University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
North Texas
Cajuns Can't Keep Pace With North Texas
2/7/2009 6:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DENTON, Texas ? In a reversal of fortunes from Thursday's game with FIU, it was North Texas shooting above 50 percent the entire contest on Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns and cruising to a 92-74 win Saturday evening at The Super Pit.
The Ragin' Cajuns (8-15, 5-7 Sun Belt) shot above 50 percent in a convincing win over FIU. However, being back on the road the Cajuns reverted back to the struggles which have now cost the team five straight road losses.
The Mean Green (13-10, 6-6 Sun Belt) began the game 6-of-7 from three-point range to pull in front 36-11 with 9:08 remaining in the first half. NT then went inside, scoring 10 points in the paint in the final 7:21 of the half to stretch a 37-18 lead to a 54-26 halftime advantage.
North Texas opened the second half hitting its first four field goal attempts. Louisiana started 3-of-10 and was being doubled up, 72-36, with 13:38 remaining.
The Mean Green lead remained above 30 points until a 17-2 run by Louisiana which started in the final seven minutes cut the North Texas lead to 84-61.
The Ragin' Cajuns ended up outscoring North Texas 30-10 in the final seven minutes to turn the margin of defeat into a somewhat respectable number.
Four Cajuns reached double figures led by 15 from Chris Gradnigo.
Tristan Thompson scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Mean Green. Earlier this season, Thompson scored a game-high 27 on the Cajuns in the CAJUNDOME.
North Texas shot 29-of-54 for the game, a 53.7 percentage. Louisiana shot 26-of-62, 41.9 percent, but the squad was well below 40 percent until the final four minutes of the game.
A pair of baskets by La'Ryan Gary and Courtney Wallace inside of 18 minutes pulled UL within one point after North Texas started the game scoring the first five points.
A quick 7-0 run by the Mean Green that took only 49 seconds launched the hosts into a 12-4 lead by the 16:01 mark.
Travis Bureau's first basket of the game ended the NT run at 14:49 and it was 13-6. The Mean Green countered with an inside basket by Justin Howerton at 14:12 and after the second missed field goal by Lamar Roberson in less than a minute, it was a triple by Collin Dennis on the left wing at 13:51 that moved the NT lead into double figures at 18-6.
Gradnigo made the Cajuns' first trey of the evening at 12:59 to drop the deficit to 20-9. The Mean Green responded with a trey by Dominique Johnson at 12:39 to kick off a string of seven straight points over a 1:24 time span which pushed the hosts lead to 27-9.
The quick start by North Texas was aided by a 9-of-12 showing from the floor through the 11-minute media timeout. Louisiana committed five turnovers.
The next three field goal makes for North Texas were all triples and the lead reached 36-11 with 9:08 on the clock.
Roberson and Bureau provided a scoring spark for the Cajuns which helped cut the deficit to 19 points. Roberson drained a trey at 8:57 and it was 36-14. After a defensive stop, it was Bureau knocking down a shot on the baseline at 8:32.
Roberson was on the receiving end of a fastbreak pass off a loose ball and at 7:36 his running layup made it 37-18. Randell Daigle's first three-point make of the game came at 6:51 and it was 39-21.
Tyren Johnson knocked down a jumper from the free throw line and it was 43-23. The Mean Green scored the game's next nine points and the lead reached its largest of the first half at 52-23 with 1:33 left.
Following Johnson's basket, Louisiana missed four straight field goals and ended the half with only one more make. The Cajuns shot 37.4 percent (10-of-27) while the Mean Green was a sizzling 67.6 percent (19-of-28).
Daigle hit a three-pointer at 18:56 for UL's first basket of the second stanza and it brought the NT lead to 56-29. NT drew a pair of shooting fouls before the 18-minute mark expired and made four free throws to return the lead back to 30 points at 60-29.
Thompson buried a three-pointer at 17:32 for the first of three straight Mean Green possessions with a basket made. Thompson's second triple during the spurt upped the hosts lead to 68-33 with 16:23 left to play.
It was a pair of Thompson free throws at 13:38 which created the Mean Green's largest lead of the contest at 36 points, 72-36.
The Ragin' Cajuns remain on the road as the next game is set for Thursday, Feb. 12 in Monroe against in-state rival ULM. Game time is set for 7 p.m., at ULM's Fant-Ewing Coliseum. Louisiana posted an 86-58 win on Dec. 15 in the CAJUNDOME in the season's earlier meeting.
The next home game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14 against Arkansas State at the CAJUNDOME. Tipoff is approximately 7:15 p.m., as the game is the second half of a doubleheader with the UL-ASU women's teams.
