University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, January 5
Miami, Fla.
6:30 PM
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
at
Florida International
Louisiana Completes South Florida Trip At FIU On Saturday
1/4/2013 5:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Brian McCann
Complete Notes (PDF)
Game 17
Louisiana (6-10, 2-3) at FIU (5-7, 1-3)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000) Miami, Fla.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via FIUSports.com.
Series: Louisiana Leads, 16-5
Last Meeting: UL 87, FIU 81 (OT) (1/14/12, Lafayette, La.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 36-41 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 261-172 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 384-207 (20th year)
vs. FIU: 3-1
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
RICHARD PITINO (Providence '05)
At FIU: 5-7 (1st year)
Overall: 5-7 (1st year)
vs. Louisiana: 0-0
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns continue their tour through South Florida on Saturday (Jan. 5) when they travel to Miami, Fla. to face FIU beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. in Lafayette) in the U.S. Century Bank Arena. The game is a doubleheader with the Louisiana women's basketball team scheduled to face FIU starting at 5:30 p.m. EST (4:30 in Lafayette). The Cajuns enter the game with a 6-10 overall record and in third place in the Sun Belt west division with a 2-3 mark, one game behind both Arkansas State and UALR, who are both 3-2. FIU is 5-7 under first year head coach Richard Pitino, entering the game in fifth place in the east division with a 1-3 record. The Golden Panthers are just 2-2 at home, including an 88-72 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday night. This will be the 22nd meeting between Louisiana and FIU with the Ragin' Cajuns owning a decisive 16-5 lead in the series, including a 5-3 record in games played in Miami.
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 (13.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (14.3, 6.1, 4.9). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (5.8 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, is also playing an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (16.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (5.3, 3.4), a JC transfer from Lamar State, will unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshman Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylan Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the freshmen trio of Steven Wronkoski (7.1, 2.9), Kasey Shepherd (2.8) and Josh Soto (3.6) 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 Monday (Dec. 31) and include games through Dec. 30. Individually, Shawn Long ranked third nationally in double-doubles (8), 28th in rebounds (9.7) and 56th in blocks (2.1) while Elfrid Payton is 26th in steals (2.3) and 58th in assists (5.0).
LONG RANKS AMONG THE NATION'S TOP FRESHMEN: A closer look at the recent NCAA stats shows that Shawn Long ranks among the top freshmen in the nation this year. Long is third nationally in rebounding among freshman, trailing only Binghamton's Jordan Reed (10.4 rpg) and Longwood's Michael Kessens (10.2), and he is eighth among freshman scorers averaging 16.6 points a game.
. . . AND LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 10-point, 13-rebound effort against UALR on Dec. 29 gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his eighth double-double in 15 games to move into third place nationally. Siena senior O.D. Anosike leads the nation with 10 double-doubles with Notre Dame senior Jack Cooley is second with nine double-doubles.
THE TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (16.6 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (14.3) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (13.1) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 62-percent of the points this season (704 of 1132). Together, they have reached double figures 39 of the possible 48 times this year. Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic was no different as the trio totaled a season-high 62 points with Payton (23 points) and Long (22) scoring 20 points in the same game for the second time this year. The 62 points surpassed the previous high of 60 points at North Texas on Dec. 1 when Long tallied 27, Mbamalu 19 and Payton 14 in the win over the Mean Green. The trio has totaled 50 points or more four times this year.
ENJOYING A SWEEP: Saturday's sweep of UALR by the Ragin' Cajuns basketball teams, the men claiming a 79-70 win and the women earning a 56-54 double-overtime victory over a Trojan team that was 10-1 going into the game, marked the first sweep of a home doubleheader by Louisiana since the end of the 2009-10 season, a span of 12 twinbills. The Cajuns men's team has fared well in doubleheaders under head coach Bob Marlin, owning a 9-2 record at home and 5-5 on the road.
THE MBAM HAS GONE OFF: There is no hotter player in the Sun Belt than junior Bryant Mbamalu, who has scored 20 or more points in three of the last five 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 Saturday. Over the last five games, Mbamalu is averaging 18.0 points a game, shooting .647 from the field (33-51) and .571 from three-point (12-21). 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.
