University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Back at Full Strength, Cajuns Visit Troy Seeking Win Streak
2/1/2013 2:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Notes Package
Game 24
Louisiana (8-15, 4-8) at Troy (9-13, 4-7)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m. CST
Site: Trojan Arena (5,200), Troy, Ala.
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None live, streaming available on the internet via TroyTrojans.com.
Series: Louisiana Leads, 7-4
Last Meeting: UL 83, Troy 78 (2/4/12, Troy, Ala.)
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 38-46 (3rd year)
4-Year Overall: 263-177 (15th year)
All Collegiate: 386-212 (20th year)
vs. Troy: 2-0
TROY
DON MAESTRI (Southern Miss '69)
At Troy: 497-396 (32nd year)
Overall: 497-396 (32nd year)
vs. Louisiana: 4-7
SETTING THE SCENE: After exploding for a 105-74 win over North Texas on Thursday, Louisiana travels to Troy, Ala., where they will face the Trojans on Saturday, Feb. 2 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the recently opened Trojan Arena on the Troy campus. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the Ragin' Cajuns women's team facing Troy beginning at 5:15 p.m. The Cajuns (8-15) took over sole possession of third place in the west division with Thursday's win. This will be the first meeting of the year with Troy (9-13, 4-7), who dropped a 65-61 decision at WKU on Thursday night. The Trojans are in last place in the Sun Belt east division, 2-1/2 games out of third place. It's the 12th series meeting between Louisiana and Troy – all in Sun Belt play – with the Cajuns owning a 7-4 lead in the series. Louisiana takes a pair of three-game win streaks into the contest, having won the last three games in the series and the last three games played in Troy. This will be the first game in Trojan Arena, which was dedicated on Sept. 8.
CAJUNS IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns received several mentions in the NCAA basketball statistics, which were released on Friday (Feb. 1) and included games through Jan. 31. Individually, Shawn Long ranked third nationally in double-doubles (14), 12th in rebounds (10.5) and 62nd in blocks (2.0) while Elfrid Payton is 23rd in steals (2.3) and 46th in assists (5.3).
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 23-point, 13-rebound effort against North Texas on Thursday gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his 14th double-double in 23 games, good for third nationally. Towson's Jerrelle Benimon and Mike Muscala from Bucknell continue to share the national lead with 15 double-doubles. Long is tied for third with the senior trio of Siena's O.D. Anosike, Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Richard Howell of North Carolina State, one back with 14 double-doubles. Long has registered double-doubles in six straight games (Jan. 10-present) and has eight double-doubles in 11 league games this season.
A TRIPLE-TWENTY: When Elfrid Payton (22 points), Alan-Michael Thompson (22) and Shawn Long (21) each surpassed the 20-point mark against FIU on Jan. 24, it marked the first time since 2005-06 season that the Cajuns had three players with 20 or more points in a game. That came when Michael Southall (21), Dwayne Mitchell (21) and Ed Turner (20) each surpassed that mark in an 89-77 win over McNeese State on Dec. 22, 2005, 224 games ago.
. . . AND ALMOST TWO IN A ROW: You had to go back 224 games to find the last time three Cajuns each scored 20 points in a game, but the Cajuns almost made it two games in a row when Elfrid Payton (24 points), Shawn Long (23) and Bryant Mbamalu (18) helped the Ragin' Cajuns total 105 points against North Texas on Thursday night. Mbamalu may well have reached the 20-point mark but was subbed out with 3:37 left and Louisiana comfortably ahead, 92-66.
LONG ENJOYS SWATTING SHOTS: With 45 blocked shots in 23 games this year, Shawn Long ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in blocks. His block total ranks him eighth on the Louisiana single season chart, three short of seventh place Reginald Poole, who blocked 48 shots in 1996-97. Long's 2.0 blocks per game is fifth-best in school history.
A 20-POINT BARRAGE: One by-product of Louisiana leading the Sun Belt this year in scoring with an average of 71.3 points per game is an increased number of 20 point games by Cajuns individuals. In 32 games last year, six different Cajuns players combined to record nine 20-point performances with Josh Brown (3) being the only player with more than one 20-point game. In 23 games this year, Louisiana players have twenty 20-point efforts. Shawn Long leads the way with nine while Elfrid Payton (6), Bryant Mbamalu (4) and Alan-Michael Thompson have also surpasseed the mark.
