University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, January 19
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
5:30 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
Middle Tennessee
Louisiana Closes Road Trip With Rematch At Middle Tennessee
1/18/2013 4:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 21
Louisiana (7-13, 3-6) at Middle Tennessee (15-4, 7-1)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013
Time: 5:30 p.m. CST
Site: Murphy Center (11,520), Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via RaginCajuns.com.
Series: Middle Tennessee Leads, 11-7
Last Meeting: MT 72, UL 58 (11/29/12, Lafayette, La..)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 37-44 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 262-175 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 385-210 (20th year)
vs. Middle Tennessee: 0-3
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
KERMIT DAVIS (Mississippi State '82)
At MSU: 195-137 (11th year)
Overall: 232-212 (18th year)
vs. Louisiana: 8-5
SETTING THE SCENE: After dropping a 72-49 decision at Western Kentucky on Thursday, the Ragin' Cajuns make the short trip from Bowling Green, Ky. to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to face Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 19 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Murphy Center. The game is a doubleheader with the first game featuring the Ragin' Cajuns women's team against Middle Tennessee at 3:00 p.m. Louisiana (7-13, 3-6), which is in third place in the Sun Belt West division, will close out the first half of its league schedule against the Blue Raiders, who are 15-4 overall and lead the Sun Belt East division with a 7-1 record. They have won eight of their last nine games and are 9-0 at home this year, including an 82-50 win over UALR on Thursday night. This will be the 19th meeting between Louisiana and Middle Tennessee with the Blue Raiders owning an 11-7 series lead, including eight straight wins. MT claimed a 72-58 decision on Nov. 29 in Lafayette in the first meeting this year.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: With a lineup featuring five 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 have leaned heavily on junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (14.7, 6.0, 5.1). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (5.9 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, is also playing an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (15.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (5.2, 3.5), a JC transfer from Lamar State, unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshman Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylon Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the freshmen trio of Steven Wronkoski (6.7, 3.0), Kasey Shepherd (4.0) and Josh Soto (3.9) also contribute, giving Louisiana a deep backcourt. Marlin is utilizing 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.
CAJUNS IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns received several mentions in the NCAA basketball statistics, which were released on Friday (Jan. 18) and include games through Jan. 17. Individually, Shawn Long ranked fourth nationally in double-doubles (10), 20th in rebounds (10.1) and 56th in blocks (2.1) while Elfrid Payton is 37th in steals (2.3) and 55th in assists (5.1).
GOING (DOUBLE) OVERTIME: The South Alabama game on Jan. 10 marked the first multiple overtime game since a 63-62 double overtime win over Denver on Jan. 3, 2009. It was the 10th time that the Cajuns have played to overtime under head coach Bob Marlin (and second this year). Louisiana is now 6-4 in overtime games during that span, including a 4-1 record last season and an 0-2 mark this year.
PAYTON PASSES 500 POINT MARK: After reaching the 50-game milestone for his Cajuns career on Jan. 10, Elfrid Payton reached another milestone on Saturday (Jan. 12), scoring 13 points against Arkansas State to surpass the 500-point mark for his career. He heads into the Middle Tennesse game having scored 523 points in 52 games at Louisiana, 31 as a starter. He has played 1,427 minutes.
INJURIES ARE PILING UP: With at least 12 games left in the regular season, injuries are beginning to pile up. The Cajuns dressed just nine players for the Arkansas State game on Jan. 12, two of whom were walk-ons. Louisiana heads into the Middle Tennessee game having lost six different players this year for a total of 35 games. Kevin Brown has missed 12 games with a broken foot while Donovan Williams has sat out the last 15 contests following knee surgery. In addition, Louisiana has lost three games from Cornell Barnett (dental surgery), two from Braylon Lazare (eye), two from Bryant Mbamalu (thumb) and one from Alan-Michael Thompson (ankle). The depth of the Cajuns has been limited by more than injuries as freshman Matt Moss left the program 12 games ago and Josh Soto missed the first six games while the NCAA clarified his eligibility.
