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Eliminated from the Sun Belt West Division title and the possibility of a first-round bye in the SBC Tournament, Louisiana now tries to stay in contention for a host spot in the first round of the tournament.
● Louisiana is currently in a four-way tie for seventh place in the race for Sun Belt Tournament seeding. UL is tied with Arkansas State, Denver and ULM with a 5-8 SBC mark. After tiebreaking procedures, Louisiana holds the No. 8 seed. Seeds four through eight host a first round game.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns meet Arkansas State tonight. The winner will break free from the current four-way tie and have the upper-hand in head-to-head tiebreaking procedures.
● This is the only meeting between The Ragin’ Cajuns and Red Wolves this season.
● UL will play three of the final five games at the CAJUNDOME. Good news, considering the team is 4-2 at home in SBC play and only 1-6 on the road.
● Randell Daigle made a career-high six three-pointers at ULM. He also tallied his 100th career triple and currently has 102 in 44 career games.
● In the last home game (vs. FIU), Louisiana drained 14 triples and shot above 50 percent nearly the entire contest. The Ragin’ Cajuns have made at least seven 3’s in the last three home games (32 total for an average of 10.7 made per game).
● One team will end a losing streak: Louisiana (L2) or Arkansas State (L4)
<b> SECOND HALF SURGES </b>
● UL has outscored the opposition 53-21 in the final seven minutes of the last two games.
● Outscored North Texas 30-10 and followed up outscoring ULM 23-11.
<b> PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES </b>
● Louisiana has been a team that plays the percentages – seven of eight wins have come when leading at the half and when out-rebounding the opposition.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns are 6-1 when shooting better than the opponent; 2-15 shooting worse.
● UL is 6-4 scoring above 70 points; conversely only 2-12 scoring below 70.
<b> IMPROVED FREE THROW SHOOTING </b>
● UL has shot above 68 percent each of the last seven games – 101-of-132 (77 percent) is the mark during the stretch. Has helped raise season percentage from 61% to 66%.
<b> THE 500 CLUB </b>
● Chris Gradnigo reached 500 career points at Florida Atlantic. Now two other Cajuns are in the neighborhood of 500 career points.
● Travis Bureau (442) is 58 shy of 500. Randell Daigle (423) is exactly 77 away.
<b> THE TRIPLE THREAT </b>
● The combination of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo fuel the Louisiana offense.
● They combine to average 38.4 points of The Ragin’ Cajuns’ 67.6 average (57%).
● They combine for 124 three-point field goals made out of UL’s 177 (70%).
● Overall shooting percentages: Gradnigo (45.4%), Bureau (43.2%), Daigle (39.6%).
<b> ULM LEFTOVERS </b>
● The Ragin’ Cajuns’ four-game win streak over ULM was snapped. The series is now tied 14-all in Monroe and UL’s lead at Fant-Ewing Coliseum is now 6-4.
● Randell Daigle attempted 15 three-pointers – a UL record in a Sun Belt game.
● Daigle scored 23 points, his highest output since scoring 24 at LSU on Dec. 31.
● La’Ryan Gary scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in 18 minutes of action during the second half.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns held ULM to only one field goal make in the final 6:19.
● Daigle’s trey at 4:55 of the second half marked the 100th of his career.
● Louisiana committed 11 turnovers in the first half which led to 13 ULM points.
● Chris Gradnigo only played nine minutes, as he was limited by an illness.
<b> LAST TIME VS. ARKANSAS STATE </b>
(Feb. 16, 2008 in Jonesboro – UL won 65-59)
● The Ragin’ Cajuns used a jumper by Abray Milson, three-point basket by Chris Gradnigo and a basket by Elijah Millsap to take an early 15-9 lead.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns began the second half with an 8-2 spurt to take their lead back to double figures. UL held a 41-29 lead with 14:27 to play.
● A layup by Randell Daigle pushed the lead to its biggest margin, 45-31. Two triples from Ryan Wedel triggered a 10-4 ASU run that took The Ragin’ Cajuns lead down to eight points at the midway point of the half.
● Courtney Wallace made two big free throws with 3:08 remaining to take The Ragin’ Cajuns lead to eight points, 60-52.