PAYTON EQUALS STEAL TOTAL: Sophomore Elfrid Payton recorded a pair of steals in Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic, allowing him to equal in half the season (16 of 32 games) the 37 steals he compiled in leading the team last year. Payton leads the Sun Belt and ranks 23rd nationally averaging 2.3 steals a game. 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.
PAYTON & MBAMALU START ALONE: With Shawn Long coming off the bench for the first time this season at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, that leaves junior Bryant Mbamalu and sophomore Elfrid Payton as the only Cajuns to start every game this season. Long and Elridge Moore have each started 15 of the 16 games.
BARNETT BECOMES NINTH CAJUN TO START: When freshman Cornell Barnett started in place of Shawn Long at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, he became the ninth diffterent Ragin' Cajuns player to start at least one game this year.
. . . AND LOUISIANA USES A FIFTH DIFFERENT STARTING LINEUP: The youth of the Cajuns is evident this season in the head coach Bob Marlins has used five different starting lineups in the first 15 games. The group of Elfrid Payton, Bryant Mbamalu, Steven Wronkoski, Elridge Moore and Shawn Long have started 10 times, leading UL to a 4-6 record. The only other group to start multiple games included Alan-Michael Thompson in place of Wronkoski, a lineup that started the first three games together. Last year, Marlin used 12 different starting lineups, including 10 different in the first 13 games before he settled on a lineup that started 15 of the final 21 games.
SUPPORTING CAST THE DIFFERENCE: The Louisiana bench has proven to be an important factor in determining sucess 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 six Cajun wins, the reserves have totalled 122 points (20.3 ppg). At the other end of the spectrum, the bench has produced 126 points in the 10 losses (12.6 ppg), including seven points against Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
. . . BUT THE ARKANSAS STATE GAME WAS THE OPPOSITE: The Louisiana bench was responsible for a season-high 42 points on Dec. 27 at Arkansas State but the scoring outburst didn't help as UL fell, 87-70. With the starting lineup producing just 28 points in the game, the bench came through as Alan-Michael Thompson scored 13 points while freshmen Josh Soto (10) and Kasey Shepherd (8) each set career highs. The 42 points was helped by 11 points from Shawn Long, who came off the bench for the first time this season.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHARITY: Bob Marlin said during the preseason that one area in which Louisiana would definitely show improvement is at the foul line, where the Cajuns shot just .631 (483-766) last year. So far, that prediction has come true as Louisiana has shot 70-percent or better from the line in nine of the 16 games. The Cajuns enter the FIU game having gone 206-for-301 (.684). The last time that the Cajuns shot above 70-percent for an entire season came 20 seasons ago (1993-94) when they went 463-for-647 (.716).
. . . AND THE FRESHMEN LEAD THE WAY: The simplest way to improve a team's free throw shooting is to simply get better shooters and Bob Marlin has apparently done that. The four freshman currently on the Louisiana roster have made 76 of their 100 free throws this year (.760). Steven Wronkoski (26-33, .788) and Shawn Long (40-52, .769) 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 73-for-90 (.811) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Shawn Long (10-10) and Steven Wronkoski (8-8) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .791 shooter (34-43), is 13-for-14 this year (.929). 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 Saturday's 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.
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 .622 (23-14) is first amongst all active coaches.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 16.6 scoring average through 16 games and 2.3 points per game average ahead of second leading scorer Elfrid Payton (14.3 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 third in the Sun Belt in scoring and rebounding (9.7) and fourth in 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).
CHASING A TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Sophomore Elfrid Payton continues to inch closer and closer to recording the first triple-double by a Ragin' Cajuns player in almost a decade. Payton 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 went a different route at Michigan State (Nov. 25), scoring 20 points with six rebounds and a career-high seven steals. He came the closest yet in early December. He scored 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists at McNeese State (Dec. 8) and came back with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five steals vs. Lamar (Dec. 11). 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 to record his first career double-double. 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.
MISTER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?: Elfrid Payton has shown his continued development as the Cajuns' point guard by handing out 78 assists this year to lead the Sun Belt averaging 4.9 assists per game. He matched his career high with nine assists at North Texas on Dec. 1, a career high originally set against North Texas in the Sun Belt Championship last year.
