University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, December 8
Lake Charles, La.
7:00 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
McNeese State
Cajuns Head West On I-10 To Face McNeese State on Saturday
12/4/2012 3:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release (PDF)
Game 9
Louisiana (3-5) at McNeese State (3-3)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: Burton Coliseum (8,000), Lake Charles, La.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live. Streaming available on internet via McNeesesports.com.
Series: Louisiana Leads 54-33
Last Meeting: UL 78, McNeese 56 (12/1/11, Lafayette, La.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 33-36 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 258-167 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 381-202 (20th year)
vs. McNeese State: 14-10
McNEESE STATE
DAVID SIMMONS (Louisiana Tech '81)
At MSU: 89-102 (7th year)
Overall: 116-131 (9th year)
vs. Louisiana: 4-2
SETTING THE SCENE: Fresh off its first conference win of the season and a week of final exams, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team resumes its non-conference slate when they make the short drive west on I-10 to Lake Charles to take part in the 88th all-time meeting with McNeese State. The game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 8 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST in Burton Coliseum. The Cajuns (3-5) snapped a three-game losing streak with an 80-76 win at North Texas on Saturday (Dec. 1), a team that was the unanimous pick to win the Sun Belt West division crown. McNeese State is 3-3 on the year after defeating UT-Tyler on Monday night. The Cowboys are 3-0 at home, defeating Louisiana College (72-54), Centenary (93-62) and UT-Tyler (73-47). The Cajuns own a 54-33 lead in the all-time series, but McNeese has won four of the last six games.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: With a lineup featuring six freshmen and four sophomores, third year head coach Bob Marlin is excited about the possibilities for the 2012-13 season, knowing that the team that took the court in November will grow and improve all season. As the new faces get acclimated to the collegiate game, the Cajuns will lean heavily on junior Bryant Mbamalu (11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (12.4, 5.4, 5.5). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (3.8 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, should also play an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (16.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (6.5, 4.5), a JC transfer from Lamar State, will unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshmen Matthew Moss, Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylan Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson will provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the trio of Tulane transfer Kevin Brown (4.8 ppg) and freshmen Kasey Shepherd (2.6) and Steven Wronkoski (8.5, 3.1) and Josh Soto will also contribute, giving Louisiana one of the deepest backcourts in the Sun Belt. Marlin wants to utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. Look for the Cajuns to use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
BROWN OUT: The Cajuns received some bad news over the weekend when sophomore guard Kevin Brown left early in the North Texas game with a foot injury. Subsequent x-rays revealed a broken right foot, sidelining him indefinitely. In the first seven games, Brown came off the bench to average 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds a game, shooting .421 from three-point (8-19).
A TOUGH STRETCH: It was bad enough that the youth of the Cajuns forced Bob Marlin to open the season with 10 first-year players on the squad and that the early non-conference schedule included a season opener against 2012 postseason squad Oakland and games against 2012 NCAA squads New Mexico State and Michigan State. To make matters worse, the earliest start to conference play in school history included back-to-back games against Middle Tennessee and North Texas, the teams picked to win the Sun Belt East & West Division titles, respectively. The tough road continues this week when Louisiana travels to McNeese State, a team that went to the CollegeInsider.com Tourney last year, and hosts Lamar, the 2012 Southland representive in the NCAA Championship, on Dec. 11.
I-10 WARS AHEAD: The next three games for the Ragin' Cajuns are against opponents situated along I-10. Saturday's game at McNeese State involves a short ride west on I-10 for the Cajuns while Lamar will be traveling in the east bound lanes for the Dec. 11 game in the Cajundome. The battles end on Saturday, Dec. 15 when UL heads West to take on Houston.
LAST LEG OF NON-CONFERENCE: Saturday's McNeese State game marks the start of the Cajuns final venture into non-conference action for 2012-13. Louisiana has five non-conference games remaining: at McNeese State (Dec. 8), vs. Lamar (Dec. 11), at Houston (Dec. 15), vs. Robert Morris (Dec. 18) and vs. Duquesne (Dec. 22). Sun Belt play resumes in earnest on Thursday, Dec. 27 in Jonesoboro, Ark. against Arkansas State.