. . . THAT MAKES THE ASU GAME A GREAT WIN: The win over Arkansas State on Jan. 12 is made a little more significant considering that the Cajuns had just nine players dressed in the game, with sophomore Elfrid Payton being the only player to see action who played last season. The victory allowed Louisiana to avenge a 87-70 loss to the Red Wolves in Jonesboro on Dec. 27.
. . . AND THE FRESHMEN CAME THROUGH: The freshman class turned in its most impressive performance against Arkansas State as the five Cajuns freshmen combined to score 43 of the 61 points and grab 28 of the 36 rebounds. The performance marked the third time this year that the freshmen class has scored 40 points or more. The group previously tallied a season-high 47 points in a 91-79 win over Duquesne and 41 points in a 76-66 victory over Southern-New Orleans.
SHEPHERD ENJOYS ROLE CHANGE: Freshman Kasey Shepherd celebrated his first career start against Arkansas State by setting his career highs for points (13), rebounds (7) and minutes played (37). He came back to score nine points with five rebounds in his second start at WKU on Thursday night. In his two starts, he is averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, shooting .545 from three-point (6-11). For the season, Shepherd is averaging 4.0 points in 12.3 minutes a game.
THE MBAM HAS GONE OFF: There is no hotter player in the Sun Belt than junior Bryant Mbamalu, who prior to missing the last two games(thumb injury), had scored 17 or more points in six of his last seven games. Mbamalu started the run with a 21-point effort against Robert Morris on Dec. 18 and then followed it up with 22 points vs. Duquesne on Dec. 22. After a season-low four points at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, he came back to score a season-high 26 vs. UALR on Dec. 29. He had 17 points at Florida Atlantic (Jan. 3) and 23 at FIU (Jan. 5) and 17 vs. South Alabama on Thursday. Over those seven games, Mbamalu is averaging 18.9 points a game, shooting .583 from the field (49-84) and .500 from three-point (18-36). Those are considerably improved numbers over the .423 he shot from the field (41-97) and .340 from three-point (16-47) over the first 11 games.
LONG TAKES OVER FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: A 44-rebound effort in the last three games has allowed Shawn Long to take over the mantra as the top freshman rebounder in the country this year. Long has grabbed 201 rebounds in 20 games (10.1 rpg) to move ahead of Longwood's Michael Kessens (9.5) and Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.4).
. . . AND LONG CONTINUES TO RANK AMONG THE TOP FRESHMEN: A closer look at the recent NCAA stats shows that besides being the top freshman rebounder in the country this year, Shawn Long also ranks as seventh among freshmen in blocked shots (2.1) and ninth in scoring.
THE SCORING TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (15.7 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (14.7) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.0) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 61-percent of the points this season (856 of 1,401). Together, they have reached double figures 48 of the possible 58 times this year, including 13 games of 20-points or more. The Jan. 10 game vs. South Alabama was no different as the trio tallied 59 points, their third-highest total this season. They previously scored a season-best 62 points at Florida Atlantic on Jan. 3 when Payton scored 23, Mbamalu 22 and Long 17 and 60 points at North Texas on Dec. 1. The trio has totaled 50 points or more five times this year.
PAYTON IS CHASING A TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Sophomore Elfrid Payton's quest for the first triple-double by a Cajun in almost a decade came one rebound short at FIU on Jan. 5, scoring 13 points with a career-high 10 assists and a career-high matching nine rebounds against the Golden Panthers. This was not the first time that Payton came close. He closed the 2011-12 season with a 13-point, eight-rebound and nine-assist game in the opening round of the Sun Belt Championship. He toyed with the stat in the season opener against Oakland (14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists), SUNO (11,7 , 7) and on Dec. 1 at North Texas (14, 6, 9) and posted 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists at McNeese State (Dec. 8). For the record, the last triple-double by a Ragin' Cajuns player came on Jan. 5, 2006 when Michael Southall scored 19 points with 12 rebounds and 11 blocks at North Texas.
