Ragin' Cajuns open 2005 on road at Vanderbilt
<blockquote><p align=justify>Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun men's basketball team has proven it can win on the road. Now it's time to take that proof to another level.
The Cajuns play their final non-conference road game today when they travel to face Vanderbilt's Commodores in a rare Sunday contest at Memorial Coliseum in Nashville.
The Cajuns (5-5) posted a buzzer-beating 71-70 victory over McNeese State in Lake Charles back on Dec. 23 in their last outing, that win courtesy of senior Chris Cameron's three-point basket with 0.9 seconds left. The win was UL's first on a hostile court this season.
However, head coach Robert Lee said his team will have to play better than in that win today against an 8-4 Vanderbilt team that has won four straight games and is 8-0 in Memorial Coliseum this year.
"They're a very solid team," Lee said during preparations for the first meeting between the clubs since 1966. "They're probably the most solid fundamental team that we've played this season, especially at home."
The Commodores' only losses this season are two games in the Las Vegas Holiday Invitational, a loss to Oregon in Portland and a 16-point setback at nationally-ranked Cincinnati.
Vanderbilt has beaten TCU, Central Michigan, Appalachian State and Dayton in its current streak, downing the Flyers 90-74 Wednesday night in its last outing. The Commodores had six players in double figures in that win, and backup Dan Cage and 7-foot-2 forward Dawid Przybyszewski each hit five three-pointers - part of VU's 13-of-23 three-point performance.
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Dan McDonald
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Vanderbilt has scored 86 or more points four times this year, and put up 90 Wednesday against a Dayton team that had been allowing only 60.2 per game.
"We're going to have to defend better," Lee said, "but we did some good things defensively against McNeese. We've just got to keep that going and keep rebounding well."
The Cajuns entered the McNeese game letting opponents shoot 49.4 percent from the field, but held the Cowboys to a 34.4 shooting percentage, forced 20 turnovers and had 11 steals in that win.
UL also got two defensive stops in the final 90 seconds to help overcome a four-point deficit and go into its extended Christmas break at .500.
Brian Hamilton had 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half of that win and also had nine rebounds, becoming the first Cajun other than Tiras Wade to lead the squad in scoring. Wade had 18 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, and Cameron (14) and Dwayne Mitchell (13) each added double figures.
The Cajuns are Vanderbilt's last opponent before beginning Southeastern Conference wars Wednesday at home against Alabama. UL has one more non-league game before starting Sun Belt Conference play, that being a Wednesday night Cajundome battle against Southern Illinois - a team that popped Vandy 67-53 in the Vegas meet.
Wade, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Week, is averaging 19.7 per game, shooting 48 percent from the field while leading the team in three-pointers, and is the team's second-leading rebounder (6.6). Hamilton is the only other active double-digit scorer at 12.0 and also tops the club on the boards (7.7).
Vanderbilt's balanced attack is arc-oriented, with six players averaging more than one three-pointer per game. Junior guard Mario Moore (14.8) leads the Commodores in scoring and has scored in double digits in 17 straight games, while Poland product Przybyszewski is second on the team in treys (23) and averaging 8.5 points per game.
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Commodores cruise past Cajuns
<blockquote><p align=justify>NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Maybe it was the nine-day layoff, or the mystique of Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym with its odd sightlines and configuration.
One thing was for sure - not much went right for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun men's basketball team here Sunday evening in its first action since Dec. 23.
UL (5-6) made its first field goal attempt of the game, a 3-pointer by Tiras Wade, but misfired on its next 11 attempts. Vanderbilt (9-4) rolled off a 19-0 run which swung the momentum in the early stages of what became a 71-44 Vanderbilt victory.
"It's a pretty simple game," said Cajun coach Robert Lee. "You have to be able to put the ball in the basket, and we couldn't make shots. If you can't make baskets, you can't win."
The Cajuns shot a season-low 29 percent for the game, making 16-of-56 field goal attempts. UL had just six assists to 19 turnovers and didn't reach 40 points until 2:06 remained in the contest. In fact, Louisiana was held to single digits through the first 14:50 of the opening half.
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Brian Hamilton and Tiras Wade combined for 30 points and 12 field goals.
But the rest of the team had only six field goals and 14 points, all of which came in the final 11 minutes when the Commodores led by 20-plus points.
Until a Ross Mouton baseline jumper with 11:10 remaining, Hamilton and Wade had scored all 26 of the Cajuns points.
"I've been around basketball for a while," Lee said, "and I'd never seen that before, two guys having all the points that late in a game."
Vanderbilt, which entered the game shooting above 40 percent from 3-point range, used its most deadly weapon to pull away. VU made nine 3-point baskets, led by five from Alex Gordon off the bench.
Hamilton and Wade led UL with 15 points as the Cajuns had a two-game win streak snapped. Gordon scored a game-high 17 points to lead Vandy. Corey Smith and Julian Terrell joined Gordon in double-digits with 13 and 10 points respectively.
VU grabbed the lead for good at 17:43 when Terrell grabbed a pass from Dawid Przybyszewski and slipped into the lane around defenders for an uncontested one-handed jam that put the hosts up 4-3.
"We thought from the start that shooting was a big question mark for this team," Lee said. "You're sure as heck not going to win at an SEC school shooting like that."
Terrell's bucket was the first of 19 unanswered points by Vandy that gave the Commodores a 21-3 lead after Alex Gordon completed a four-point play with 13:08 remaining before the half.
"We thought from the start that shooting was a big question mark for this team," Lee said. "You're sure as heck not going to win at an SEC school shooting like that."
Wade ended the Cajun field goal drought at 12:20 when he rebounded a missed three-point attempt from Anthony Rhodman and got a baseline layup.
Louisiana hung around through the end of the first half as the defense limited Vanderbilt to just five points over the next nine minutes. The Cajuns outscored the Commodores 13-5 during that time frame with a Hamilton freebie at 3:30 capping a 7-0 run and trimming the Vandy lead to 26-16.
The Cajuns were down just 16 points at intermission despite the fact that only two players had scored and the team was shooting just 25 percent from the floor. It was still a 34-21 game with 17:00 left before Vanderbilt made three of four three-point tries to reopen a comfortable lead. The Cajuns made only two field goals over the last 9:35 and the Commodores outscored the Cajuns 18-3 to end the contest.
Louisiana returns to action and concludes non-conference play on Wednesday at the Cajundome in a game against Southern Illinois (11-2) at 7:05 p.m., when the Cajuns put a 14-game non-conference home streak on the line.
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