. . . AND A 105-POINT BARRAGE: The 105 points by the Cajuns against North Texas on Thursday was the most points by a Sun Belt team this year. It marked the second time that Louisiana surpassed the 100-point mark in three seasons under Bob Marlin (102 vs. Dillard on Dec. 12, 2011). It was the most points by the Cajuns since UL scored 110 at Western Kentucky on January 29, 2004.
LONG RANGE SCORING: Bob Marlin said during the preseason that the three-point shot would be more prominent in the offense this year and that forecast has been accurate. With 11 three-pointers against North Texas on Thursday, Louisiana now ranks second in the league averaging 6.96 treys per game (FIU leads with 7.05 treys per game). The Cajuns made 74 treys in the first 12 games (6.2/game) with no double-figure games but have found their shooting touch of late, averaging 7.8 three-pointers (86 total) over the last 11 contests with four double-figure games. Louisiana has made 160 treys in 23 games this year and is quickly approaching the 172 three-pointers it made in 32 games last season.
FINALLY SOME THURSDAY SUCCESS: The 105-74 win over North Texas on Thursday was the first win by the Ragin' Cajuns in seven Thursday night games this year.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
SETTING THE SCENE: After exploding for a 105-74 win over North Texas on Thursday, Louisiana travels to Troy, Ala., where they will face the Trojans on Saturday, Feb. 2 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the recently opened Trojan Arena on the Troy campus. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the Ragin' Cajuns women's team facing Troy beginning at 5:15 p.m. The Cajuns (8-15) took over sole possession of third place in the west division with Thursday's win. This will be the first meeting of the year with Troy (9-13, 4-7), who dropped a 65-61 decision at WKU on Thursday night. The Trojans are in last place in the Sun Belt east division, 2-1/2 games out of third place. It's the 12th series meeting between Louisiana and Troy – all in Sun Belt play – with the Cajuns owning a 7-4 lead in the series. Louisiana takes a pair of three-game win streaks into the contest, having won the last three games in the series and the last three games played in Troy. This will be the first game in Trojan Arena, which was dedicated on Sept. 8.
CAJUNS IN THE NCAA STATS: The Cajuns received several mentions in the NCAA basketball statistics, which were released on Friday (Feb. 1) and included games through Jan. 31. Individually, Shawn Long ranked third nationally in double-doubles (14), 12th in rebounds (10.5) and 62nd in blocks (2.0) while Elfrid Payton is 23rd in steals (2.3) and 46th in assists (5.3).
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: A 23-point, 13-rebound effort against North Texas on Thursday gave redshirt freshman forward Shawn Long his 14th double-double in 23 games, good for third nationally. Towson's Jerrelle Benimon and Mike Muscala from Bucknell continue to share the national lead with 15 double-doubles. Long is tied for third with the senior trio of Siena's O.D. Anosike, Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Richard Howell of North Carolina State, one back with 14 double-doubles. Long has registered double-doubles in six straight games (Jan. 10-present) and has eight double-doubles in 11 league games this season.
A TRIPLE-TWENTY: When Elfrid Payton (22 points), Alan-Michael Thompson (22) and Shawn Long (21) each surpassed the 20-point mark against FIU on Jan. 24, it marked the first time since 2005-06 season that the Cajuns had three players with 20 or more points in a game. That came when Michael Southall (21), Dwayne Mitchell (21) and Ed Turner (20) each surpassed that mark in an 89-77 win over McNeese State on Dec. 22, 2005, 224 games ago.
. . . AND ALMOST TWO IN A ROW: You had to go back 224 games to find the last time three Cajuns each scored 20 points in a game, but the Cajuns almost made it two games in a row when Elfrid Payton (24 points), Shawn Long (23) and Bryant Mbamalu (18) helped the Ragin' Cajuns total 105 points against North Texas on Thursday night. Mbamalu may well have reached the 20-point mark but was subbed out with 3:37 left and Louisiana comfortably ahead, 92-66.
LONG ENJOYS SWATTING SHOTS: With 45 blocked shots in 23 games this year, Shawn Long ranks fourth in the Sun Belt in blocks. His block total ranks him eighth on the Louisiana single season chart, three short of seventh place Reginald Poole, who blocked 48 shots in 1996-97. Long's 2.0 blocks per game is fifth-best in school history.
A 20-POINT BARRAGE: One by-product of Louisiana leading the Sun Belt this year in scoring with an average of 71.3 points per game is an increased number of 20 point games by Cajuns individuals. In 32 games last year, six different Cajuns players combined to record nine 20-point performances with Josh Brown (3) being the only player with more than one 20-point game. In 23 games this year, Louisiana players have twenty 20-point efforts. Shawn Long leads the way with nine while Elfrid Payton (6), Bryant Mbamalu (4) and Alan-Michael Thompson have also surpasseed the mark.
