University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
7-12,2-6Sun Bel
UT Arlington
7-12,3-5Sun Bel
Injury-Riddled Ragin' Cajuns Drop 81-65 Decision To UTA
1/16/2020 10:07:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Louisiana hosts Texas State on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Already without the freshman duo of Kobe Julien and Javonne Lowery to season-ending knee injuries, point guard Trajan Wesley (concussion) and freshman Mylik Wilson (knee sprain), Louisiana (7-12, 2-6 Sun Belt) received a shot in the arm with the return of senior guard P.J. Hardy, who missed the past seven games with an ankle injury.
But, again, Louisiana was forced to dress nine players for the third straight game after junior forward Dou Gueye missed his first game of the season with the flu.
UTA (7-12, 3-5 Sun Belt), which won its first game in Lafayette since an 89-64 victory on Feb. 7, 2015, never trailed after David Azore's 3-pointer with 18:16 remaining in the first half gave the Mavericks a 5-2 lead.
The Mavs stretched their lead to 26-16 on a bucket by Sam Griffin with 10:57 remaining and extended it to 42-29 on David Steelman's 3-pointer at the 4:11 mark.
Louisiana closed the gap to 50-41 when freshman Calvin Temple's 3-pointer beat the buzzer just before halftime, and 57-52 when Jalen Johnson sank a 3-pointer with 15:00 remaining.
But that would be as close as Louisiana would get the rest of the night as UTA scored the next 11 points, taking advantage of 11 straight misses from the floor by the Ragin' Cajuns, who would go without a field goal for the next 7:18.
Griffin scored 14 points for UTA, which went 9-for-25 (36 percent) from behind the 3-point line after connecting on 28 percent in its first seven league games. Azores scored 12 points for the Mavs with Jordan Phillips and Jabari Narcis scoring 10 each.
Johnson scored a game-high 23 points to lead Louisiana, which went 8-for-29 (27.6 percent) from the floor in the second half and finished 21-for-59 (35.6 percent) for the game. Tirus Smith recorded his first career Division I double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds while Hardy scored 10 points and dished out a season-high five assists in a season-high 38 minutes of play.
Freshman Chris Spenkuch added a season-high eight points for the Ragin' Cajuns while Cedric Russell, hobbled by an injured foot, was limited to 1-for-6 from the floor and finished with six points in 31 minutes.
Louisiana will return to action on Saturday when it plays host to Texas State at the Cajundome. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Officea at the Cajundome at (337) 265-2170.
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsMBB), Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsMBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Men's Basketball.