FINALLY A SATURDAY: The win over North Texas on Dec. 1 marked the end of a stretch that had the Cajuns play eight games in 20 days to open the 2012-13 season. The only thing missing in the harried pace of November was a Saturday game. The North Texas contest was the first game for Louisiana on a Saturday. Prior to last week, UL had danced around the day, playing twice on Friday and three times on Sunday. After the North Texas game, the Cajuns will play on every Saturday through the regular season except Jan. 26 and Feb. 9 (because of Mardi Gras) with Saturday games accounting for 12 of the remaining 23 contests.
. . . AND THE SCHEDULE SLOWS DOWN: After playing eight games in 15 days (Nov. 16-Dec. 1), covering five different states and three different time zones the past three weeks, the Cajuns get a break from the fast-paced schedule starting this week. After Dec. 1, Louisiana plays just three games over the next 14 days (Dec. 8 at McNeese, Dec. 11 vs. Lamar and Dec. 15 at Houston).
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns has been at its best late in the game as Louisiana has gone 41-for-55 (.745) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Shawn Long (8-8) and Steven Wronkoski (6-6) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .743 shooter (26-35), is seven-for-eight this year (.875). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
. . . AND PROVES TO BE THE KEY TO THE WIN AT UNT: The clutch free throw shooting was never better than in the Dec. 1 win at North Texas. The Cajuns went 11-for-14 (.786) from the stripe in the final 5:00, including seven-for-eight (.875) in the final 15 seconds to secure the win. All eight shots came with the Cajuns leading by three points or less.
MISTER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?: Elfrid Payton has shown his continued development as the Cajuns' point guard by handing out 43 assists this year to lead the Sun Belt averaging 5.4 assists per game. He matched his career high with nine assists at North Texas last week, a career high originally set against North Texas in the Sun Belt Championship last year.
. . . AND GRAND THEFT FOR PAYTON: With 14 steals over the last three games, Elfrid Payton has taken over the Sun Belt lead with 22 steals this season (2.8 spg). Payton had a career high seven steals at Michigan State on Nov. 25, falling one steal short of the school record, and came back to make four steals vs. Middle Tennessee. Last year, Payton lead the Cajuns with 37 steals.
IT WAS A LONG TIME COMING: The exhibition win over Loyola-New Orleans marked the Cajuns debut for forward Shawn Long. Long transferred to Louisiana last December after spending the fall semester at Mississippi State. The 6-9 native of Morgan City, La. practiced with the Cajuns during the final three months of the year but was not eligible to play. During the summer, he was granted a waiver of transfer rule that would have made him ineligible until early December, allowing him to play immediately. Eager to make up for the lost season, Long scored 11 of UL's first 18 points against Loyola, finishing the night with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, going seven-for-11 from the field with a pair of blocks.
. . . AND LONG HASN'T SLOWED: Shawn Long's steady play has allowed the freshman to lead the Cajuns in scoring (16.9), rebounding (8.0) and blocks (1.9), shooting .500 from the field (54-108) and .826 from the line (19-23). After a modest 14 point, six rebounds effort in the season opener against Oakland, he exploded for 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds at Texas Southern on Nov. 16. In the second home game of his career, he posted his second double-double in less than a week, tallying a career-best 22 points with a dozen rebounds against SUNO. He came back to score 16 points with eight rebounds and three blocks at Michigan State, add 17 points with 13 boards vs. Middle Tennessee and a career-high 27 points at North Texas.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 17-point, 13-rebound effort against Middle Tennessee gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his third double-double in eight games this year to share the Sun Belt lead with South Alabama's Augustine Rubit.
. . . AND LONG SCORES THE BASKETBALL: Although it is still very early in the season, Shawn Long's three 20-point games has put the redshirt freshman on pace to record the most 20-plus point performances since former Sun Belt Player of the Year Tyren Johnson accomplished it 12 times in 2009-10.
FREQUENT FLYER MILES: The Cajuns are definitely piling up the mileage during the early part of the 2012-13 season. After making a road swing to Texas Southern and Boise State three weeks ago that covered 4,332 miles, the Cajuns needed to travel 4,892 miles to play games at New Mexico State and Michigan State over Thanksgiving weekend. In two weeks, Louisiana played five games in five different states (Louisiana included) and three different time zones, traveling 9,224 miles to get to and from the games. After a 856-mile round-trip to Denton last week, the Cajuns will make the simple 74 mile one-way trip to McNeese State on Saturday.
MASTERING THE SUN BELT: Ragin' Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin has produced back-to-back double digit win totals in Sun Belt play in his first two seasons on Louisiana's bench (11 in 2010-11 and 10 in 2011-12). His SBC winning percentage of .647 (22-12) is first amongst all active coaches.
