University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Second Half Cold Spell Cripples Cajuns in Loss to Troy
1/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Second Half
Cold Spell Cripples Cajuns in Loss to Troy
Louisiana-Lafayette held scoreless for nearly nine minutes
as Troy uses 20-0 run to pull away in the second half
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006
LAFAYETTE – A nine-minute scoring drought in the second half caused Saturday night's Sun Belt Conference game between Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team and Troy to slip away from the Cajuns as Troy rolled away from the CAJUNDOME with a 73-50 triumph.
Maurice Barksdale connected on a three-pointer for the Ragin' Cajuns (4-11, 0-4 Sun Belt) at the 16:05 mark to cut the Troy lead to 38-37. The Cajuns missed their next 10 field goal attempts and didn't score another basket until a Rhett Hebert jumper at 7:22.
The Trojans (8-7, 1-2) went on a 20-0 run during the Cajuns' scoring drought to open a 58-37 advantage with 7:35 remaining in the game and UL never got closer than 16 points the rest of the contest.
The loss marked the Ragin' Cajuns' second straight defeat in the CAJUNDOME – the first such occurrence since the 2000-01 season. It was just the fifth loss for UL in the last 32 Sun Belt games contested in the 'Dome.
Louisiana-Lafayette slipped to 0-4 to start Sun Belt Conference play. It's the first 0-4 Sun Belt start for the Ragin' Cajuns in the team's 15-year history as a member of the conference.
Troy, a newcomer to the Sun Belt Conference, picked up its first-ever SBC victory in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
The Cajuns were paced by 14 points from Dwayne Mitchell who extended his streak of games with double digit points to 15 this season. No other Cajuns' player scored more than seven points.
Troy had four starters reach double figures led by a game-high 20 points from Bobby Dixon. He was joined by Boo Ramsey (14 points), Sammy Sharp (12 points) and Cedric Jackson (11 points) in double digits.
Louisiana-Lafayette led 29-24 with 4:09 remaining in the first half and had led virtually the entire first half. Troy ended the opening stanza with a 7-0 run and held UL scoreless to take a 31-29 advantage into the break.
The Trojans stretched their lead to five points at 36-29 five points from Dixon in a span of 29 seconds from 19:33 through 19:04.
The Cajuns made a push at a comeback attempt by using an 8-2 run over the next three minutes. Mitchell snapped the Cajuns scoreless string from the first half when he hit a fadeaway jumper at 18:34.
A missed triple by Jacob Hazouri on the next possession led to a Mitchell defensive rebound in which he pushed the ball up the court and found Barksdale for a three-pointer that made it 36-34 at 18:02.
Barksdale's next triple, coming at the 16:05 mark, pulled the Cajuns within one point at 38-37. That would be the final UL field goal until 7:22 remained and Troy stormed off on a 20-0 run that decided the outcome of the game.
Dixon started the rally with a triple of his own at 15:39 to move the Trojans lead to 41-37. After Barksdale missed on a three-point attempt for UL on the ensuing possession, Ramsey connected on another triple to give the visitors a 44-37 lead.
Following two free throws by Cedric Jackson at 13:19 to make it 46-37 a triple at 12:21 by Jackson pushed the Trojans lead into double digits 49-37.
Upset at his team's lack of effort and intensity during the nine-minute scoring drought, UL head coach Robert Lee emptied the bench at 8:36. Adam James, Alphonso Williams, Rhett Hebert for Chris Cameron, Ross Mouton and Ed Turner.
The change in personnel woke up a slumbering offense and the Cajuns put in13 points in the game's final eight minutes to reach to 50-point plateau.
UL's offensive woes were a result of 8-of-29 shooting (28 percent) in the second half in which Troy outscored the hosts 42-21. For the game, the Ragin' Cajuns shot a season-low 32 percent (20-of-62) including a 12 percent mark from three-point land (3-of-26).
The Trojans connected on 50 percent of their shots (12-of-24) in the second stanza and shot 44 percent (23-of-52) for the game. Troy outscored the Cajuns 36-9 from three-point range making 12 long-distance shots to only three for UL.
The Cajuns scored the game's first five points before the 17:00 mark and held the Trojans scoreless until a Boo Ramsey three-pointer at 16:45 put Troy on the board.
The Cajuns benefited from offensive putbacks on its next two possessions getting baskets from Chris Cameron and Ed Turner to open a 9-3 lead at 15:46.
The Trojans battled back to even the score by the 14-minute mark thanks to two of their five first-half triples. Bobby Dixon and Ramsey each dialed in from long distance to knot the score at 9-9.
That was the first four tied scores from the 14:04 mark through 10:27. Sammy Sharp got a feed from Dixon down low to even the score 16-16. Sharp added a free throw on a two-shot foul at 9:31 to give the Trojans their first lead of the night at 17-16.
Sharp's freebie started a trend of five lead changes over the next three-plus minutes as neither team could grab a lead larger than two points. Another Cameron putback basket at 6:26 gave the Cajuns a 23-22 lead and UL snagged a three-point advantage on the ensuing possession when Dixon turned the ball over and Dwayne Mitchell raced in for a fastbreak layup at 6:15 for a three-point Cajuns lead at 25-22.
Troy pulled within one point at 25-24 on two freebies from Sharp at 5:46. UL found a quick answer on a Cameron jumper at 5:25 to give the Cajuns a 27-24 lead.
The Cajuns stopped the Trojans on their next two trips down the court and Michael Southall drew a foul at 4:09 and made two free throws on a 1-and-1 chance to give the Cajuns a 29-24 lead.
However, the first of two key scoring droughts for the Ragin' Cajuns happened following those freebies by Southall as Troy scored seven unanswered points to grab the 31-29 halftime advantage.
Louisiana-Lafayette will take a week-long break from game action as no game is scheduled for Thursday this week. The Ragin' Cajuns will travel to Miami on Friday where they will face Florida International on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2006, at the Pharmed Arena beginning at 6:00 p.m. (CST).
GAME SUMMARY
TROY 73, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 50
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (4-11, 0-4 SBC) Mitchell, Dwayne 6-12 1-2 14; James, Adam 3-4 1-1 7; Southall, Michael 2-4 3-4 7; Turner, Ed 3-12 0-0 7; Cameron, Chris 3-9 0-0 6; Williams, Alphonso 1-3 2-2 4; Barksdale, Maurice 1-6 0-0 3; Hebert, Rhett 1-4 0-0 2; Hart, Valentino 0-1 0-0 0; Mouton, Ross 0-4 0-0 0; Pesoli, Lucian 0-1 0-0 0; Fields, J.T. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-62 7-9 50.
Halftime Score: Troy 31, Louisiana-Lafayette 29. 3-point goals-Troy 12-35 (Ramsey 4-13; Dixon 3-7; Hazouri 2-4; Sharp 1-3; Jackson 1-2; Acker 1-4; Martin 0-1; Davis 0-1), Louisiana-Lafayette 3-26 (Turner 1-7; Barksdale 1-4; Mitchell 1-3; Cameron 0-2; Williams 0-1; Hebert 0-3; Mouton 0-3; Pesoli 0-1; Fields 0-2). Fouled out--Troy-None, Louisiana-Lafayette-None. Rebounds-Troy 34 (Sharp 9), Louisiana-Lafayette 37 (Southall 8). Assists-Troy 12 (Dixon 6), Louisiana-Lafayette 5 (Mitchell 4). Total fouls-Troy 14, Louisiana-Lafayette 14. A-3666.
Team technical foul at 6:41 assessed to Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Robert Lee
-Ragin' Cajuns-
