University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
(4) Louisville
Cajuns Effort Falls Short in NCAA Tournament Opener With Louisville
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Friday, March 18, 2005
The Ragin' Cajuns (20-11) shot above 40 percent in each half and dominated the inside with 30 points in the paint. However, eight missed free throws and 18 turnovers made the difference and kept the Cajuns from pulling off the upset.
The Cajuns defense kept the Cardinals (30-4) to 38 percent shooting in the entire game as well 32 percent (9-of-28) in the second frame.
Foul trouble for Orien Greene, who fouled out with over seven minutes left to play, also played a factor in the game. Greene only played 18 minutes.
Louisiana-Lafayette held a 49-45 lead with 9:21 left to play following a Wade putback of his own miss.
Following the 30-second timeout called by Louisville, the Cardinals crept back into the contest when Ellis Myles found Brandon Jenkins on the backside for an alley-oop dunk that trimmed Cajuns lead to 49-47.
The Cajuns would then experience two possessions which the squad would like to have had back. Tiras Wade lost the ball near midcourt on the ensuing possession Juan Palacios came up with the steal. Palacios found Jenkins who found Francsico Garcia for a wide-open dunk to tie the game at 49-49.
Louisville completed a 6-0 run when Louisiana-Lafayette's Brian Hamilton was whistled for a traveling violation. The Cardinals answered with a Garcia drive on the baseline to reclaim the lead at 8:17.
Louisiana-Lafayette continued to out-hustle Louisville and it paid off on two possessions following the seven-minute media timeout that put the Cajuns back on top.
Brian Hamilton, who finished with a team-best 10 rebounds, grabbed the loose ball off of the second of two missed free throws by Spencer Ford for a quick layup at 6:20 to tie the game 51-51.
It was a heads-up play by Ford off a missed jumper by Wade at 5:46 that put the Cajuns back in front. Ford made an acrobatic putback as he was in perfect position for the layup to make it 53-51.
As was the custom all night long, the Cardinals came up with one clutch shot after the Ford putback. Larry O'Bannon knocked down a triple that put the Cards back up 54-53.
Louisville would stave off the upset with free throws down the stretch. After a pair of freebies by Ford gave the Cajuns the lead 56-55 at 5:09, Louisiana-Lafayette endured a scoreless drought that gave the momentum back to Louisville.
Trailing 55-54, Louisville got four straight free throws to pull in front 58-55. The Cajuns fought back with a Ford jumper that made it 58-57 with three minutes left to play. The Cards answered on their next possession when Otis George came up with the offensive board off a missed jumper by Garcia and fought away the tip-in from a few Cajuns defenders to make it 60-57.
In the final two minutes, three crucial plays sent the game to Louisville. The first came after a missed three-point attempt by Chris Cameron and 2:07. Dwayne Mitchell fouled Garcia on a three-point attempt at 1:57. Garcia calmly sank all three freebies to open a six-point margin at 63-57.
Louisiana-Lafayette fought back once more. Cameron lofted a long pass that found Hamilton at midcourt. Hamilton scampered in for the dunk that made it 63-59. The Cajuns would force a turnover by Garcia on the next possession and Wade drew a foul. Wade made both freebies to cut the Cards lead to 63-61.
A critical foul called on Mitchell on the next possession created a two-possession game. Mitchell was called for catching Garcia on the wrist as he fought around a screen. Garcia made both freebies to put Louisville up 65-61.
With 44 seconds left to play, Mitchell was called for a traveling violation giving the ball back to Louisville with a four-point lead. The Cajuns fouled Myles and he missed the 1-and-1 chance to give the Cajuns another shot.
Mitchell converted only one of two free throw shots on the other end and the Cards led 65-62 with 32 seconds left.
With many players playing with four fouls, no one Cajuns player wanted to commit the foul to keep the Cards from running out the clock. When a foul was finally called only 13 seconds showed and Garcia had the ball. Garcia made both freebies to push the lead to 67-62.
Louisville fouled Mitchell on the ensuing possession to keep the Cajuns from firing a shot. Mitchell missed both of them and the Cards made one more freebie before the clock ran down.
The season ends for Louisiana-Lafayette at 20-11 overall.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
