University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
(20) Nevada
Nevada's 12-Point Run Upends Cajuns in Second Half
11/29/2006 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LAFAYETTE - No. 24 Nevada used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to provide the final margin in an 86-74 victory over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team here Wednesday evening at the Cajundome.
The Wolf Pack (6-0) held a 59-56 lead after Louisiana's Valentino Hart hit a hook shot with 10:45 left in the game. Hart's field goal would be the final one for the Cajuns until the 7:08 mark and Nevada reeled off 12 unanswered points to build a 71-56 lead.
The Ragin' Cajuns (1-5) cut the Pack lead to single digits when David Dees hit three free throws at 3:39 to make it 75-67. By that time, though, the Wolf Pack had built up a comfortable margin and was able to hold off the Cajuns at the free throw line.
The loss was the fifth straight for Louisiana-Lafayette since its season opener. The Cajuns lost their third straight on the current four-game homestand ? the first time the Cajuns have dropped three straight in the Cajundome since the 1994-95 season.
Nevada won for the first time in Lafayette and took a 3-2 lead in the series with the win.
Dees and Ross Mouton carried the load for UL combining for 51 points. Dees led the Cajuns with 26 points while Mouton tallied 25. Hart joined them in double figures with 10 points and just missed out on his second straight double-double as he ended with nine rebounds.
Nevada had four players score double figures led by 21 from Nick Fazekas. Marcelus Kemp had 19 points and made two big shots after UL cut the Nevada lead to 55-54 with 12:45 remaining returning the Pack's lead back to five points.
Nevada shot 13-fo-23 (57 percent) in the second half which included a 6-of-8 showing from the field when the Pack went on the 12-0 run that broke open the game.
The Wolf Pack answered Hart's when Lyndale Burleson found Fazekas inside for a basket at 10:30 which pushed the Pack's lead back to five points at 61-56.
Things began to turn south for the Cajuns ? literally ? after Willie Lago bounced a pass off of Burleson's feet and the Nevada guard rushed down to the south baseline of the arena and rolled in a layup that upped the lead to 63-56.
Mouton and Rhett Hebert each missed three-pointers on UL's next two possessions and Kyle Shiloh capitalized for Nevada when he drained a triple of his own at 9:11 after Hebert's miss to push the Pack's lead to double figures at 66-56.
UL wound maintain possession through most of the eight minute mark until Dees' desperation shot as the shot clock was winding down was off the mark at 8:31.
The Pack turned to Fazekas on the baseline and he was able to draw a pair of defenders, wait to draw contact and make a basket as he was fouled. He completed the three-point play and the margin was widened to 69-56. Only 25 seconds later would the Pack complete a fastbreak after a Mouton miss when JaVale McGee slammed home a pass from Ramon Sessions to complete the run and make it 71-56.
A Mouton three-pointer with 2:43 remaining trimmed the deficit to 77-70. Nevada hit nine free throws and the Cajuns could get only two baskets from Dees down the stretch.
UL grabbed the early lead when Dees completed a three-point play at 19:23 that gave the Cajuns a 3-2 lead. Nevada regained the lead nearly 30 seconds later when Kemp hit two free throws.
Nevada used its inside game to bolt out to a 10-5 lead three minutes into the game. The Pack scored five times inside getting four points from Fazekas.
A pair of baskets from Dees got the Wolf Pack lead down to one point. Dees drove baseline for a layup at 16:35 that made it 10-7. UL got a stop and it was Dees hitting a jumper on the run at 15:40 that shrunk the deficit to 10-9.
Leading 12-11, the Pack got five unanswered points to open a six-point advantage. Burleson made the Pack's first three-pointer of the contest at 13:41 and on the ensuing possession Kemp stole the ball from Mouton and raced in for a layup that pushed the lead to 17-11.
The Cajuns answered quickly and worked back within two points. A Courtney Wallace bucket at 12:24 was followed by an offensive putback basket from Hart at 11:45 that made it 17-15.
UL had a chance to inch closer or take the lead but Wallace was stripped of the ball after a defensive stop and after another defensive stop Wallace hit the front of the iron on a shot attempt.
Burleson hit a three-pointer at 10:19 increasing the Nevada margin to 20-15. The lead stayed at five points as the teams swapped three-point plays at 9:16 and 9:02. The latter, a triple by Ikovlev saw the Wolf Pack edge at 23-18.
The Ragin' Cajuns rattled off a 7-0 run over the next 1:30 and took the lead 25-23 at 7:32 when Mouton knocked down a jumper after a Fazekas miss.
Ramon Sessions hit two free throws 30 seconds later and the Pack pulled even. Hart missed two free throws for the Cajuns on the next possession and Nevada worked the fastbreak to Fazekas who rushed through the lane for a slam dunk that put the visitors in front 27-25 at 6:38.
Dees scored the next four points for the Ragin' Cajuns to help the Cajuns keep pace with the Pack down only 31-29 at the five minute mark.
Nevada used a four-point run during the four-minute mark to re-open a six point lead matching the largest lead at that time.
It was a five-point game, 37-32, when Shiloh hit a three-pointer at 3:06 that made it 40-32. Wallace made it 40-34 when he hit a jumper for the Cajuns at 2:23. Kemp bounced off two defenders and hit a fadeaway at 2:02 upping the lead to 42-34.
The Cajuns committed a turnover at 1:15 when Lago had an inbounds pass slip past him and he caught the ball behind that midcourt line for a backcourt violation. The Pack worked the ball into Fazekas who hit a hook shot that opened a 10-point lead.
Mouton followed his own miss on a three-point attempt and stuffed home the rebound with 39 seconds left and then Dees hit two free throws with four seconds before the half to help the Cajuns cut the deficit to 44-38 at intermission.
The two teams swapped made baskets in the first minute of the second half and the lead remained six points at 46-40.
Defense took over for the next minute until Mouton hit three-pointers on consecutive possessions which allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to draw even at 46-all with 16:56 remaining. Nevada broke the tie 22 second later when Kemp worked his way to the top of the key and buried a triple giving the Pack a 49-46 lead.
Twice the Cajuns would pull within one point only to have the Pack answer with a key basket.
Dees worked over two defenders and banked a shot off glass at 14:55 to cut the lead to 51-50. Fazekas drew a foul and hit two free throws at 14:34. Wallace missed a shot in the paint on the return trip and McGee hit a rainbow shot at 13:58 that pushed the lead to 55-50.
The Cajuns raced back into a one-point game on the next two possessions. A goaltending call on McGee when Hebert lofted a high shot followed by a Hart turnaround at 12:45 closed the gap back to one point at 55-54.
Kemp knocked down a pair of jumpers in the 11-minute mark that upped the Nevada edge back to five points at the 11:07.
The Cajuns got a hook shot from Hart at 10:45 to pull UL within three points at 59-56.
The Cajuns went without a basket for the next three-plus minutes and the Wolf Pack responded with a decisive run to break open the game down the stretch.
The Ragin' Cajuns conclude their homestand on Saturday, Dec. 2 hosting long-time rival Louisiana Tech in the Cajundome. The game is set to tip-off at 8:30 p.m. Tech is making its first appearance in the Cajundome since Jan. 15, 2000 ? the last time the Bulldogs were members of the Sun Belt Conference.