. . . AND MASTERING NORTH TEXAS, TOO: Bob Marlin's success against the Sun Belt is especially evident against North Texas. Saturday's win marked the Cajuns fourth straight regular season triumph over the Mean Green under Marlin's watch. Marlin led the Cajuns to back-to-back wins at The Super Pit, a first for Louisiana in the Sun Belt era.
WRONKOSKI PROVES MARLIN RIGHT: Bob Marlin has said many times this fall that when he took over as head coach two years ago, one of the first recruits he looked at was Steven Wronkoski, deciding that the current UL freshman's spirited play would be perfect in a Cajun uniform. Wronkoski has yet to prove Marlin wrong, averaging 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds this year. He posted back-to-back career highs of 12 points vs. SUNO on Nov. 21 and, in his first career start, 16 points at New Mexico State on Nov. 23. His Sun Belt debut was equally as strong as he scored all 13 of his points in the second half against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29. For the year, Wronkoski is fifth in the Sun Belt in both free throw shooting (17-21, .810) and in three-point shooting (11-23, .478).
SLOW STARTERS: To say that the Cajuns have been a second half team so far in 2012-13 would be an understatement as Louisiana has found itself trailing at the intermission in all but one game this season. In eight games, the Cajuns have been outscored 33.5-28.0 (-5.5 ppg) in the first half, shooting .377 from the field (88-233), .241 from three-point (19-79) and .633 from the line (31-49). Louisiana has also been out-rebounded (21.6-16.0, -5.6) and have a -32 assist-to-turnover margin (34 assists, 66 turnovers).
. . . BUT STRONG FINISHERS: There must be something about the halftime speeches that Bob Marlin gives this year because the Cajuns have been a totally different team in the second half of games. In the second halves of the first eight games, Louisiana has out-scored its opponents 39.9-35.1 (+4.8 ppg), shooting .464 from the field (109-235), .421 from three-point (32-76) and .719 from the line (69-96). The Cajuns have been out-rebounded in the second half by -0.5 (18.0-17.5) and own a -5 assist-to-turnover margin (53 assists, 58 turnovers).
MORE MOORE: Junior forward Elridge Moore has quickly earned a place for himself in the lineup, starting every game and averaging 6.5 points. He leads the team in both field goal percentage (.513) and is second in steals (13) and blocks (7) and third in rebounding (4.5). He made his Cajuns debut a memorable one against Oakland on Nov. 11, sharing the team scoring lead with 15 points while adding five rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocks. Moore, who played one season at Nicholls State before transferring to Lamar State last season, missed just two shots in the game, going six-for-seven from the field and three-for-four from the line.
GOING OVERTIME: The loss to Texas Southern on Nov. 16 marked the ninth time that the Cajuns have played to overtime under head coach Bob Marlin. Louisiana is now 6-3 in overtime games during that span, including a 4-1 record last season.
CAJUNS HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH (RECRUITING) HOUSTON: The Cajuns have made Houston one of their recruiting hot spots with three members from the city. Starter Bryant Mbamalu (Dulles HS) and reserve guards Kevin Brown (Alief Elsik HS) and Kasey Shepherd (Dekaney HS) have combined to average 23.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. The Cajuns made the first of two trips to Houston on Nov. 16 with Mbamalu scoring 18 points with six rebounds and Brown adding nine points and four boards in an overtime loss to Texas Southern. Louisiana will be back in a month, playing at Houston on Dec. 15.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100% both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2012 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns recorded their third straight semester with a team GPA of better than 2.50, a feat accomplished just one other time since 1982. The last three semesters account for three of the top six terms for the basketball team during that time. In the two semesters last year, seven Cajuns posted a 3.0 GPA or better.
TURNING UP THE TEMPERATURE: Bob Marlin said all pre-season that the Cajuns would take advantage of the quickness that the squad has this year by applying more pressure. The initial returns have been good as Louisiana forced 148 turnovers in the first eight games (18.5 per game), turning those miscues into a 122 points off turnovers (15.3 ppg). The Cajuns are averaging 8.8 steals a game, including a season-high 12 against both Oakland and Michigan State.
FIRST TIME SUCCESS: The Cajuns were perfect this year against first time opponents, claiming home wins over Oakland (90-79) and SUNO (76-66), the only two teams on the 2012-13 slate that Louisiana had not played before.
