University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas
Cajuns Use Ball Control To Extend Win Streak to Seven
2/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005
Louisiana (13-7, 6-1) committed just 11 turnovers, compared to 17 by North Texas (10-9, 3-5), and shot 53 percent to take the win.
The win gives the Cajuns a chance to capture sole possession of the Sun Belt Conference West Division on Saturday night. The Cajuns return to action on Saturday in a pivotal game at Denver. The game, a rematch of the Cajuns SBC opener and UL's only defeat at home, will be televised live on Fox Sports Rocky Mountain. The Pioneers defeated the Cajuns 72-66 on Jan. 8 at the Cajundome.
The victory is the Cajuns tenth in their last 12 games.
UL struggled from the free throw line, shooting only 56 percent as a team, but made 8-of-10 in the second half and five in the final two minutes of the game.
Up nine, 79-71, Dwayne Mitchell, shooting 82 percent from the stripe in Sun Belt play, hit two big free throws with 1:39 on the clock. He was followed by two from the stripe by Spencer Ford at the 1:12 mark to extend the Cajuns lead to 83-71.
Mitchell added another free throw and Ross Mouton put in an uncontested dunk in the final seconds to finish off North Texas.
Tiras Wade led the Cajuns with 20 points, marking the fourth time in his last five games he's hit the 20-point mark. Brian Hamilton chipped-in 17 points - his 12th straight game in double figures.
Ford had a career-high 14 points and Orien Greene added 13 to round-out four Cajuns in double figures.
The Cajuns had the game well in hand late in the first half until undisciplined play gave North Texas momentum and helped UNT trim their deficit to four points at the half.
Louisiana started the second half on a 7-4 spurt thanks to five points from Greene. Unfortunately, Greene committed his fourth personal foul with 17:49 remaining.
Four different players scored for the Cajuns in a 2:09 span, as UL used a 9-2 run to take a 55-42 lead at the 15:12 mark. Chris Cameron started the run and was followed by buckets from Dwayne Mitchell and Adam James before Wade capped the run with a three-pointer.
After the Mean Green had put a dent into the Cajuns lead, Mouton connected on a three-pointer before assisting on Mitchell's dunk to give UL a 68-56 lead with 9:41 to play.
Greene re-entered near the seven minute mark and immediately made an impact, scoring the next three baskets for the Cajuns. His last put UL up 77-67 with 5:13 left on the clock.
Neither team had much offensive success over the next few minutes, as Isaac Hines' basket at the 4:56 mark was answered by Spencer Ford with 2:02 remaining.
Louisiana stands 7-1 in the SBC for the third consecutive season.
The Cajuns streak of 96 consecutive games with a three-pointer was snapped last time out versus Middle Tennessee. It did not take the Cajuns long to start a new streak, as Cameron buried a triple just 43 seconds into the game.
The Cajuns held a 17-13 lead at the 11:37 mark thanks to 11 early points by Wade. Wade had four of the Cajuns six baskets in the early going.
A long three-pointer from Ford gave the junior seven early points and the Cajuns a 24-17 lead with 9:19 to play in the first half. Ford followed with a tip-in to extend the Cajuns edge to 26-17.
After a Mitchell free throw upped UL's lead to double figures, the two teams traded baskets for the next four minutes until Hamilton's technical foul. Hamilton's thunderous dunk helped the Cajuns to a 12-point edge, but his undisciplined technical foul that immediately followed took the life from the Cajuns.
Leonard Hopkins buried both free throws and then Hines hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession to swing momentum to the hosts. After the technical foul, UNT outscored the Cajuns 12-4 over the final 3:33 of the first half to diminish the Cajuns lead down to four at the break.
Free throw shooting haunted the Cajuns in the first stanza, making only five of 13 attempts (38.5 percent).
Following Saturday's contest, Louisiana will return home for a four-game homestand, beginning with South Alabama on Feb. 10.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (13-7, 7-1)
Wade, Tiras 7-12 2-4 20; Hamilton, Brian 7-13 3-6 17; Ford,
Spencer 5-7 3-4 14; Greene, Orien 6-12 1-2 13; Mitchell,
Dwayne 2-5 4-7 8; Cameron, Chris 3-6 0-0 7; Mouton, Ross 2-5
0-0 5; James, Adam 1-1 0-0 2; Gray, Derek 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
33-62 13-23 86.
NORTH TEXAS (10-9, 3-5) HOPKINS, Leonard 2-14 10-10 14;
HINES, Isaac 5-11 0-0 13; WATSON, Calvin 4-8 2-2 11; JONES,
Michael 4-6 1-2 10; HARRIS, Ron 5-5 0-2 10; BARNETT, Justin
4-6 2-2 10; SIMPSON, Jeffrey 2-5 0-0 4; WILLIAMS, Quincy 2-2
0-0 4; THOMAS, Ty 1-2 1-1 3; STURNS, Michael 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 29-61 16-19 79.
Halftime Score: UL 39, NT 35. 3-point goals - UL 7-16 (Wade 4-7; Mouton 1-2; Cameron 1-2; Ford 1-2; Gray 0-1; Greene 0-2), NT 5-16 (HINES 3-4; WATSON 1-4; JONES 1-1; THOMAS 0-1; HOPKINS 0-6). Fouled out - UL-None, NT-JONES. Rebounds - UL 35 (Wade 8; Mitchell 8), NT 34 (HINES 9). Assists - UL 13 (Mitchell 5), NT 11 (HINES 5). Total fouls - UL 17, NT22. A - 2,437.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
