University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Defense Dominates For Second Straight Game
2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Cajuns
Defense Dominates For Second Straight Game
Louisiana-Lafayette
holds Denver below 20 percent shooting for the game and the
lowest point total by a Division I opponent in the CAJUNDOME
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006
LAFAYETTE – The reborn Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns
men's basketball team turned in another stout defensive
performance and as a result collected its second straight
victory.
The Ragin' Cajuns (7-14, 3-7 Sun Belt) held Denver to 19
percent shooting (10-of-53) and had just enough offense to
come away with a 49-38 victory here Saturday evening in the
CAJUNDOME.
The win marked the first time this season that
Louisiana-Lafayette posted consecutive victories. It also
allowed the Ragin' Cajuns to climb within two games in the
loss column of both North Texas and Denver for second place
in the Sun Belt West Division.
UL held Denver (12-11, 5-5 Sun Belt) below 30 percent
shooting in both halves to extend its streak of holding
opponents below 30 percent shooting to four straight halves.
The 38 points scored by Denver tied the CAJUNDOME record for
fewest by a UL opponent (Xavier-New Orleans scored 38 in the
1988-89 home opener) and were the least scored by a Division
I team in the CAJUNDOME. The previous record for fewest
points by a DI team in the 'Dome was 42 by Bradley on Dec.
11, 2001 (Cajuns won 43-42).
It was a two point game when Denver's Yemi Nicholson
collected an offensive rebound and scored a basket at 16:56
to trim the Ragin' Cajuns lead to 26-24. The Cajuns' defense
stood tall and held the Pioneers without a field goal for
the next 12:45 and the offense rolled out a 21-7 run to take
command of the contest.
The Cajuns defense held Denver to only three field goals in
the final stanza and forced 11 turnovers.
The defense helped the Cajuns break open the two-point
contest. Dwayne Mitchell jumpstarted the run with a layup at
15:11 to give the hosts a 28-24 lead and then collected a
steal from DaShawn Walker on the ensuing possession.
Mitchell drew a foul on Walker 14 seconds later and then
converted one-of-two free throw attempts at 14:36 to push
the lead to 29-24.
The Cajuns were off and running in transition once more on
Denver's next possession. Steve Wetrich missed a jumper at
14:19 and Ed Turner found Mitchell in traffic and he banked
a shot off the glass to make it 31-24.
It was Mitchell's defense once again on the following
possession that kept the Cajuns moving forward. The senior
guard stole a pass by David Kummer and raced in for a slam
dunk increasing the advantage to 33-24 and prompting a DU
timeout.
Following the timeout the Cajuns defense kept the pressure
on and used the inside game of Michael Southall to move the
lead into double figures. Southall hit a hook shot over
Nicholson at 13:21 after Kummer turned the ball over in
traffic. Then after Antonio Porch misfired on a three-point
attempt at 13:03 the Cajuns found Southall down low for
another blow. Southall muscled his way past Nicholson for a
slam dunk and a 37-24 Cajuns' lead.
The Pioneers would get three free throws from Nicholson
between 12:28 and 12:00 to cut the Cajuns lead to 39-27. UL
responded with six quick points over a 1:32 span after the
11-minute media timeout to create comfort with a 45-27 lead
at 9:26.
As good as the Cajuns' defense was, the offense went into a
lull over the final nine minutes scoring only four points.
Denver continued to miss shots and never threatened the
Cajuns despite the hosts inability to put the game away.
When Porch hit a three-pointer at 4:11 to trim the UL lead
to 49-34, it was the first field goal that the Pioneers had
made since the 16:56 mark.
Louisiana-Lafayette worked the clock in the final four
minutes and settled for the 11-point win. The only scoring
in those final four minutes was a pair of freebies from
Walker at 2:03 and Porch at 0:55.
The Cajuns defense held Denver to its season low in field
goal percentage and for the second straight outing held its
opponent to a season-low percentage.