IT WAS RAINING THREES: Head coach Bob Marlin said throughout the preseason that the three-point shot would play a more important role in the Cajuns offensive game plan this year. That was certainly the case against Loyola-New Orleans as UL made 16 of its 31 three-point attempts (.516) en route to a 20-point win. The total, had it occurred in a regular season game, and not an exhibition, would have broken the school record of 15 three-point field goals in a game set against Troy (1/10/09), Western Kentucky (3/2/96) and Ohio State (12/1/96). Even more impressive was the Cajuns did most of the damage in the first half, going 14-for-18 from beyond the stripe (.778) with seven different players knocking down treys in the game.
CAJUNS ADD TWO FOR 2013-14: Hours before the Cajuns tipped off with Texas Southern on Nov. 16, head coach Bob Marlin announced the signing of high school standouts Kimani Jackson (Arlington, TX/Seguin) and Hayward Register (Lafayette, La./Comeaux) to National Letters of Intent to attend Louisiana and play basketball starting next fall. Jackson, a 6-7, 220-pound forward, was a pre-season all-league selection this year. Ranked as the No. 88 player in the State of Texas by TexasHoops.com, he is averaging 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and 1.8 blocks this season at Arlington's Seguin High. Register, a 6-2, 170-pound shooting guard, earned second team all-state honors a year ago after averaging 20.1 points and 5.6 rebounds a game, helping Comeaux High to a 23-11 record. He was named the 2011-12 All-Acadiana MVP by the Lafayette Daily Advertiser. “This is a very good start to our recruiting effort for the year. They both should fit into our system well” Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said.
RAGIN' CAJUNS CELEBRATE 100TH SEASON: The Cajuns are celebrating the 100th season of basketball during the 2012-13 season. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the year with a 1,296-984 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 99 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight UL players have earned All-America honors with 94 being named all-conference.
NEXT UP: The Cajuns return home to host Lamar on Tuesday, Dec. 11 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. It starts a stretch that has Louisiana playing three of its four games leading up to the holiday break at home.
Complete Release (PDF)
Game 9
Louisiana (3-5) at McNeese State (3-3)
Date: Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m. CST
Site: Burton Coliseum (8,000), Lake Charles, La.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live. Streaming available on internet via McNeesesports.com.
Series: Louisiana Leads 54-33
Last Meeting: UL 78, McNeese 56 (12/1/11, Lafayette, La.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 33-36 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 258-167 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 381-202 (20th year)
vs. McNeese State: 14-10
McNEESE STATE
DAVID SIMMONS (Louisiana Tech '81)
At MSU: 89-102 (7th year)
Overall: 116-131 (9th year)
vs. Louisiana: 4-2
SETTING THE SCENE: Fresh off its first conference win of the season and a week of final exams, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team resumes its non-conference slate when they make the short drive west on I-10 to Lake Charles to take part in the 88th all-time meeting with McNeese State. The game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 8 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST in Burton Coliseum. The Cajuns (3-5) snapped a three-game losing streak with an 80-76 win at North Texas on Saturday (Dec. 1), a team that was the unanimous pick to win the Sun Belt West division crown. McNeese State is 3-3 on the year after defeating UT-Tyler on Monday night. The Cowboys are 3-0 at home, defeating Louisiana College (72-54), Centenary (93-62) and UT-Tyler (73-47). The Cajuns own a 54-33 lead in the all-time series, but McNeese has won four of the last six games.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: With a lineup featuring six freshmen and four sophomores, third year head coach Bob Marlin is excited about the possibilities for the 2012-13 season, knowing that the team that took the court in November will grow and improve all season. As the new faces get acclimated to the collegiate game, the Cajuns will lean heavily on junior Bryant Mbamalu (11.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (12.4, 5.4, 5.5). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (3.8 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, should also play an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (16.9 ppg, 8.0 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (6.5, 4.5), a JC transfer from Lamar State, will unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshmen Matthew Moss, Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylan Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson will provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the trio of Tulane transfer Kevin Brown (4.8 ppg) and freshmen Kasey Shepherd (2.6) and Steven Wronkoski (8.5, 3.1) and Josh Soto will also contribute, giving Louisiana one of the deepest backcourts in the Sun Belt. Marlin wants to utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. Look for the Cajuns to use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
BROWN OUT: The Cajuns received some bad news over the weekend when sophomore guard Kevin Brown left early in the North Texas game with a foot injury. Subsequent x-rays revealed a broken right foot, sidelining him indefinitely. In the first seven games, Brown came off the bench to average 5.4 points and 1.8 rebounds a game, shooting .421 from three-point (8-19).