. . . BUT PAYTON MUST WALK BEFORE HE RUNS: Although Elfrid Payton has flirted with a triple-double, it took him until the McNeese State game on Dec. 8 in his 41st career game to record the first of his three career double-doubles. Payton scored 17 points with 10 rebounds in the contest. It only took him three days to get the second, scoring 17 points with 11 rebounds vs. Lamar on Dec. 11.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: An 11-point, 14-rebound effort against WKU on Thursday gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his 11th double-double in 20 games to move into fourth place nationally. Siena senior O.D. Anosike, Towson's Jerrelle Benimon and Mike Muscala from Bucknell share the national lead with 11 double-doubles with Long being one of five players with 10 double-doubles, including South Alabama's Augustine Rubit.
PAYTON PASSES STEAL TOTAL: Sophomore Elfrid Payton recorded two steals against WKU on Thursday, giving him 45 steals in 20 games this year to lead the Sun Belt and ranks 33rd nationally averaging 2.3 steals a game. Payton, who had 37 steals in 32 games last year, 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.
THOMPSON FINDS HIS ROLE: After starting out the season slowly, senior Alan-Michael Thompson has found his niche by providing the Cajuns with an offensive spark off the bench. He returned to the lineup at WKU after missing the Arkansas State game with an ankle sprain and scored eight points. Over his last five games, Thompson is averaging 10.0 points, scoring in double figures three times. He has shot .469 from the floor (15-32) and .320 from three-point (8-25) during that span.
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 .585 (24-17) is second amongst all active coaches.
SUPPORTING CAST THE DIFFERENCE: The Louisiana bench has proven to be an important factor in determining success on the court this year. The Cajun bench has scored 20 points or more five times this year with UL going 4-1 in those games. In the seven Cajun wins, the reserves have totalled 130 points (18.6 ppg). At the other end of the spectrum, the bench has produced 174 points in the 13 losses (13.4 ppg), including seven points against Florida Atlantic on Jan. 3 and nine vs. South Alabama on Thursday.
FRESHMEN LEAD FREE THROW SHOOTING SURGE: The simplest way to improve a team's free throw shooting is to simply get better shooters and Bob Marlin has apparently done that. After shooting just .631 (483-766) from the line last year, the Cajuns have improved to .661 this year, primarily because of the production of the freshman class, who have made 99 of their 144 free throws this year (.688). Kasey Shepherd (13-16, .813), Steven Wronkoski (32-45, .711) and Shawn Long (51-72, .708) lead the way.
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 95-for-130 (.731) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (13-14), Shawn Long (14-18) and Steven Wronkoski (12-16) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .761 shooter (35-46), is 14-for-17 this year (.824). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
. . . FREE THROWS KEY WIN OVER UALR: Clutch free throw shooting was a key in the Dec. 29 win over UALR as the Cajuns went 11-for-13 from the line in the final 2:03 of the game to deny the Trojans an opportunity to come back. After missing their first two attempts, Louisiana shooters knocked down their next 11 to finish the game. The game took a similar path on Dec. 1 at North Texas when 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 an 80-76 win.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 15.5 scoring average through 20 games and a 0.8 points per game average ahead of second-leading scorer Elfrid Payton (14.7 ppg), freshman Shawn Long is on pace to become just the fifth freshman to lead the team in scoring. He would join Tim Thompson (14.2 ppg in 1957-58), Jerry Flake (17.6, 1965-66), Andrew Toney (21.0, 1976-77) and Chris Gradnigo (9.6, 2007-08).
. . . AND A SCORING, REBOUNDS & BLOCKS ACCOMPLISHMENT: Shawn Long's impact is more than just being a scorer. Ranking second in the Sun Belt in rebounding (10.2), fourth in both scoring (15.5) and blocks (2.1), Long is on a pace to become just the third player in school history to lead the team in all three stat categories in a single season. Tyren Johnson was the most recent, averaging 17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 2009-10. Reginald Poole is the other to accomplish it, doing it in both 1996-97 (16.0, 10.3, 1.7) and 1998-99 (14.7, 7.1, 0.9).
