Missed Chances Cost Cajuns at Tech, 64-56

RUSTON ? Louisiana's men's basketball's recent road struggles continued Friday night as the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defeated the Ragin' Cajuns 64-56 at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Louisiana (1-1) pulled to within a point, 55-54, with 2:38 remaining in the game, but a 9-2 run by Louisiana Tech (1-1) put the game out of reach for the Cajuns. Louisiana has now lost its last eight games in Ruston.

Sophomore guard Elijah Millsap (Grambling, La.) led all players with a game-high 15 points and 10 rebounds, marking his second consecutive double-double to start the season. David Dees (Dayton, Ohio) finished the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 1-for-7 from the floor and 9-for-14 at the free throw line.

Keith Smith paced the Bulldogs with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, while J.C. Clark and Orren Tims each added 12 points.

Like the first half, Louisiana again fell behind to the Bulldogs early in the second period as Tech extended its lead to five points, 36-31, after three minutes. The Cajuns responded with a 5-0 run to knot it up at 36 apiece just before the under-16 media timeout.

Tech followed with a five-point run of its own to take a 41-36 lead, forcing the Cajuns use a 30-second timeout with 12:33 left to play.

Tech continued to frustrate the Cajuns on the defensive end, while Louisiana was unable to catch a break on offense. The Bulldogs then would build its lead to as many as nine points, 50-41.

UL responded with an 11-4 run, cutting the Tech lead to 54-52 with 2:49 remaining in regulation. Tech added a free throw for a three-point lead, 55-52, before Chris Gradnigo (Lake Charles, La.) cut it to one, 55-54, on a lay-up.

A turn-around jump shot by Smith with 49 seconds left on the clock sealed the Cajuns' fate and a Tech victory.

Louisiana struggled early on in the first half as the Cajuns fell behind 4-0 after a shot clock violation and a pair of missed jumpers. Tech would keep the Cajuns at bay until a quick 4-0 run by UL gave the visitors their first lead, 12-11, of the game at the 12:15 mark.

With an early lead in hand, Louisiana continued to pressure the Bulldogs on defense. The Cajuns forced five Tech turnovers to take its largest lead of the half, 18-13, with 10:24 remaining until halftime.

On its ensuing possession, Tech would cut the lead by more than half on a J.C. Clark three-pointer from the corner, trimming the Cajuns' edge to 18-16. Gary made his fourth shot of the period to give UL a four-point cushion, 20-16.

A quick 7-0 spurt by the Bulldogs gave Tech a 23-20 edge at the 5:23 mark ? its first in more than seven minutes.

UL would tie the game at 26 all after two Millsap free throws with 1:50 left in the first half. However, two UL turnovers led to four quick Tech points, giving the Bulldogs a 30-26 lead just before halftime. The Cajuns would cut it to just two points, 30-28, on a Brandon Dison (New Orleans, La.) two-pointer at the buzzer.

Shot selection and foul trouble continued to hurt the Cajuns as Courtney Wallace (New Orleans, La.) and La'Ryan Gary (Lafayette, La.) both entered halftime with three personal fouls each.

Louisiana shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first half, connecting on 12-of-27 shooting, while going 0-for-7 from three-point range. Tech, however, went 10-of-19 from the floor on 52.6 percent shooting. The Bulldogs also were 9-of-11 from the charity stripe in the opening stanza.

Gary and Clark led all scorers with nine points - both on 4-of-5 shooting. Millsap, Abray Milson (Lafayette, La.) and Dison each had four points for the Cajuns.

Senior guard Maurice Barksdale (Baltimore, Md.) added two points for UL ? his first points since March 6, 2006, against Western Kentucky at the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team will be back in action Tuesday, Nov. 20, when they travel to Tulsa, Okla., to face the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Mabee Center.

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 56

Millsap, Elijah 5-15 4-5 15; Dees, David 1-7 9-14 11; Gary, La'Ryan 5-10 1-2

11; Lago, Willie 2-7 0-0 5; Milson, Abray 2-3 0-0 4; Dison, Brandon 2-3 0-0

4; Barksdale, Maurice 1-2 0-0 2; Johnson, Tyren 1-6 0-0 2; Gradnigo, Chris

1-5 0-0 2; Dees, Stephen 0-0 0-0 0; Bloom, Corey 0-0 0-0 0; Wallace,

Courtney 0-1 0-0 0; Daigle, Randell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 14-21 56.

LOUISIANA TECH 64

Smith, Keith 6-7 2-2 14; Clark, JC 5-10 1-1 12; Tims, Orren 4-8 4-4 12; Loe,

James 2-4 6-8 10; Gibson, Kyle 2-8 3-4 7; Lathan, Dwayne 1-3 2-3 4; Rogers,

Adrian 1-3 1-4 3; Washington, Drew 1-3 0-0 2; Mims, Brandon 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals 22-47 19-26 64.

Louisiana-Lafayette........... 28 28 - 56

Louisiana Tech................ 30 34 - 64

3-point goals--Louisiana-Lafayette 2-18 (Millsap, Elijah 1-4; Lago, Willie

1-2; Gary, La'Ryan 0-4; Barksdale, Maurice 0-1; Johnson, Tyren 0-3;

Gradnigo, Chris 0-2; Dees, David 0-2), Louisiana Tech 1-4 (Clark, JC 1-2;

Gibson, Kyle 0-2). Fouled out--Louisiana-Lafayette-Johnson, Tyren, Louisiana

Tech-Gibson, Kyle. Rebounds--Louisiana-Lafayette 37 (Dees, David 10;

Millsap, Elijah 10), Louisiana Tech 37 (Clark, JC 7; Tims, Orren 7).

Assists--Louisiana-Lafayette 6 (Gradnigo, Chris 3), Louisiana Tech 5

(Gibson, Kyle 1; Smith, Keith 1; Loe, James 1; Washington, Drew 1; Clark, JC

1). Total fouls--Louisiana-Lafayette 23, Louisiana Tech 21. Technical

fouls--Louisiana-Lafayette-None, Louisiana Tech-None. A-1827

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Missed Chances Cost Cajuns at Tech, 64-56

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Missed Chances Cost Cajuns at Tech, 64-56

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