A TOUGH STRETCH: It was bad enough that the youth of the Cajuns forced Bob Marlin to open the season with 10 first-year players on the squad and that the early non-conference schedule included a season opener against 2012 postseason squad Oakland and games against 2012 NCAA squads New Mexico State and Michigan State. To make matters worse, the earliest start to conference play in school history included back-to-back games against Middle Tennessee and North Texas, the teams picked to win the Sun Belt East & West Division titles, respectively. The tough road continues this week when Louisiana travels to McNeese State, a team that went to the CollegeInsider.com Tourney last year, and hosts Lamar, the 2012 Southland representive in the NCAA Championship, on Dec. 11.
I-10 WARS AHEAD: The next three games for the Ragin' Cajuns are against opponents situated along I-10. Saturday's game at McNeese State involves a short ride west on I-10 for the Cajuns while Lamar will be traveling in the east bound lanes for the Dec. 11 game in the Cajundome. The battles end on Saturday, Dec. 15 when UL heads West to take on Houston.
LAST LEG OF NON-CONFERENCE: Saturday's McNeese State game marks the start of the Cajuns final venture into non-conference action for 2012-13. Louisiana has five non-conference games remaining: at McNeese State (Dec. 8), vs. Lamar (Dec. 11), at Houston (Dec. 15), vs. Robert Morris (Dec. 18) and vs. Duquesne (Dec. 22). Sun Belt play resumes in earnest on Thursday, Dec. 27 in Jonesoboro, Ark. against Arkansas State.
FINALLY A SATURDAY: The win over North Texas on Dec. 1 marked the end of a stretch that had the Cajuns play eight games in 20 days to open the 2012-13 season. The only thing missing in the harried pace of November was a Saturday game. The North Texas contest was the first game for Louisiana on a Saturday. Prior to last week, UL had danced around the day, playing twice on Friday and three times on Sunday. After the North Texas game, the Cajuns will play on every Saturday through the regular season except Jan. 26 and Feb. 9 (because of Mardi Gras) with Saturday games accounting for 12 of the remaining 23 contests.
. . . AND THE SCHEDULE SLOWS DOWN: After playing eight games in 15 days (Nov. 16-Dec. 1), covering five different states and three different time zones the past three weeks, the Cajuns get a break from the fast-paced schedule starting this week. After Dec. 1, Louisiana plays just three games over the next 14 days (Dec. 8 at McNeese, Dec. 11 vs. Lamar and Dec. 15 at Houston).
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns has been at its best late in the game as Louisiana has gone 41-for-55 (.745) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Shawn Long (8-8) and Steven Wronkoski (6-6) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .743 shooter (26-35), is seven-for-eight this year (.875). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
. . . AND PROVES TO BE THE KEY TO THE WIN AT UNT: The clutch free throw shooting was never better than in the Dec. 1 win at North Texas. The Cajuns went 11-for-14 (.786) from the stripe in the final 5:00, including seven-for-eight (.875) in the final 15 seconds to secure the win. All eight shots came with the Cajuns leading by three points or less.
MISTER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?: Elfrid Payton has shown his continued development as the Cajuns' point guard by handing out 43 assists this year to lead the Sun Belt averaging 5.4 assists per game. He matched his career high with nine assists at North Texas last week, a career high originally set against North Texas in the Sun Belt Championship last year.
. . . AND GRAND THEFT FOR PAYTON: With 14 steals over the last three games, Elfrid Payton has taken over the Sun Belt lead with 22 steals this season (2.8 spg). Payton had a career high seven steals at Michigan State on Nov. 25, falling one steal short of the school record, and came back to make four steals vs. Middle Tennessee. Last year, Payton lead the Cajuns with 37 steals.
IT WAS A LONG TIME COMING: The exhibition win over Loyola-New Orleans marked the Cajuns debut for forward Shawn Long. Long transferred to Louisiana last December after spending the fall semester at Mississippi State. The 6-9 native of Morgan City, La. practiced with the Cajuns during the final three months of the year but was not eligible to play. During the summer, he was granted a waiver of transfer rule that would have made him ineligible until early December, allowing him to play immediately. Eager to make up for the lost season, Long scored 11 of UL's first 18 points against Loyola, finishing the night with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, going seven-for-11 from the field with a pair of blocks.
