University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana, Troy Have Plenty to Play For
2/25/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME CENTER
Date: Thursday, Feb. 26, 2009
Location: Lafayette, La.
Opponent: Troy (17-11, 12-4 Sun Belt)
Site: CAJUNDOME (11,550)
Game Time: 7:05 p.m.
Live Stats/Video: www.RaginCajuns.com
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420 AM (KPEL), 107.9 FM (KRKA)
Game Night Story Lines
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● Thursday's game is the second of three this week for the Cajuns. Following the Troy game,
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● The next UL win or next FIU loss will secure a first round home game for the Cajuns.
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● The home team has won the last 11 games UL was involved in. Last visiting team to win was UALR on Jan. 15 at the CAJUNDOME.
● UL's defense has held the opposition to 60 points or below the last three games.
● The Cajuns attempt to pick up a second straight victory. UL hasn't won back-to-back games since mid-December (Dec. 13 ? La. College; Dec. 15 ? ULM).
● La'Ryan Gary returned from an injury suffered against Arkansas State and led the Cajuns with a career-high 20 points, off the bench, Sunday against New Orleans.
SUPPORTING CAST STEPS UP
● Since February began, the Cajuns have seen a solid supporting cast for “The Triple Threat” of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo to lean upon.
● The group of Jeremy Barr (6.2 ppg), La'Ryan Gary (10.0 ppg), Tyren Johnson (6.5 ppg), Ryan McCoy (5.0 ppg) and Courtney Wallace (4.0 ppg) has combined to average 31.7 points per game, or 46 percent of UL's offense in February.
● That has helped lighten the load for “The Triple Threat” which at one point was producing 67 percent of the UL offense. Now, it's down to 56 percent.
IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING
● UL has shot 140-of-189 (74 percent) from the charity stripe in the last 10 games. That has helped raise the season percentage from 61% to 66%.
BACK TO BLOCKING SHOTS
● Tyren Johnson has blocked at least one shot in each of the last seven games.
● He has 37 blocks this season ? a personal best ? and is only four from the single-season Top 10 charts.
THE 500 CLUB
● Chris Gradnigo reached 500 career points at Florida Atlantic. Now two other Cajuns are in the neighborhood of 500 career points.
● Travis Bureau (472) is 29 shy of 500. Randell Daigle (457) is 43 away.
THE TRIPLE THREAT
● The combination of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo fuel the Louisiana offense.
● They combine to average 37.2 points of the Cajuns' 66.8 average (56%).
● They combine for 136 three-point field goals made out of UL's 189 (72%).
● Overall shooting percentages: Gradnigo (44.8%), Bureau (42.7%), Daigle (39.3%).
NEW ORLEANS LEFTOVERS
● Louisiana collected its 12th straight victory over New Orleans in the CAJUNDOME.
● The Cajuns outscored UNO 44-24 in the paint.
● Louisiana dominated the offensive glass, pulling down 18 offensive rebounds and posting 22 second-chance points.
● La'Ryan Gary scored a career-high 20 points and collected his 200th career rebound.
● Randell Daigle scored 10 points, his fourth straight game with double figures.
● Travis Bureau turned in an all-around performance: 3 field goals made, 3 free throws made, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal in 31 minutes.
LAST TIME VS. TROY (Jan. 10, 2009 in Troy ? UL won 83-81)
● Randell Daigle tied his career-high with five of UL's school-record tying 15 three-pointers. Daigle hit the final 3-pointer for a 74-69 lead with 4:33 left.
● Travis Bureau, who scored 21 points, was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit three free throws for a 77-71 advantage with 3:14 left.
● Troy cut the lead to 79-78, but Louisiana sealed the game at the free throw line.
● Tyren Johnson made two freebies with 36 seconds remaining to make it 81-78. Emmanuel Adeife created a two possession game with two makes (83-78).
LAST TIME VS. TROY IN CAJUNDOME (March 5, 2008 ? TROY won 70-60)
● Troy erased a nine-point halftime deficit, outscoring Louisiana 44-25 in the second half, in the Sun Belt Conference Championship First Round.
● The Cajuns would jump out to as much as a 10-point lead, 26-16, at 7:15 of the first half. Louisiana's mid-half run was fueled by consecutive triples from Chris Gradnigo.
● Troy opened the second half on a 21-8 run. Troy took its first lead since the opening minute of game when Justin Jonus nailed a triple from the left wing, giving the Trojans a 45-43 edge with 10:47 remaining.
● The Trojans' lead climbed to as much as 10 points, 65-55, with 1:20 remaining after Jerome Odem drilled a pair of free throws.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 - Either one more
2 - The margin of victory in the first meeting this season between UL and
5-7 -
12 - Travis Bureau needs 12 more three-point makes for 100 in his career
12th - The win over
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13.2 - Chris Gradnigo's points average in Sun Belt play. He's scored double figures in 11 of the Cajuns' 16 Sun Belt contests
● The series began with
● Louisiana broke a 3-all series tie with an 83-81 victory at Trojan Arena on Jan. 10. The Cajuns tied a school record with 15 three-point baskets made. The Cajuns posted their second straight win at Trojan Arena.
● Last season, Troy evened the series and snapped a three-game win streak by Louisiana with a 70-60 win in the CAJUNDOME in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament first round.
● During
● Currently,
TOURNEY TALK
● Louisiana is currently holding eighth (8th) place in overall Sun Belt standings which determine seeding for the conference's postseason tournament. UL is in sole possession of eighth place, a full game ahead of FIU (6-10 SBC).
● Seeds four through eight host first round games. As of today, Louisiana (No. 8) is still in position to host.
● The highest the Cajuns could finish is seventh. The lowest the team could finish is 10th.
● The next Louisiana victory or next FIU loss will secure a first round home game for the Ragin' Cajuns.
● In a three-way tie with Denver and FIU, the Cajuns would finish seventh (7th) based on having the best winning percentage in games involving the teams in the tie.
● UL owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with FIU. Denver owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with UL should WKU finish as the No. 1 seed.
● The only way the Cajuns do not host a first round game is if FIU wins twice and the Cajuns lose twice.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Little Rock to meet UALR on Saturday, Feb. 28 in the regular season finale. The Trojans rallied to defeat UL in overtime on Jan. 15 in the CAJUNDOME in this season's earlier meeting.
Louisiana seeks to end a four-game losing streak to UALR. The last Cajuns victory in the series came on Feb. 25, 2006, a 69-59 victory at UALR's Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock.
