Ragin' Cajuns Welcome UC Riverside To Earl K. Long Gym

Game 10
Louisiana (5-4) vs. UC Riverside (5-3)
Date: Monday, Dec. 17, 2012
Location: Lafayette, La.
Site: Earl K. Long Gym
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Series History: UC Riverside leads 1-0

Louisiana returns to Earl K. Long Gym to host UC-Riverside on Monday, Dec. 17 at 7:00 p.m. The Ragin' Cajuns are coming off a 68-41 win over New Orleans on Thursday. Junior Ashley Benjamin highlighted the victory leading all scorers with 15 points as the Cajuns improved to 5-4 on the season and 4-1 at home. Louisiana moved to 2-0 on the current three-game homestand, which wraps up vs. UC Riverside and collected its fourth straight win over their former American South and Sun Belt Conference rival. Eight of nine Louisiana players landed in the scoring column. Keke Veal contributed 12 points, her fifth double-figures scoring game this season. Robbie Brown and Brandi Schambough chipped in nine points while Brown also pulled down a team high eight rebounds. Last season, UC Riverside defeated the Ragin' Cajuns on their home floor in California, 59-56.

Previewing Louisiana
UL returns just four players from a year ago, opening the season with seven newcomers (five freshmen and two junior college transfers). Five Cajuns average double-digits in scoring and leading the way is freshman guard Sylvana Okde's 12.4 points per game. Fellow freshman Keke Veal is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points to go along with 4.8 rebounds. Ashley Benjamin averages 11.0 points and is second on the team in rebounding with 5.2 per game. Kia Wilridge contributes 10.2 points and her 3.7 steals per game is tied for 9th in the nation. Byronesha Santiago chips in 9.6 points per game and 8.3 rebounds to lead the team.

The Opposition
The game against the Ragin' Cajuns will be the Highlanders first action in 10 days. UC Riverside is coming off a 64-78 loss to Idaho on Friday, Dec. 7. Getting its third straight win for the first time this season will be no easy task for the Ragin' Cajuns as the Highlanders had won five of their last six games prior to the Idaho game and feature one of the most dynamic players in basketball, 5-foot-4 point guard TreShonti Nottingham who averages 23.1 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game. Two other UC Riverside players average double-figure points and four players average 6.5 rebounds per game or more. The Highlanders average 71.9 points per game, shoot .413 percent from the field and .343 percent from 3-point range and average 41.9 rebounds, all advantages over Louisiana's 66.0 points, .392 field goal percentage, .311 three-point field goal percentage and 40.3 rebounds per contest.

Nine Games, Eight Lineups
Through nine games, Louisiana's head coach Garry Brodhead has supplied eight different starting lineups. The only consistency in the lineup through the opening nine games has been freshman guards Kia Wilridge, Sylvana Okde and junior Ashley Benjamin who have started eight of the nine contests. For the first time all season, coach Brodhead started the same lineup in the two previous contests.

Game Day Story Lines
• The Cajuns opened up a stretch of four non-conference games on Monday, Dec. 10 and Thursday, Dec. 13 defeating Jackson State, 68-57 and New Orleans, 68-41.
• Four UL players average double-digits in scoring with freshman guard Sylvana Okde leading the way, averaging 12.4 points, to go along with 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists.
• Keke Veal is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points and 4.8 rebounds.
• Kia Wilridge averages 10.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and leads the team in steals with 33 in nine games.
• Ashley Benjamin and Byronesha Santiago average 11.0 and 9.6 points, respectively. Santiago leads the team in rebounding with 8.3 per contest.
• UL has outscored opponents, 594-551. The Cajuns average 66.0 ppg while holding the opposition to 61.2.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are shooting .311 from behind the arc (38-122) which ranks fifth in the Sun Belt and .599 from the charity stripe (106-177).
• UL won convincingly, 83-42, against LSU-Shreveport on Nov. 12 and earned their first 2-0 start since the 2004-05 season.
• The Cajuns are 4-1 at Earl K. Long Gym and 1-3 on the road.
• The 2010-11 season is the last time the Cajuns recorded a winning non-conference record, going 7-6.

Cajuns in the Sun Belt
• The Cajuns average a hefty 13.1 steals per game, which leads the league and is tied for 20th in the nation.
• Sylvana Okde leads the Sun Belt averaging 2.7 treys per game this season and has already knocked down 24.
• Fellow freshman Kia Wilridge is second in the SBC with 3.7 steals per game and fifth in assists (3.8).
• Wilridge's 3.8 assists per game ranks fifth in the SBC.
• Byronesha Santiago's 8.3 rebounds per contest ranks third in the Sun Belt.
• UL is leading the league with 118 steals while only having the ball stolen from them 64 times.
• The Cajuns rank first in offensive rebounds, averaging 20.4. As a result, the Cajuns have generated 152-second chance points.
• On the defensive end, the Cajuns average 19.9 rebounds, which ranks last.

Turning Up the D
• Thus far this season, the Cajuns swarming defense has forced the opposing teams into 24.0 turnovers per game while UL averages 18.3, giving the squad a +5.7 turnover margin.
• 213 of the 594 points scored this season have been points off turnovers.
• The Cajuns recorded a season high of 36 points off turnovers against New Orleans.
• UL averages 40.3 rebounds per game, while the opposition is averaging 35.3.
• Louisiana forced 19.4 turnovers per game last season including a -1.9-turnover margin for a 0.5-assist/turnover ratio.
• UL had a total of 272 steals and averaged 9.1 per game last year.

Homegrown Talent
• Cajuns roster features eight players who hail from the state of Louisiana.
• To go a step further, five athletes prepped in the greater Lafayette area.

Reunited and It Feels So Good
• For the first time since the 2010-11 academic year, sophomores Brooklyn Arceneaux and Robbie Brown and freshmen Kia Wilridge and Keke Veal are teammates.
• The quartet powered local St. Thomas More High to a state championship in 2011.
• Last season, Wilridge and Veal carried on the championship caliber effort, winning another state title in 2012.
• Wilridge and Veal have contributed a combined 95 of 283 points in the first four games of the season.

Returning Home
• Three of the Cajuns four coaches are alums of the University of Louisiana, head coach Garry Brodhead (1980), Sallie Guillory (2005), and Deacon Jones (1999).
• For Brodhead, it represents a return to the city where many of his coaching successes occurred, including his stint at Teurlings Catholic High School where he posted a 297-78 record from 1998-2007.

Up Next For Louisiana
• The Ragin' Cajuns travel to New Orleans on Wednesday, Dec. 19 for an 11 a.m. tip-off against Tulane.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Ragin' Cajuns Welcome UC Riverside To Earl K. Long Gym

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