LAFAYETTE ? Trailing by two points with 4:43 remaining in regulation, Louisiana was held scoreless for the remainder of the game, as the McNeese State Cowboys escaped the CAJUNDOME with a 67-61 win Thursday night.
Louisiana (1-6) went 0-for-6 from the field in the game's final four-plus minutes, while McNeese State (5-3) was only able to muster four points down the stretch.
David Dees (Dayton, Ohio) led all scorers with 21 points and nine rebounds, going 13-of-16 from the free throw line. It marked the second straight game that a Cajun made 13 freebies; Elijah Millsap (Grambling, La.) went 13-of-14 in Louisiana's loss at UCF Tuesday night.
The Cowboys help Millsap to just one point, while he went 0-for-4 from the field. Millsap has now missed his last 10 shots, dating back to the Tennessee game on Nov. 30. Sophomore point guard Randell Daigle (Lafayette, La.) scored a career-high 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting with all three coming from beyond the three-point arc.
Jarvis Bradley paced the Cowboys with 18 points, while Kleon Penn and John Ford added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Penn and John Pichon each grabbed nine boards.
Louisiana began and ended the first half on an 8-2 run, while McNeese State followed suit with an 8-2 run of its own to begin the second half. McNeese State ran back in front, 42-38, at the 16:47 mark of the second half.
McNeese State would eventually run its lead to nine points, 48-39, after a Penn put-back before calling a timeout. Following the break, Pichon added a bucket in the lane to give McNeese a double-digit lead.
For the majority of the second half, Louisiana would seem to finally get into a rhythm offensively, cutting into the McNeese State lead. However, every time Louisiana made a key basket to cut the deficit, McNeese would respond with a clutch shot of its own to rebuild its lead.
That trend would begin to change with seven minutes remaining in regulation. Dees continued his hot shooting from the charity stripe, making his 12th and 13th freebies of the night, to trim the McNeese lead to five, 61-56.
After a McNeese basket, Corey Bloom (New Orleans, La.) cut it to four points, 63-59, with a three-pointer from the corner. Bloom later added a lay-up in the paint to cut the deficit to 63-61 with 4:43 left to play.
However, Louisiana would go scoreless in the last four-plus minutes of the game as McNeese was able to hold on for the six-point win.
Louisiana bolted out the gate on an 8-2 run, behind Dees and Daigle. The Cajuns' early run forced McNeese State to take a premature timeout at the 17:20 mark.
Following the timeout, the Cowboys went on an 8-2 run of their own, tying the game at 10 all to force Louisiana into calling a 30-second timeout at 13:28.
McNeese would continue to pressure Louisiana throughout the first half. The Cowboys took as much as a five-point lead, 22-17, at the 7:55 mark of the first half on a Penn dunk. But, Daigle drained his second three-pointer of the opening stanza to cut the deficit to 22-20.
From there, McNeese and Louisiana would exchange buckets, until the Cajuns made a late push in the half's finale three minutes. Trailing 32-28, Louisiana closed out the half on an 8-2 run to take a slim 36-34 lead into the locker room.
Daigle led all players with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Dees added nine points and five rebounds. Millsap was held scoreless in the first half, going 0-for-3 from the field.
McNeese's Bradley paced the Cowboys with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Ford chipped in eight points. Penn added six points and six boards.
Louisiana continued its recent success at the free throw line in the first half, shooting nearly 77 percent (10-of-13), while the Cajuns shot 34.4 percent from the field (11-of-32).
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns will return to action Sunday when they travel to north Louisiana to face in-state and conference rival ULM in the Sun Belt opener for both schools. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.
MCNEESE STATE 67
Bradley, Jarvis 8-12 2-2 18; Penn, Kleon 4-6 4-5 12; Ford, John 4-11 2-4 10;
Pichon, John 4-11 0-1 8; Martin, Stephan 1-5 4-6 7; Kapelan, Diego 2-5 0-0
5; Lawrence, Rorey 1-4 0-0 3; Wardell, Aldryan 1-2 0-0 2; Alawoya, P.J. 1-1
0-0 2; Collins, C.J. 0-0 0-0 0; Garr, Adrien 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 12-18
67.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 61
Dees, David 4-12 13-16 21; Daigle, Randell 3-7 2-2 11; Bloom, Corey 2-6 1-2
6; Wallace, Courtney 2-5 2-2 6; Dison, Brandon 2-4 0-0 4; Gary, La'Ryan 1-2
2-3 4; Gradnigo, Chris 1-6 1-2 3; Lago, Willie 1-2 0-0 3; Milson, Abray 1-1
0-0 2; Millsap, Elijah 0-4 1-1 1; Barksdale, Maurice 0-1 0-0 0; Johnson,
Tyren 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-52 22-28 61.
Halftime: UL 36, MSU 34. 3-point goals--McNeese State 3-15 (Martin, Stephan 1-2; Kapelan, Diego 1-4; Lawrence, Rorey 1-2; Pichon, John 0-1; Garr, Adrien 0-2; Ford, John 0-4), Louisiana-Lafayette 5-21 (Daigle, Randell 3-5; Lago, Willie 1-1; Bloom, Corey 1-3; Gradnigo, Chris 0-4; Millsap, Elijah 0-2; Barksdale, Maurice 0-1; Johnson, Tyren 0-1; Dees, David 0-4). A-3434
Louisiana-McNeese Game Notes
- Sophomore and Lafayette native Randell Daigle made his first career start at point guard for Louisiana Thursday night. Daigle scored a career-high 11 points.
- David Dees scored a season-high 21 points Thursday night. It was his first 20-point performance since the 2006-07 season finale when he scored 24 points at North Texas.
- Dees went 13-of-16 from the free throw line and was the second Cajun to nail 13 from the charity stripe in as many games. Tuesday night, Millsap went 13-of-14 in a loss at UCF.
- Elijah Millsap's shooting struggles continued Thursday night as the sophomore went 0-for-4 from the field. He has now missed his last 10 shots, dating back to the Tennessee game on Nov. 30.
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