<b> LAST TIME VS. ARKANSAS STATE IN CAJUNDOME </b>
(Jan. 3, 2008 – UL won 73-63)
● After The Ragin’ Cajuns tied the game, Arkansas State posted a 13-2 run, taking a commanding 19-8 lead.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns capped a 12-0 run on a La’Ryan Gary tip-in, extending Louisiana’s advantage to 27-24.
● UL took a six-point lead, 40-34, to start the second half before the Indians engineered a 9-0 run, taking a 43-40 edge.
● David Dees rebounded a Shawn Morgan miss and finished with a three-pointer for a four-point UL lead, 63-59, with 3:34 remaining. From there, Louisiana outscored ASU 10-4 down the stretch for the 10-point victory.
<b> BY THE NUMBERS </b>
1 - UL’s defense held ULM to only one field goal make in the final six minutes
2nd - In Sun Belt games only, The Ragin’ Cajuns rank second in the league in 3-point field goals made (7.69 pg)
4-0 - Louisiana’s record in games when the team scores above 80
5 - La’Ryan Gary needs five rebounds to reach 200 career boards
9-of-11 - Louisiana has won nine of the past 11 meetings vs. Arkansas State in the CAJUNDOME
13 - Louisiana has committed 13 or fewer turnovers in the last four games, and six of seven overall
14 - Consecutive free throws made by Tyren Johnson. Last miss was vs. Denver (1/3)
14-0 - ULM’s scoring run that spanned 2:10 which broke a 21-all tie in the first half
14-4 - Chris Gradnigo’s points average in Sun Belt play. He’s scored double figures in 10 of The Ragin’ Cajuns’ 13 Sun Belt contests
16 - After averaging 42-plus bench points in the previous three meetings with ULM, The Ragin’ Cajuns bench scored just 16 Thursday in Monroe
102- Randell Daigle’s number of career three-point baskets made in 44 career games played.
<b> SERIES HISTORY </b>
Louisiana leads 41-17, overall; Louisiana leads 14-5 in CAJUNDOME; Louisiana leads 22-6 in Lafayette)
● This is the first meeting in which Arkansas State plays under its new nickname, “Red Wolves”.
● The two teams are hitting the hardwood in the CAJUNDOME for the 20th time with UL holding a 14-5 edge in games played in the facility. Louisiana has won nine of the past 11 CAJUNDOME meetings. Louisiana is 22-6 all-time at home against ASU (went 8-1 at Blackham Coliseum).
● The Ragin’ Cajuns lead the series 18-10 since the two teams joined the Sun Belt in 1991-92.
● UL is aiming for its fourth straight win over ASU. That would be the longest win streak for UL in the series since taking four straight meetings Feb. 23, 1989 through March 2, 1990.
● The two schools were both members of the American South Conference from 1987-91, establishing a relationship as conference foes which is currently at 22 straight years.
<b> TOURNEY TALK
● Louisiana is currently holding eighth (8th) place in overall Sun Belt standings which determine seeding for the conference's postseason tournament. UL is in a four-way tie with Arkansas State, Denver and ULM for seventh place. Arkansas State wins the four-way tiebreaker and therefore currently holds the No. 7 seed.
● Seeds four through eight host first round games. As of today, Louisiana (No. 8) is still in position to host.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns trail North Texas (7-6 SBC) by two full games for fifth (5th) place and South Alabama (7-7 SBC) by 1-1/2 half games for sixth (6th) place.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns are in a precarious position. While they are only two games out of fifth place, they are also only one-half game ahead of 12th place UNO (5-9 SBC).
● The loss to ULM eliminated UL from the possiblity of receiving a bye in the first round of the SBC Tournament. The highest The Ragin’ Cajuns can finish is fourth, which is currently occupied by Middle Tennessee (8-5 SBC). UL trails MT by three games, but the Blue Raiders hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
● The next UL loss combined with a Middle Tennessee win will eliminate The Ragin’ Cajuns from the No. 4 seed.
<b> UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
The Ragin' Cajuns travel to Denver on Wednesday, Feb. 18 to meet the Pioneers on Thursday, Feb. 19 at Magness Arena. Game time is 8 p.m. (CST) and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
Louisiana rallied from a 15-point deficit in the first half to force overtime and defeat DU 63-62 in double OT on Jan. 3 in the CAJUNDOME. The Pioneers have won three of the last four meetings in Magness Arena.
The Ragin’ Cajuns go for the sweep of DU, which would give Louisiana the head-to-head tiebreaker at the end of the season.
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