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 (16.6), rebounding (9.7) and blocks (2.1), shooting .486 from the field (105-216) and .769 from the line (40-52). He ranks third in the league in scoring and rebounding, fourth in blocks, seventh in free throw percentage and 13th in field goal percentage. He has eight double-doubles and six 20-point games. He had a career-high 27 points in the win at North Texas (Dec. 1) and added 17 points anda c areer-high 17 rebounds at McNeese State (Dec. 8) the following week.
. . . AND LONG SCORES THE BASKETBALL: With the second half of the basketball season beginning on Saturday at FIU (it is the 17th of at least 32 games), Shawn Long's six 20-point games has put the redshirt freshman on pace to record the most 20-plus point performances by a Cajun since former Sun Belt Player of the Year Tyren Johnson accomplished it 12 times in 2009-10.
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 7.1 points and 2.9 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. Most recently, he raised his career high again, scoring 17 points at McNeese State on Dec. 8. For the year, Wronkoski is shooting .395 from three-point (15-39) and is shooting .788 from the line (26-33).
MORE MOORE: Junior forward Elridge Moore has quickly earned a place for himself in the lineup, starting all but one game and averaging 5.3 points. He is second on the team in both steals (19) and blocks (8) and is fourth in rebounding (3.4). 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.
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.
MARLIN EARNS EXTENSION: Third-year head coach Bob Marlin was given a new five-year contract on Dec. 4 that will keep him on the Cajuns' sidelines through the 2016-17 season. In his first two seasons, Marlin's teams have won 21 Sun Belt games, the second-highest total in the league over that span, and his .656 winning percentage in league games is the highest among active Sun Belt coaches.
NEXT UP: The Cajuns returns to the Cajundome to host South Alabama on Thursday (Jan. 10) at 7:00 p.m. and Arkansas State on Saturday (Jan. 12) at approximately 7:15 p.m.
Complete Notes (PDF)
Game 17
Louisiana (6-10, 2-3) at FIU (5-7, 1-3)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m. EST
Site: U.S. Century Bank Arena (5,000) Miami, Fla.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via FIUSports.com.
Series: Louisiana Leads, 16-5
Last Meeting: UL 87, FIU 81 (OT) (1/14/12, Lafayette, La.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 36-41 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 261-172 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 384-207 (20th year)
vs. FIU: 3-1
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
RICHARD PITINO (Providence '05)
At FIU: 5-7 (1st year)
Overall: 5-7 (1st year)
vs. Louisiana: 0-0
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns continue their tour through South Florida on Saturday (Jan. 5) when they travel to Miami, Fla. to face FIU beginning at approximately 7:30 p.m. EST (6:30 p.m. in Lafayette) in the U.S. Century Bank Arena. The game is a doubleheader with the Louisiana women's basketball team scheduled to face FIU starting at 5:30 p.m. EST (4:30 in Lafayette). The Cajuns enter the game with a 6-10 overall record and in third place in the Sun Belt west division with a 2-3 mark, one game behind both Arkansas State and UALR, who are both 3-2. FIU is 5-7 under first year head coach Richard Pitino, entering the game in fifth place in the east division with a 1-3 record. The Golden Panthers are just 2-2 at home, including an 88-72 win over Florida A&M on Wednesday night. This will be the 22nd meeting between Louisiana and FIU with the Ragin' Cajuns owning a decisive 16-5 lead in the series, including a 5-3 record in games played in Miami.
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 (13.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and sophomore sensation Elfrid Payton (14.3, 6.1, 4.9). Guard Alan-Michael Thompson (5.8 ppg), the lone senior on the squad, is also playing an increased role this year. Freshman forward Shawn Long (16.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg), a transfer from Mississippi State, and power forward Elridge Moore (5.3, 3.4), a JC transfer from Lamar State, will unite to form the nucleus of the inside game with freshman Cornell Barnett and walk-on Braylan Lazare providing the depth inside. Although Payton, Mbamalu and Thompson provide the athleticism, quickness and leadership, the freshmen trio of Steven Wronkoski (7.1, 2.9), Kasey Shepherd (2.8) and Josh Soto (3.6) 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 Monday (Dec. 31) and include games through Dec. 30. Individually, Shawn Long ranked third nationally in double-doubles (8), 28th in rebounds (9.7) and 56th in blocks (2.1) while Elfrid Payton is 26th in steals (2.3) and 58th in assists (5.0).