. . . AND A 105-POINT BARRAGE: The 105 points by the Cajuns against North Texas on Thursday was the most points by a Sun Belt team this year. It marked the second time that Louisiana surpassed the 100-point mark in three seasons under Bob Marlin (102 vs. Dillard on Dec. 12, 2011). It was the most points by the Cajuns since UL scored 110 at Western Kentucky on January 29, 2004.
LONG RANGE SCORING: Bob Marlin said during the preseason that the three-point shot would be more prominent in the offense this year and that forecast has been accurate. With 11 three-pointers against North Texas on Thursday, Louisiana now ranks second in the league averaging 6.96 treys per game (FIU leads with 7.05 treys per game). The Cajuns made 74 treys in the first 12 games (6.2/game) with no double-figure games but have found their shooting touch of late, averaging 7.8 three-pointers (86 total) over the last 11 contests with four double-figure games. Louisiana has made 160 treys in 23 games this year and is quickly approaching the 172 three-pointers it made in 32 games last season.
FINALLY SOME THURSDAY SUCCESS: The 105-74 win over North Texas on Thursday was the first win by the Ragin' Cajuns in seven Thursday night games this year.
MARLIN NEARS MILESTONE: Third-year Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin is quickly closing in on the 600th game of his coaching career with Saturday's game at Troy being his 599th with his 600th coming at home against UL-Monroe on Feb. 10. A 33-year coaching veteran, Marlin has served as a head coach for 20 seasons since taking over as head coach at Pensacola JC for the 1990-91 campaign. Marlin is 386-212 in those 20 seasons, going 123-35 in five seasons at Pensacola and 225-131 in 12 years at Sam Houston State. He is 38-46 in his third year at Louisiana.
THE SCORING TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (16.3 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (15.3) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.2) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 61 percent of the points this season (999 of 1,641). Together, they have reached double figures 55 of the possible 65 times this year, including 17 games of 20-points or more. They combined to score a season-best 65 points vs. North Texas on Thursday and previously scored 62 points at Florida Atlantic (Jan. 3), 60 at North Texas on Dec. 1 and 59 vs. South Alabama (Jan. 10). The trio has totaled 50 points or more six times this year.
. . . LOOKING AT THE TRIO FROM A SUN BELT PERSPECTIVE: A look at the most recent Sun Belt statistics shows that the trio of Shawn Long (16.3 ppg), Elfrid Payton (15.4) and Bryant Mbamalu (14.2) rank third, fourth and 10th, respectively in league scoring. FIU and Florida Atlantic are the only other teams that have two players in the top 10 in scoring, but neither have a third player ranked in the top 25. In Sun Belt games only, Payton (17.2), Mbamalu (17.1) and Long (16.3) rank third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
. . . WITH MBAMALU OUT, CAJUNS FIND THIRD SCORER: Senior Alan-Michael Thompson helped to offset the loss of Bryant Mbamalu against FIU on Jan. 24 by scoring a career-high 22 points. He teamed with Elfrid Payton (22 points) and Shawn Long (21) to score 65 of Louisiana's 75 points, the highest total of the year.
A SATURDAY OFF: After playing FIU on Jan. 24, the Cajuns took Saturday off last week, their first off-Saturday since late November. After going through the month of November without playing any games on a Saturday, the Cajuns had played games on eight straight Saturdays since Dec. 1, with five of those contests coming on the road. Another light week is ahead as UL will take next Thursday (Feb. 7) and Saturday (Feb. 9) off next week, playing their lone game on Sunday (Feb. 10) at home against UL-Monroe. The game was originally slated for Saturday, but had to be moved because of scheduling conflicts with the Cajundome and its Mardis Gras schedule.
. . . A LITTLE HELP: The Ragin' Cajuns received some good news on Thursday when Bryant Mbamalu returned to the lineup after missing four games with a thumb injury. Mbamalu entered the North Texas game early in the first half and went on to score 18 points in 28 minutes. Sophomore Donovan Williams, who played in two games before suffering a knee injury that required surgery, returned to practice this week and might be available to play soon.
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 after missing the Arkansas State game with an ankle sprain and scored eight points against both WKU and Middle Tennessee and a career-high 22 vs. FIU on Jan. 24. Over his last nine games, Thompson is averaging 9.9 points, scoring in double figures four times.