NEXT UP: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome to play six of its next eight games, starting with a rematch with FIU on Thursday, Jan. 24 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 21
Louisiana (7-13, 3-6) at Middle Tennessee (15-4, 7-1)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013
Time: 5:30 p.m. CST
Site: Murphy Center (11,520), Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via RaginCajuns.com.
Series: Middle Tennessee Leads, 11-7
Last Meeting: MT 72, UL 58 (11/29/12, Lafayette, La..)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 37-44 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 262-175 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 385-210 (20th year)
vs. Middle Tennessee: 0-3
MIDDLE TENNESSEE
KERMIT DAVIS (Mississippi State '82)
At MSU: 195-137 (11th year)
Overall: 232-212 (18th year)
vs. Louisiana: 8-5
SETTING THE SCENE: After dropping a 72-49 decision at Western Kentucky on Thursday, the Ragin' Cajuns make the short trip from Bowling Green, Ky. to Murfreesboro, Tenn. to face Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 19 beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Murphy Center. The game is a doubleheader with the first game featuring the Ragin' Cajuns women's team against Middle Tennessee at 3:00 p.m. Louisiana (7-13, 3-6), which is in third place in the Sun Belt West division, will close out the first half of its league schedule against the Blue Raiders, who are 15-4 overall and lead the Sun Belt East division with a 7-1 record. They have won eight of their last nine games and are 9-0 at home this year, including an 82-50 win over UALR on Thursday night. This will be the 19th meeting between Louisiana and Middle Tennessee with the Blue Raiders owning an 11-7 series lead, including eight straight wins. MT claimed a 72-58 decision on Nov. 29 in Lafayette in the first meeting this year.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: With a lineup featuring five 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 have leaned heavily on junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (14.7, 6.0, 5.1). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (5.9 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, is also playing an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (15.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (5.2, 3.5), a JC transfer from Lamar State, unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshman Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylon Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the freshmen trio of Steven Wronkoski (6.7, 3.0), Kasey Shepherd (4.0) and Josh Soto (3.9) also contribute, giving Louisiana a deep backcourt. Marlin is utilizing 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.
CAJUNS IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns received several mentions in the NCAA basketball statistics, which were released on Friday (Jan. 18) and include games through Jan. 17. Individually, Shawn Long ranked fourth nationally in double-doubles (10), 20th in rebounds (10.1) and 56th in blocks (2.1) while Elfrid Payton is 37th in steals (2.3) and 55th in assists (5.1).
GOING (DOUBLE) OVERTIME: The South Alabama game on Jan. 10 marked the first multiple overtime game since a 63-62 double overtime win over Denver on Jan. 3, 2009. It was the 10th time that the Cajuns have played to overtime under head coach Bob Marlin (and second this year). Louisiana is now 6-4 in overtime games during that span, including a 4-1 record last season and an 0-2 mark this year.
PAYTON PASSES 500 POINT MARK: After reaching the 50-game milestone for his Cajuns career on Jan. 10, Elfrid Payton reached another milestone on Saturday (Jan. 12), scoring 13 points against Arkansas State to surpass the 500-point mark for his career. He heads into the Middle Tennesse game having scored 523 points in 52 games at Louisiana, 31 as a starter. He has played 1,427 minutes.
INJURIES ARE PILING UP: With at least 12 games left in the regular season, injuries are beginning to pile up. The Cajuns dressed just nine players for the Arkansas State game on Jan. 12, two of whom were walk-ons. Louisiana heads into the Middle Tennessee game having lost six different players this year for a total of 35 games. Kevin Brown has missed 12 games with a broken foot while Donovan Williams has sat out the last 15 contests following knee surgery. In addition, Louisiana has lost three games from Cornell Barnett (dental surgery), two from Braylon Lazare (eye), two from Bryant Mbamalu (thumb) and one from Alan-Michael Thompson (ankle). The depth of the Cajuns has been limited by more than injuries as freshman Matt Moss left the program 12 games ago and Josh Soto missed the first six games while the NCAA clarified his eligibility.