LONG RANKS AMONG THE NATION'S TOP FRESHMEN: A closer look at the recent NCAA stats shows that Shawn Long ranks among the top freshmen in the nation this year. Long is third nationally in rebounding among freshman, trailing only Binghamton's Jordan Reed (10.4 rpg) and Longwood's Michael Kessens (10.2), and he is eighth among freshman scorers averaging 16.6 points a game.
. . . AND LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 10-point, 13-rebound effort against UALR on Dec. 29 gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his eighth double-double in 15 games to move into third place nationally. Siena senior O.D. Anosike leads the nation with 10 double-doubles with Notre Dame senior Jack Cooley is second with nine double-doubles.
THE TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (16.6 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (14.3) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (13.1) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 62-percent of the points this season (704 of 1132). Together, they have reached double figures 39 of the possible 48 times this year. Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic was no different as the trio totaled a season-high 62 points with Payton (23 points) and Long (22) scoring 20 points in the same game for the second time this year. The 62 points surpassed the previous high of 60 points at North Texas on Dec. 1 when Long tallied 27, Mbamalu 19 and Payton 14 in the win over the Mean Green. The trio has totaled 50 points or more four times this year.
ENJOYING A SWEEP: Saturday's sweep of UALR by the Ragin' Cajuns basketball teams, the men claiming a 79-70 win and the women earning a 56-54 double-overtime victory over a Trojan team that was 10-1 going into the game, marked the first sweep of a home doubleheader by Louisiana since the end of the 2009-10 season, a span of 12 twinbills. The Cajuns men's team has fared well in doubleheaders under head coach Bob Marlin, owning a 9-2 record at home and 5-5 on the road.
THE MBAM HAS GONE OFF: There is no hotter player in the Sun Belt than junior Bryant Mbamalu, who has scored 20 or more points in three of the last five 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 Saturday. Over the last five games, Mbamalu is averaging 18.0 points a game, shooting .647 from the field (33-51) and .571 from three-point (12-21). 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.
PAYTON EQUALS STEAL TOTAL: Sophomore Elfrid Payton recorded a pair of steals in Thursday's game at Florida Atlantic, allowing him to equal in half the season (16 of 32 games) the 37 steals he compiled in leading the team last year. Payton leads the Sun Belt and ranks 23rd nationally averaging 2.3 steals a game. 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.
PAYTON & MBAMALU START ALONE: With Shawn Long coming off the bench for the first time this season at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, that leaves junior Bryant Mbamalu and sophomore Elfrid Payton as the only Cajuns to start every game this season. Long and Elridge Moore have each started 15 of the 16 games.
BARNETT BECOMES NINTH CAJUN TO START: When freshman Cornell Barnett started in place of Shawn Long at Arkansas State on Dec. 27, he became the ninth diffterent Ragin' Cajuns player to start at least one game this year.
. . . AND LOUISIANA USES A FIFTH DIFFERENT STARTING LINEUP: The youth of the Cajuns is evident this season in the head coach Bob Marlins has used five different starting lineups in the first 15 games. The group of Elfrid Payton, Bryant Mbamalu, Steven Wronkoski, Elridge Moore and Shawn Long have started 10 times, leading UL to a 4-6 record. The only other group to start multiple games included Alan-Michael Thompson in place of Wronkoski, a lineup that started the first three games together. Last year, Marlin used 12 different starting lineups, including 10 different in the first 13 games before he settled on a lineup that started 15 of the final 21 games.
SUPPORTING CAST THE DIFFERENCE: The Louisiana bench has proven to be an important factor in determining sucess 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 six Cajun wins, the reserves have totalled 122 points (20.3 ppg). At the other end of the spectrum, the bench has produced 126 points in the 10 losses (12.6 ppg), including seven points against Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
. . . BUT THE ARKANSAS STATE GAME WAS THE OPPOSITE: The Louisiana bench was responsible for a season-high 42 points on Dec. 27 at Arkansas State but the scoring outburst didn't help as UL fell, 87-70. With the starting lineup producing just 28 points in the game, the bench came through as Alan-Michael Thompson scored 13 points while freshmen Josh Soto (10) and Kasey Shepherd (8) each set career highs. The 42 points was helped by 11 points from Shawn Long, who came off the bench for the first time this season.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CHARITY: Bob Marlin said during the preseason that one area in which Louisiana would definitely show improvement is at the foul line, where the Cajuns shot just .631 (483-766) last year. So far, that prediction has come true as Louisiana has shot 70-percent or better from the line in nine of the 16 games. The Cajuns enter the FIU game having gone 206-for-301 (.684). The last time that the Cajuns shot above 70-percent for an entire season came 20 seasons ago (1993-94) when they went 463-for-647 (.716).
