray 0-2). Fouled out--UNO-None, UL-None. Rebounds-UNO 42 (Elias 11), UL 35 (Mitchell 8). Assists-UNO 11 (McCalebb 5), UL 9 (Greene 2; Mitchell 2; Wade 2). Total fouls-UNO 22, UL 22. A-6,033.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