. . . THAT MAKES THE ASU GAME A GREAT WIN: The win over Arkansas State on Jan. 12 is made a little more significant considering that the Cajuns had just nine players dressed in the game, with sophomore Elfrid Payton being the only player to see action who played last season. The victory allowed Louisiana to avenge a 87-70 loss to the Red Wolves in Jonesboro on Dec. 27.
. . . AND THE FRESHMEN CAME THROUGH: The freshman class turned in its most impressive performance against Arkansas State as the five Cajuns freshmen combined to score 43 of the 61 points and grab 28 of the 36 rebounds. The performance marked the third time this year that the freshmen class has scored 40 points or more. The group previously tallied a season-high 47 points in a 91-79 win over Duquesne and 41 points in a 76-66 victory over Southern-New Orleans.
SHEPHERD ENJOYS ROLE CHANGE: Freshman Kasey Shepherd celebrated his first career start against Arkansas State by setting his career highs for points (13), rebounds (7) and minutes played (37). He came back to score nine points with five rebounds in his second start at WKU on Thursday night. In his two starts, he is averaging 11.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, shooting .545 from three-point (6-11). For the season, Shepherd is averaging 4.0 points in 12.3 minutes a game.
THE MBAM HAS GONE OFF: There is no hotter player in the Sun Belt than junior Bryant Mbamalu, who prior to missing the last two games(thumb injury), had scored 17 or more points in six of his last seven games. Mbamalu started the run with a 21-point effort against Robert Morris on Dec. 18 and then followed it up with 22 points vs. Duquesne on Dec. 22. After a season-low four points at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, he came back to score a season-high 26 vs. UALR on Dec. 29. He had 17 points at Florida Atlantic (Jan. 3) and 23 at FIU (Jan. 5) and 17 vs. South Alabama on Thursday. Over those seven games, Mbamalu is averaging 18.9 points a game, shooting .583 from the field (49-84) and .500 from three-point (18-36). Those are considerably improved numbers over the .423 he shot from the field (41-97) and .340 from three-point (16-47) over the first 11 games.
LONG TAKES OVER FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: A 44-rebound effort in the last three games has allowed Shawn Long to take over the mantra as the top freshman rebounder in the country this year. Long has grabbed 201 rebounds in 20 games (10.1 rpg) to move ahead of Longwood's Michael Kessens (9.5) and Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.4).
. . . AND LONG CONTINUES TO RANK AMONG THE TOP FRESHMEN: A closer look at the recent NCAA stats shows that besides being the top freshman rebounder in the country this year, Shawn Long also ranks as seventh among freshmen in blocked shots (2.1) and ninth in scoring.
THE SCORING TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (15.7 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (14.7) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.0) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 61-percent of the points this season (856 of 1,401). Together, they have reached double figures 48 of the possible 58 times this year, including 13 games of 20-points or more. The Jan. 10 game vs. South Alabama was no different as the trio tallied 59 points, their third-highest total this season. They previously scored a season-best 62 points at Florida Atlantic on Jan. 3 when Payton scored 23, Mbamalu 22 and Long 17 and 60 points at North Texas on Dec. 1. The trio has totaled 50 points or more five times this year.
PAYTON IS CHASING A TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Sophomore Elfrid Payton's quest for the first triple-double by a Cajun in almost a decade came one rebound short at FIU on Jan. 5, scoring 13 points with a career-high 10 assists and a career-high matching nine rebounds against the Golden Panthers. This was not the first time that Payton came close. He closed the 2011-12 season with a 13-point, eight-rebound and nine-assist game in the opening round of the Sun Belt Championship. He toyed with the stat in the season opener against Oakland (14 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists), SUNO (11,7 , 7) and on Dec. 1 at North Texas (14, 6, 9) and posted 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists at McNeese State (Dec. 8). For the record, the last triple-double by a Ragin' Cajuns player came on Jan. 5, 2006 when Michael Southall scored 19 points with 12 rebounds and 11 blocks at North Texas.