. . . AND THE FRESHMEN LEAD THE WAY: The simplest way to improve a team's free throw shooting is to simply get better shooters and Bob Marlin has apparently done that. The four freshman currently on the Louisiana roster have made 76 of their 100 free throws this year (.760). Steven Wronkoski (26-33, .788) and Shawn Long (40-52, .769) 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 73-for-90 (.811) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Shawn Long (10-10) and Steven Wronkoski (8-8) lead the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .791 shooter (34-43), is 13-for-14 this year (.929). 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 Saturday's 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.
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 .622 (23-14) is first amongst all active coaches.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 16.6 scoring average through 16 games and 2.3 points per game average ahead of second leading scorer Elfrid Payton (14.3 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 third in the Sun Belt in scoring and rebounding (9.7) and fourth in 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).
CHASING A TRIPLE-DOUBLE: Sophomore Elfrid Payton continues to inch closer and closer to recording the first triple-double by a Ragin' Cajuns player in almost a decade. Payton 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 went a different route at Michigan State (Nov. 25), scoring 20 points with six rebounds and a career-high seven steals. He came the closest yet in early December. He scored 17 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists at McNeese State (Dec. 8) and came back with 17 points, 11 rebounds and five steals vs. Lamar (Dec. 11). 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 to record his first career double-double. 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.
MISTER CAN YOU SPARE A DIME?: Elfrid Payton has shown his continued development as the Cajuns' point guard by handing out 78 assists this year to lead the Sun Belt averaging 4.9 assists per game. He matched his career high with nine assists at North Texas on Dec. 1, a career high originally set against North Texas in the Sun Belt Championship last year.
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 (16.6), rebounding (9.7) and blocks (2.1), shooting .486 from the field (105-216) and .769 from the line (40-52). He ranks third in the league in scoring and rebounding, fourth in blocks, seventh in free throw percentage and 13th in field goal percentage. He has eight double-doubles and six 20-point games. He had a career-high 27 points in the win at North Texas (Dec. 1) and added 17 points anda c areer-high 17 rebounds at McNeese State (Dec. 8) the following week.
. . . AND LONG SCORES THE BASKETBALL: With the second half of the basketball season beginning on Saturday at FIU (it is the 17th of at least 32 games), Shawn Long's six 20-point games has put the redshirt freshman on pace to record the most 20-plus point performances by a Cajun since former Sun Belt Player of the Year Tyren Johnson accomplished it 12 times in 2009-10.
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 7.1 points and 2.9 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. Most recently, he raised his career high again, scoring 17 points at McNeese State on Dec. 8. For the year, Wronkoski is shooting .395 from three-point (15-39) and is shooting .788 from the line (26-33).
MORE MOORE: Junior forward Elridge Moore has quickly earned a place for himself in the lineup, starting all but one game and averaging 5.3 points. He is second on the team in both steals (19) and blocks (8) and is fourth in rebounding (3.4). 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.
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.
MARLIN EARNS EXTENSION: Third-year head coach Bob Marlin was given a new five-year contract on Dec. 4 that will keep him on the Cajuns' sidelines through the 2016-17 season. In his first two seasons, Marlin's teams have won 21 Sun Belt games, the second-highest total in the league over that span, and his .656 winning percentage in league games is the highest among active Sun Belt coaches.
NEXT UP: The Cajuns returns to the Cajundome to host South Alabama on Thursday (Jan. 10) at 7:00 p.m. and Arkansas State on Saturday (Jan. 12) at approximately 7:15 p.m.
Quannas White Media Availability (Nov 11, 2025)
Wednesday, November 12
De'Vion Lavergne and Milan Mejia Media Availability (Nov 11, 2025)
Wednesday, November 12
Quannas White Media Availability (Nov 10, 2025)
Monday, November 10
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Saturday, November 08
