University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
New Mexico State
Cajuns Make History in 91-49 Rout of New Mexico State, Move Back Into First Place
2/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005
The improved the Ragin' Cajuns to 16-8 overall and 10-2 in the Sun Belt Conference, the 10th SBC win marking the sixth straight season with double-digit conference wins for the program. Oddly enough, the season in which Louisiana-Lafayette tied the previous record of five straight seasons with double-digit SBC wins was the 2003-04 season when the Cajuns defeated NMSU 76-58 in Las Cruces, N.M..
Combined with a 68-66 loss by Denver at North Texas and the Ragin' Cajuns have climbed back into first place in the SBC West Division by one full game with only three games left before the season-ending conference tournament.
The game was never in doubt throughout the entire 40 minutes of play. The Cajuns shot an eye-popping 63 percent from the floor through the first 12 minutes and had opened a 29-9 lead 10 minutes into the contest.
The Aggies worked the margin down to 16 points at the half and opened the second half on a 6-2 run that closed the gap to 47-35 with 17:46 to go in the contest
Back-to-back three-point baskets by Tiras Wade and Orien Greene triggered a 30-3 run that vaulted the Ragin' Cajuns into a 77-38 lead with 8:40 left to play. The Cajuns defense held the Aggies to five points from the 17:46 mark until three minutes remained – a span of over 14 minutes – as saw the lead reach a game-high 45 points at 85-40.
Wade led the Ragin' Cajuns with a game-high 26 points and was joined in double figures scoring by three other starters.
Greene recorded a double-double scoring 14 points and netting a career-high 10 rebounds. As a team, the Cajuns outboarded the outmatched Aggies 44-25 including a 17-8 bulge on the offensive glass.
The Louisiana-Lafayette defense forced NMSU into 21 turnovers and turned those Aggie miscues into 36 easy points.
NMSU (5-20, 1-11 Sun Belt) received a team-best 11 points from Byron Davis and a team-best six rebounds from Jeff Jones.
Everyone on the Cajuns bench who dressed for the game played at least two minutes and all but one player scored at least two points.
The margin of victory was the largest in the all-time series and was the Cajuns' eighth straight win over NMSU as Louisiana-Lafayette swept the season series between the two Sun Belt schools for the fourth straight season. However, this was the last meeting as Sun Belt foes as NMSU is leaving the conference after this season to join the WAC.
With the win, Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Robert Lee tied former head coach Bobby Paschal (1978-79) for the best start in school history by a coach in his debut season. Lee can make it the best start for a debut coach at 17-8 with a win Saturday. Paschal lost his final three games and finished 16-11.
Louisiana-Lafayette opened the game outscoring the Aggies 12-2 over the first 2:40. The Cajuns held the Aggies without a field goal made until the 16:40 mark – the first two NMSU points scored were on two free throws after a technical foul called on Louisiana-Lafayette's Brian Hamilton at 19:13.
Leading 4-2 the Cajuns scored on three straight possessions to cap off a 9-0 run that gave the hosts its first double-digit lead of the evening. Back-to-back triples by Wade and Greene at 18:38 and 17:50 pushed the lead to 10-2. A turnover by Josh Jenkins on the ensuing possession led to a Wade 15-foot jumper that made it 12-2.
NMSU closed the margin to nine points at 18-9 with 14:06 left in the first half, but the Cajuns reeled off 11 unanswered points to stretch the lead to 29-9.
Louisiana-Lafayette led by as many as 20 points in the opening stanza when a Spencer Ford rebound off of a Dwayne Mitchell miss at 4:38 gave the Cajuns a 41-21 lead. NMSU used an 8-4 run, aided by sloppy play on the Cajuns bench, to trim the halftime deficit to 45-29.
The first-place Ragin' Cajuns will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 19 against North Texas (13-11, 5-7 Sun Belt) at 7:05 p.m. in the CAJUNDOME. The game will serve as the home finale for Louisiana-Lafayette.
Fans are reminded that Saturday's game is being dubbed “McDonald's Season Ticket Redemption Night” allowing 2004-05 season ticket holders to exchange any unused season tickets for extras to the NT game. Don't miss out on an opportunity to treat family and friends to Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball.
BOX SCORE
New Mexico State at Louisiana-Lafayette
02/17/05 7:05 p.m. at Lafayette, La. (Cajundome)
NEW MEXICO STATE (5-20, 1-11
SBC) Davis, Byron 4-6 1-1 11; John, Duane 3-15 3-4 10;
Lawrence, Trevor 3-5 2-2 8; Mitchell, Mike 2-8 3-5 7;
Haynes, Allen 2-4 0-0 5; Jones, Jeff 2-6 0-0 4; Alexander,
Antwan 1-5 0-0 2; Jenkins, Josh 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 17-53
11-14 49.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (16-8, 10-2 SBC) Wade, Tiras 9-16 5-5
26; Greene, Orien 5-12 2-4 14; Mitchell, Dwayne 6-8 2-5 14;
Hamilton, Brian 4-11 3-6 11; Ford, Spencer 3-6 2-2 9; James,
Adam 2-5 1-1 5; Cameron, Chris 1-2 1-1 3; Mouton, Ross 1-2
1-2 3; Williams, Alphonso 1-3 0-0 2; Rhodman, Anthony 0-0
2-2 2; Fobbs, Cletis 1-1 0-0 2; Gray, Derek 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 33-66 19-28 91.
Halftime Score: UL 45, NMSU 29. 3-point goals-NMSU 4-16 (Davis 2-4; Haynes 1-3; John 1-5; Jenkins 0-2; Mitchell 0-2), UL 6-22 (Wade 3-8; Greene 2-7; Ford 1-3; Cameron 0-1; Mouton 0-1; Williams 0-1; Mitchell 0-1). Fouled out--NMSU-Lawrence, Trevor, UL-Cameron, Chris. Rebounds-NMSU 25 (Jones 6), UL 44 (Greene 10). Assists-NMSU 10 (Mitchell 3), UL 18 (Greene 6; Mitchell 6). Total fouls-NMSU 23, UL 17. A-4,470.
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