. . . AND LONG HASN'T SLOWED: Shawn Long's steady play has allowed the freshman to lead the Cajuns in scoring (16.9), rebounding (8.0) and blocks (1.9), shooting .500 from the field (54-108) and .826 from the line (19-23). After a modest 14 point, six rebounds effort in the season opener against Oakland, he exploded for 20 points and a career-high 13 rebounds at Texas Southern on Nov. 16. In the second home game of his career, he posted his second double-double in less than a week, tallying a career-best 22 points with a dozen rebounds against SUNO. He came back to score 16 points with eight rebounds and three blocks at Michigan State, add 17 points with 13 boards vs. Middle Tennessee and a career-high 27 points at North Texas.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 17-point, 13-rebound effort against Middle Tennessee gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his third double-double in eight games this year to share the Sun Belt lead with South Alabama's Augustine Rubit.
. . . AND LONG SCORES THE BASKETBALL: Although it is still very early in the season, Shawn Long's three 20-point games has put the redshirt freshman on pace to record the most 20-plus point performances since former Sun Belt Player of the Year Tyren Johnson accomplished it 12 times in 2009-10.
FREQUENT FLYER MILES: The Cajuns are definitely piling up the mileage during the early part of the 2012-13 season. After making a road swing to Texas Southern and Boise State three weeks ago that covered 4,332 miles, the Cajuns needed to travel 4,892 miles to play games at New Mexico State and Michigan State over Thanksgiving weekend. In two weeks, Louisiana played five games in five different states (Louisiana included) and three different time zones, traveling 9,224 miles to get to and from the games. After a 856-mile round-trip to Denton last week, the Cajuns will make the simple 74 mile one-way trip to McNeese State on Saturday.
MASTERING THE SUN BELT: Ragin' Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin has produced back-to-back double digit win totals in Sun Belt play in his first two seasons on Louisiana's bench (11 in 2010-11 and 10 in 2011-12). His SBC winning percentage of .647 (22-12) is first amongst all active coaches.
. . . AND MASTERING NORTH TEXAS, TOO: Bob Marlin's success against the Sun Belt is especially evident against North Texas. Saturday's win marked the Cajuns fourth straight regular season triumph over the Mean Green under Marlin's watch. Marlin led the Cajuns to back-to-back wins at The Super Pit, a first for Louisiana in the Sun Belt era.
WRONKOSKI PROVES MARLIN RIGHT: Bob Marlin has said many times this fall that when he took over as head coach two years ago, one of the first recruits he looked at was Steven Wronkoski, deciding that the current UL freshman's spirited play would be perfect in a Cajun uniform. Wronkoski has yet to prove Marlin wrong, averaging 8.5 points and 3.1 rebounds this year. He posted back-to-back career highs of 12 points vs. SUNO on Nov. 21 and, in his first career start, 16 points at New Mexico State on Nov. 23. His Sun Belt debut was equally as strong as he scored all 13 of his points in the second half against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 29. For the year, Wronkoski is fifth in the Sun Belt in both free throw shooting (17-21, .810) and in three-point shooting (11-23, .478).
SLOW STARTERS: To say that the Cajuns have been a second half team so far in 2012-13 would be an understatement as Louisiana has found itself trailing at the intermission in all but one game this season. In eight games, the Cajuns have been outscored 33.5-28.0 (-5.5 ppg) in the first half, shooting .377 from the field (88-233), .241 from three-point (19-79) and .633 from the line (31-49). Louisiana has also been out-rebounded (21.6-16.0, -5.6) and have a -32 assist-to-turnover margin (34 assists, 66 turnovers).
. . . BUT STRONG FINISHERS: There must be something about the halftime speeches that Bob Marlin gives this year because the Cajuns have been a totally different team in the second half of games. In the second halves of the first eight games, Louisiana has out-scored its opponents 39.9-35.1 (+4.8 ppg), shooting .464 from the field (109-235), .421 from three-point (32-76) and .719 from the line (69-96). The Cajuns have been out-rebounded in the second half by -0.5 (18.0-17.5) and own a -5 assist-to-turnover margin (53 assists, 58 turnovers).
