Turnovers cause Cajuns headaches

<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. — UL remains the most physically talented team in the Sun Belt Conference, but lately the Ragin’ Cajuns have been providing their opponents an equalizer.

The Cajuns turned the ball over 21 times in last Saturday’s 81-76 loss at Rice in Bracket Buster action, then handed it over 20 times in Monday’s 71-68 defeat at North Texas in Sun Belt play.

That's not how coach Jessie Evans would define making a stretch run to a title.

“We could have won those two games without the extraordinary amount of turnovers we had, and if we had done a better job of taking care of the ball at the end of halves,” Evans said.

“Those turnovers were caused by our impatience. We have a lead, and then we try to increase it with spectacular plays. We can complete those at home, but on the road it’s a little tougher.

“An old coach once told me years ago to take care of the fundamental plays, and the hard plays will take care of themselves.”

The Cajuns, who host Arkansas State tonight and Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday to wrap up the regular season, knew what was on the agenda when they strolled into practice on Wednesday.

“We will continue to point out the careless plays (on tape) to them,” Evans said. “We’ll continue to emphasize that in film sessions, and in the drills we do out on the floor.”

Evans also pondered the value of “punishment running” to address the recent affliction.

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Bruce Brown
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“It comes down to decisions,” Evans said. “We had a double-digit lead before halftime at Rice and got too aggressive. So, as a result, our lead was significantly less.

“I have all the confidence in the world that we’ll get the situation rectified.”

Losing three of their last four games, and two in a row for the first time this season, hasn’t shaken the Cajuns’ confidence.

“Obviously,” Evans said, “we’re real confident, with some of the plays we try to make.

“We needed to get some rest, get back to our own beds, and we were able to do that last night.”

Counting road games at South Alabama, New Orleans and New Mexico State, the Cajuns are coming off a five-game trip.

“It's good to be back home,” Evans said. “We’ve been away from the Cajundome for 19 days. It was a rough trip, one we hope never to have to take again.

“It’s tough on the road, both physically and mentally, and we were tired. We needed to get out on the floor and shoot a little bit.”

Not to mention working on avoiding those turnovers.
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