. . . AND THOMPSON HAS BOUNCED BACK: After opening the year by shooting just .216 from three-point in his first 12 games, Alan-Michael Thompson has bounced back to for 19-for-47 from three-point over his last eight games to improve to .321 (27-84) for the year.
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 106-for-148 (.716) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (13-14), Shawn Long (17-22) and Steven Wronkoski (12-17) 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.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 16.3 scoring average through 23 games and a 0.9 points per game average ahead of second-leading scorer Elfrid Payton (15.4 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 (10.5), third in scoring (16.5) and fourth in blocks (2.0), 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 takes both Thursday and Saturday night off next week before returning to the court for a rare Sunday contest. The Cajuns will take on UL-Monroe on Feb. 10 beginning at approximately 7:15 p.m. in the Cajundome. The game is a doubleheader with the women's basketball team hosting the Warhawks beginning at 5:00 p.m.
THE SCORING TRIO: The Cajun trio of freshman Shawn Long (16.3 ppg), sophomore Elfrid Payton (15.3) and junior Bryant Mbamalu (14.2) have led the Louisiana offense, combining to score 61 percent of the points this season (999 of 1,641). Together, they have reached double figures 55 of the possible 65 times this year, including 17 games of 20-points or more. They combined to score a season-best 65 points vs. North Texas on Thursday and previously scored 62 points at Florida Atlantic (Jan. 3), 60 at North Texas on Dec. 1 and 59 vs. South Alabama (Jan. 10). The trio has totaled 50 points or more six times this year.
. . . LOOKING AT THE TRIO FROM A SUN BELT PERSPECTIVE: A look at the most recent Sun Belt statistics shows that the trio of Shawn Long (16.3 ppg), Elfrid Payton (15.4) and Bryant Mbamalu (14.2) rank third, fourth and 10th, respectively in league scoring. FIU and Florida Atlantic are the only other teams that have two players in the top 10 in scoring, but neither have a third player ranked in the top 25. In Sun Belt games only, Payton (17.2), Mbamalu (17.1) and Long (16.3) rank third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
. . . WITH MBAMALU OUT, CAJUNS FIND THIRD SCORER: Senior Alan-Michael Thompson helped to offset the loss of Bryant Mbamalu against FIU on Jan. 24 by scoring a career-high 22 points. He teamed with Elfrid Payton (22 points) and Shawn Long (21) to score 65 of Louisiana's 75 points, the highest total of the year.
A SATURDAY OFF: After playing FIU on Jan. 24, the Cajuns took Saturday off last week, their first off-Saturday since late November. After going through the month of November without playing any games on a Saturday, the Cajuns had played games on eight straight Saturdays since Dec. 1, with five of those contests coming on the road. Another light week is ahead as UL will take next Thursday (Feb. 7) and Saturday (Feb. 9) off next week, playing their lone game on Sunday (Feb. 10) at home against UL-Monroe. The game was originally slated for Saturday, but had to be moved because of scheduling conflicts with the Cajundome and its Mardis Gras schedule.
. . . A LITTLE HELP: The Ragin' Cajuns received some good news on Thursday when Bryant Mbamalu returned to the lineup after missing four games with a thumb injury. Mbamalu entered the North Texas game early in the first half and went on to score 18 points in 28 minutes. Sophomore Donovan Williams, who played in two games before suffering a knee injury that required surgery, returned to practice this week and might be available to play soon.
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 after missing the Arkansas State game with an ankle sprain and scored eight points against both WKU and Middle Tennessee and a career-high 22 vs. FIU on Jan. 24. Over his last nine games, Thompson is averaging 9.9 points, scoring in double figures four times.
. . . AND THOMPSON HAS BOUNCED BACK: After opening the year by shooting just .216 from three-point in his first 12 games, Alan-Michael Thompson has bounced back to for 19-for-47 from three-point over his last eight games to improve to .321 (27-84) for the year.
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 106-for-148 (.716) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (13-14), Shawn Long (17-22) and Steven Wronkoski (12-17) 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.
LONG TRIES TO EQUAL FRESHMAN SCORING FEAT: With a 16.3 scoring average through 23 games and a 0.9 points per game average ahead of second-leading scorer Elfrid Payton (15.4 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 (10.5), third in scoring (16.5) and fourth in blocks (2.0), 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 takes both Thursday and Saturday night off next week before returning to the court for a rare Sunday contest. The Cajuns will take on UL-Monroe on Feb. 10 beginning at approximately 7:15 p.m. in the Cajundome. The game is a doubleheader with the women's basketball team hosting the Warhawks beginning at 5:00 p.m.
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
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