University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Takes Aim at SBC West Lead
1/13/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME CENTER
Date: Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009
Location: Lafayette, La.
Opponent: UALR (11-5, 4-1 Sun Belt)
Site: CAJUNDOME (11,550)
Game Time: 7:05p.m. (CST)
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420 AM (KPEL), 107.9 FM (KRKA)
Game Night Story Lines
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● The Ragin' Cajuns will either walk away from the game tied for first in the SBC West or UALR will walk away with a two-game lead after one-third of the league schedule.
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● The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off their first road win of the season, 83-81 at
● UL tied a school record with 15 three-point makes at
● The Cajuns' perimeter game has heated up since the return of Randell Daigle.
● Chris Gradnigo has seen consistent success in three games this New Year. He set a season-high with 14 points against
GRADNIGO IN A GROOVE
● In the last three games Chris Gradnigo is shooting 18-of-34 (53 percent) and has made at least six field goals in each game.
● On last week's road trip, he averaged 16 points per game in only 20.5 minutes played per game. Gradnigo shot 12-of-21 from the floor (57 percent) and 6-of-7 (86 percent) from three-point range
CLOSE CALLS...FANTASTIC FINISHES
● The Cajuns have been involved in close calls as of late ? the last four games have all been decided by three points or less.
● Each game has gone down to the wire as well. The
● The Cajuns are 2-2 during the stretch of close calls (wins over DU & Troy/losses at LSU and UNO).
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES UP IN SUN BELT PLAY
● In Sun Belt games,
THE SHARSHOOTERS
● The Cajuns have three players shooting above 40 percent from three-point range ? Ryan McCoy (55%), Randell Daigle (47%) and Travis Bureau (45%)
BUREAU BACK IN FORM
● He seems to be finding his rhythm once again. Since returning from injury, Travis Bureau has buried three treys in four straight games ? a trick he's now turned 11 times this season.
WELCOME BACK “RADAR”
● Randell Daigle, referred to as “Radar” by the coaching staff, took the court for the first time this season Dec. 29 at
● Daigle missed the season's first 10 games while he recovered from a hand injury.
● He is shooting 17-of-36 from three-point range (47 percent) in five games since being cleared to play. Shot 9-of-14 from three-point land in UT and LSU games combined.
● At LSU, he scored 22 in the second half and made five treys in the final nine minutes.
LAST TIME VS. UALR (Feb. 23, 2008 in CAJUNDOME ? UALR won 61-58)
● Game was tightly contested with seven lead changes and eight ties. Neither team led by more than six points.
● The Cajuns found themselves trailing at the half in part to 32 percent shooting. UALR made 50 percent of their shots, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc.
● Baskets from Courtney Wallace and Chris Gradnigo helped the Cajuns take a 38-37 lead at 13:57, their first since the 12:16 mark of the first half.
● A steal by Elijah Millsap led to a three-point play that tied the game at 47-47 with 6:29 remaining. UALR gained the lead and increased their advantage to four points with 2:35 remaining at 58-54. Millsap cut the deficit to just one point as he drained a triple from the top of the key with just 51 ticks remaining.
● The two teams exchanged free throws over the next 30 seconds, and John Fowler's free throw with 15 seconds to play gave the Trojans a 61-58 edge.
TROY LEFTOVERS
● Louisiana picked up its third straight regular season victory over the Trojans and second straight at Trojan Arena. The Cajuns grabbed their first road win of the season.
● Tyren Johnson dished out seven assists ? his career-high and the most by any Cajuns player this season. UL finished with 15 assists, the second-highest total this season.
● Randell Daigle tied his career-high with five triples. From 17:05 through 13:59 of the second half he scored all nine UL points, hitting three treys during the stretch.
● Travis Bureau set a career-high with 10 free throws made. Twice he made three free throws after being fouled from three-point range.
● Louisiana out-rebounded Troy 38-33, the fourth straight game UL won the battle of the boards. In SBC action, UL's won the rebound battle four of five times.
THE GENERAL WILL FIND A WAY
● The Cajuns got off to a slow start at 4-8 before New Year's Day, but Robert Lee's determination to see his program succeed has seen him create several turnarounds during his tenure.
● In his second season, UL was 5-14 at the end of January. His team ended the regular season 7-1 in February and advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
● Just last season, UL began 1-6 and rebounded to win 14 of the final 22 games to end the regular season 15-14 and claim the Sun Belt West Division championship.
SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads 18-11 overall; Louisiana leads 9-3 in CAJUNDOME; Louisiana leads 10-3 in Lafayette)
● UALR has won the last two meetings in the CAJUNDOME. Prior to that,
● Overall, the Trojans carry a three-game winning streak over UL into tonight's game. When UALR won 74-63 in
● Since 2000,
● Six of the last nine meetings have been decided by four points or less. All four ?DOME meetings during the stretch have been by four points or less.
● The first-ever meeting took place on Jan. 4, 1978. The series became a regular one when both UL and UALR joined the Sun Belt Conference in time for the 1991-92 season.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