An interesting note to the contest was the fact that out of
21 players from both sides combined that played only nine
actually scored. UL saw only four players score while DU
could only get five players to score.
The combination of Southall and Mitchell scored 35 points
for the Cajuns led by Southall's 18. Mitchell tacked on 17
points and nine rebounds.
DU received a team-high 14 points from Nicholson on 4-of-8
shooting. The Cajuns held the reigning Sun Belt Player of
the Year to only seven rebounds.
The start of the contest was similar to that of the Thursday
game with North Texas. The Cajuns only had four points
through the 15-minute mark and spotted the Pioneers a 6-4
lead.
When Southall putback his own miss at 13:22 that scored was
tied 6-6. Nicholson went up for an inside jumper on the
ensuing possession and missed. Mitchell nabbed the offensive
rebound for the Cajuns and found Ed Turner who was open for
a three-pointer. Turner nailed the long-range shot and the
Cajuns took a 9-6 lead at 12:41 – a lead that the hosts
would not give up.
Denver closed the lead to 9-8 when he got an inside basket
at 9:41. UL answered with its defense and a 7-0 run that
opened a 15-8 lead.
UL led by as many as 11 points at 22-11. Chris Cameron hit a
three-pointer at 3:48 to create the advantage.
The Pioneers, who started the game 0-for-10 from three-point
range, who make their final three 3-point attempts over the
final 3:19. It started when Alex Cox banked in a
three-pointer at the top of the key at 3:19 and ended with
the third triple at 2:24 when Porch knocked one down to
close the Cajuns lead to 22-20.
The Ragin' Cajuns will now put their two-game winning streak
on the line as they hit the road for the next three games.
The road swing starts with the “Alabama” road swing next
week as Louisiana-Lafayette visits South Alabama on
Thursday, Feb. 9 and Troy on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The next home game is slated for Saturday, Feb. 18 against
Stephen F. Austin – a game which resulted from the Cajuns
participating in the BrackBuster presented by eBay pool.
Game time will be 4 p.m.
GAME SUMMARY
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 49, DENVER 38
DENVER (12-11, 5-5 SBC) Nicholson, Yemi 4-8 6-8 14; Porch,
Antonio 2-13 6-6 12; Wetrich, Steve 2-6 0-0 5; Walker,
DaShawn 1-12 2-2 4; Cox, Alex 1-4 0-0 3; Oliver, Anthony 0-3
0-0 0; Seger, Brett 0-5 0-0 0; Gordon, Terrence 0-0 0-0 0;
Giometti, Brian 0-1 0-0 0; Kummer, David 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
10-53 14-16 38.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (7-14, 3-7 SBC) Southall, Michael 9-16
0-0 18; Mitchell, Dwayne 8-15 1-2 17; Cameron, Chris 4-9 0-0
9; Turner, Ed 2-6 0-0 5; Mouton, Ross 0-2 0-0 0; Hebert,
Rhett 0-4 0-0 0; James, Adam 0-0 0-0 0; Hart, Valentino 0-1
0-0 0; Pesoli, Lucian 0-20-0 0; Barksdale, Maurice 0-4 0-0
0; Fields, J.T. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 1-2 49.
Halftime: Louisiana-Lafayette 24, Denver 20. 3-point
goals-Denver 4-23 (Porch 2-9; Wetrich 1-4; Cox 1-3; Seger
0-2; Giometti 0-1; Kummer 0-1; Walker 0-3),
Louisiana-Lafayette 2-16 (Turner 1-3; Cameron 1-4; Mouton
0-1; Hebert 0-3; Pesoli 0-1; Barksdale 0-2; Fields 0-1;
Mitchell 0-1). Fouled out--Denver-None,
Louisiana-Lafayette-Southall. Rebounds-Denver 38 (Porch 9),
Louisiana-Lafayette 40 (Mitchell 9). Assists-Denver 7 (Kummer
2; Wetrich 2), Louisiana-Lafayette 14 (Mitchell 7). Total
fouls-Denver 10, Louisiana-Lafayette 15. A-3835.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
