University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Conclude Regular Season at UALR
2/27/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GAME CENTER
Date: Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009
Location: Little Rock, Ark.
Opponent: UALR (21-7, 14-3 Sun Belt)
Site: Jack Stephens Center (5,600)
Game Time: 7 p.m.
Radio: SportsRadio ESPN 1420 AM (KPEL), 107.9 FM (KRKA)
Game Night Story Lines
●
●
● The Ragin' Cajuns are locked into the No. 8 seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. UL will host an opponent to be determined following Saturday's games, on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:30 p.m., in the CAJUNDOME.
● The loss to
●
● UL only has one road win this season. The last time a Cajuns team posted only one road victory was the 1994-95 season (1-12).
● Playing Troy and UALR has brought out the best in Chris Gradnigo. In three games, he is averaging 22.3 points per game and shooting 57.9 percent (22-of-38). In this season's earlier meeting with UALR, Gradnigo scored 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
● A 29-point outing against
● La'Ryan Gary is averaging 16.5 since returning from injury suffered vs.
BACK HOME IN THE ?DOME
● Thanks to FIU, UNO,
● Game time will be 7:30 p.m., against either FIU or
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 (10.5 ppg), Tyren Johnson (5.9 ppg), Ryan McCoy (4.6 ppg) and Courtney Wallace (3.7 ppg) has combined to average 30.9 points per game, or 45 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 159-of-211 (75 percent) from the charity stripe in the last 11 games. That has helped raise the season percentage from 61% to 67%.
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 (482) is 18 shy of 500. Randell Daigle (460) is 40 away.
THE TRIPLE THREAT
● The combination of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo fuel the
● They combine to average 37.3 points of the Cajuns' 66.8 average (56%).
● They combine for 140 three-point field goals made out of UL's 193 (73%).
● Overall shooting percentages: Gradnigo (45.5%), Bureau (42.1%), Daigle (38.6%).
TROY LEFTOVERS
● After hitting 15 triples in the first meeting with Troy, Louisiana was 4-of-24 on Thursday.
● The UL defense did force 21 Troy turnovers. The Trojans, however, had a 23-15 edge in points off turnovers.
● Chris Gradnigo set a career-high with 12 free throws made. He scored 29 points, one shy of his second 30-point game at the CAJUNDOME this season.
● La'Ryan Gary reached double figures in points for the second straight game.
● Randell Daigle tied his season-high with four assists. Six Cajuns recorded an assist.
LAST TIME VS. UALR (Jan. 15, 2009 in CAJUNDOME ? UALR won 79-71 in OT)
● UALR outscored Louisiana 26-11 in the final 15 minutes of the second half to force overtime. Louisiana shot 2-of-15 in the final 10:51 of regulation.
● The Trojans scored the first 10 points of OT to break a 61-all tie.
● Randell Daigle drained his third triple in a two-minute span upping the advantage to a game-high 15 points, 50-35.
● Travis Bureau made a trey at 10:27 and the Cajuns lead was upped to 55-42. UALR responded with six unanswered points by the 8:45 mark.
● Ryan McCoy snapped the UL scoring drought with a three-point make at 6:45. UALR rattled off a 9-0 run by the 3:17 mark to creep within one point, 58-57.
LAST TIME AT UALR (Jan. 10, 2008 ? UALR won 74-63)
● Clinging to a 16-14 edge, Randell Daigle drilled a transition triple to give the Cajuns a 19-14 lead before De'Andre Eggins chipped in back-to-back field goals to cut it to 19-18.
● Louisiana responded with a 12-2 streak to take its largest lead of the game, 31-20.
● UALR dashed the Cajuns' hopes of a halftime lead as the Trojans closed the first stanza with a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 33-31
● Louisiana closed within one, 57-56, with 5:16 remaining, but the Trojans closed out the contest on a 17-7 run.
SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads 18-12, overall; UALR leads 8-6 in Little Rock; Tied 1-1 at Jack Stephens Center)
●The Trojans carry a four-game winning streak over UL into tonight's game. When UALR won 74-63 in
●This is the third meeting at the
●In the Steve Shields Era, UALR has won five of the seven meetings.
●Six of the last 10 meetings have been decided by four points or less. However, both meetings at the Jack Stephens Center have been decided by double figures.
●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
The Ragin' Cajuns will be back at the CAJUNDOME on Wednesday, March 4 to host a first round game in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. Game time will be 7:30 p.m., against an opponent to be determined following Saturday's Sun Belt Conference results.
This is the second straight season Louisiana hosts a first round game. The Cajuns will be looking to advance to the SBC Tournament host site for the first time since the league adopted the new format in 2006-07.