MORE MOORE: Junior forward Elridge Moore has quickly earned a place for himself in the lineup, starting every game and averaging 6.5 points. He leads the team in both field goal percentage (.513) and is second in steals (13) and blocks (7) and third in rebounding (4.5). He made his Cajuns debut a memorable one against Oakland on Nov. 11, sharing the team scoring lead with 15 points while adding five rebounds, five steals and a pair of blocks. Moore, who played one season at Nicholls State before transferring to Lamar State last season, missed just two shots in the game, going six-for-seven from the field and three-for-four from the line.
GOING OVERTIME: The loss to Texas Southern on Nov. 16 marked the ninth time that the Cajuns have played to overtime under head coach Bob Marlin. Louisiana is now 6-3 in overtime games during that span, including a 4-1 record last season.
CAJUNS HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH (RECRUITING) HOUSTON: The Cajuns have made Houston one of their recruiting hot spots with three members from the city. Starter Bryant Mbamalu (Dulles HS) and reserve guards Kevin Brown (Alief Elsik HS) and Kasey Shepherd (Dekaney HS) have combined to average 23.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. The Cajuns made the first of two trips to Houston on Nov. 16 with Mbamalu scoring 18 points with six rebounds and Brown adding nine points and four boards in an overtime loss to Texas Southern. Louisiana will be back in a month, playing at Houston on Dec. 15.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100% both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2012 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns recorded their third straight semester with a team GPA of better than 2.50, a feat accomplished just one other time since 1982. The last three semesters account for three of the top six terms for the basketball team during that time. In the two semesters last year, seven Cajuns posted a 3.0 GPA or better.
TURNING UP THE TEMPERATURE: Bob Marlin said all pre-season that the Cajuns would take advantage of the quickness that the squad has this year by applying more pressure. The initial returns have been good as Louisiana forced 148 turnovers in the first eight games (18.5 per game), turning those miscues into a 122 points off turnovers (15.3 ppg). The Cajuns are averaging 8.8 steals a game, including a season-high 12 against both Oakland and Michigan State.
FIRST TIME SUCCESS: The Cajuns were perfect this year against first time opponents, claiming home wins over Oakland (90-79) and SUNO (76-66), the only two teams on the 2012-13 slate that Louisiana had not played before.
IT WAS RAINING THREES: Head coach Bob Marlin said throughout the preseason that the three-point shot would play a more important role in the Cajuns offensive game plan this year. That was certainly the case against Loyola-New Orleans as UL made 16 of its 31 three-point attempts (.516) en route to a 20-point win. The total, had it occurred in a regular season game, and not an exhibition, would have broken the school record of 15 three-point field goals in a game set against Troy (1/10/09), Western Kentucky (3/2/96) and Ohio State (12/1/96). Even more impressive was the Cajuns did most of the damage in the first half, going 14-for-18 from beyond the stripe (.778) with seven different players knocking down treys in the game.
CAJUNS ADD TWO FOR 2013-14: Hours before the Cajuns tipped off with Texas Southern on Nov. 16, head coach Bob Marlin announced the signing of high school standouts Kimani Jackson (Arlington, TX/Seguin) and Hayward Register (Lafayette, La./Comeaux) to National Letters of Intent to attend Louisiana and play basketball starting next fall. Jackson, a 6-7, 220-pound forward, was a pre-season all-league selection this year. Ranked as the No. 88 player in the State of Texas by TexasHoops.com, he is averaging 11 points, nine rebounds, three assists and 1.8 blocks this season at Arlington's Seguin High. Register, a 6-2, 170-pound shooting guard, earned second team all-state honors a year ago after averaging 20.1 points and 5.6 rebounds a game, helping Comeaux High to a 23-11 record. He was named the 2011-12 All-Acadiana MVP by the Lafayette Daily Advertiser. “This is a very good start to our recruiting effort for the year. They both should fit into our system well” Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said.
RAGIN' CAJUNS CELEBRATE 100TH SEASON: The Cajuns are celebrating the 100th season of basketball during the 2012-13 season. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the year with a 1,296-984 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 99 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight UL players have earned All-America honors with 94 being named all-conference.
NEXT UP: The Cajuns return home to host Lamar on Tuesday, Dec. 11 beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. It starts a stretch that has Louisiana playing three of its four games leading up to the holiday break at home.
Quannas White Media Availability (Dec 1, 2025)
Monday, December 01
Quannas White Media Availability (Nov 28, 2025)
Saturday, November 29
Quannas White Media Availability (Nov 11, 2025)
Wednesday, November 12
De'Vion Lavergne and Milan Mejia Media Availability (Nov 11, 2025)
Wednesday, November 12