. . . BUT PAYTON MUST WALK BEFORE HE RUNS: Although Elfrid Payton has flirted with a triple-double, it took him until the McNeese State game on Dec. 8 in his 41st career game to record the first of his three career double-doubles. Payton scored 17 points with 10 rebounds in the contest. It only took him three days to get the second, scoring 17 points with 11 rebounds vs. Lamar on Dec. 11.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: An 11-point, 14-rebound effort against WKU on Thursday gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his 11th double-double in 20 games to move into fourth place nationally. Siena senior O.D. Anosike, Towson's Jerrelle Benimon and Mike Muscala from Bucknell share the national lead with 11 double-doubles with Long being one of five players with 10 double-doubles, including South Alabama's Augustine Rubit.
PAYTON PASSES STEAL TOTAL: Sophomore Elfrid Payton recorded two steals against WKU on Thursday, giving him 45 steals in 20 games this year to lead the Sun Belt and ranks 33rd nationally averaging 2.3 steals a game. Payton, who had 37 steals in 32 games last year, 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.
THOMPSON FINDS HIS ROLE: After starting out the season slowly, senior Alan-Michael Thompson has found his niche by providing the Cajuns with an offensive spark off the bench. He returned to the lineup at WKU after missing the Arkansas State game with an ankle sprain and scored eight points. Over his last five games, Thompson is averaging 10.0 points, scoring in double figures three times. He has shot .469 from the floor (15-32) and .320 from three-point (8-25) during that span.
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 .585 (24-17) is second amongst all active coaches.
SUPPORTING CAST THE DIFFERENCE: The Louisiana bench has proven to be an important factor in determining success on the court this year. The Cajun bench has scored 20 points or more five times this year with UL going 4-1 in those games. In the seven Cajun wins, the reserves have totalled 130 points (18.6 ppg). At the other end of the spectrum, the bench has produced 174 points in the 13 losses (13.4 ppg), including seven points against Florida Atlantic on Jan. 3 and nine vs. South Alabama on Thursday.
FRESHMEN LEAD FREE THROW SHOOTING SURGE: The simplest way to improve a team's free throw shooting is to simply get better shooters and Bob Marlin has apparently done that. After shooting just .631 (483-766) from the line last year, the Cajuns have improved to .661 this year, primarily because of the production of the freshman class, who have made 99 of their 144 free throws this year (.688). Kasey Shepherd (13-16, .813), Steven Wronkoski (32-45, .711) and Shawn Long (51-72, .708) lead the way.
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 95-for-130 (.731) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (13-14), Shawn Long (14-18) and Steven Wronkoski (12-16) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .761 shooter (35-46), is 14-for-17 this year (.824). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
. . . FREE THROWS KEY WIN OVER UALR: Clutch free throw shooting was a key in the Dec. 29 win over UALR as the Cajuns went 11-for-13 from the line in the final 2:03 of the game to deny the Trojans an opportunity to come back. After missing their first two attempts, Louisiana shooters knocked down their next 11 to finish the game. The game took a similar path on Dec. 1 at North Texas when 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 an 80-76 win.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 15.5 scoring average through 20 games and a 0.8 points per game average ahead of second-leading scorer Elfrid Payton (14.7 ppg), freshman Shawn Long is on pace to become just the fifth freshman to lead the team in scoring. He would join Tim Thompson (14.2 ppg in 1957-58), Jerry Flake (17.6, 1965-66), Andrew Toney (21.0, 1976-77) and Chris Gradnigo (9.6, 2007-08).
. . . AND A SCORING, REBOUNDS & BLOCKS ACCOMPLISHMENT: Shawn Long's impact is more than just being a scorer. Ranking second in the Sun Belt in rebounding (10.2), fourth in both scoring (15.5) and blocks (2.1), Long is on a pace to become just the third player in school history to lead the team in all three stat categories in a single season. Tyren Johnson was the most recent, averaging 17.9 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 2009-10. Reginald Poole is the other to accomplish it, doing it in both 1996-97 (16.0, 10.3, 1.7) and 1998-99 (14.7, 7.1, 0.9).
NEXT UP: Louisiana returns to the Cajundome to play six of its next eight games, starting with a rematch with FIU on Thursday, Jan. 24 beginning at 7:00 p.m.
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