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For so many years, it was a huge game on the Ragin' Cajuns' basketball schedule, one that the fans - and the players - circled on the calendar before the season ever started.
In the late 1960's and through the '70s, USL and McNeese was one of "the" hoops rivalries. It didn't get much more intense.
Now, the series is only a shadow of what it once was. Both programs have moved on, and it only becomes important for a couple of December days when the Cajuns and the Cowboys meet. The teams play this year's renewal at 7 p.m. tonight at the Lake Charles Civic Center, and both teams are struggling.
The Cajuns are 2-9 and have lost four in a row heading into the non-conference meeting, with the meat of the Sun Belt Conference season beginning next week. The host Cowboys are 4-7 with two wins over non-Division I foes.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061223/SPORTS/612230318/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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This isn't how the Cajuns wanted to go into the heart of league play, and it isn't where UL coach Robert Lee wanted his team to be at the break.
Both squads are hoping for as good a game tonight, but both will need to improve a great deal from recent outings if that's going to happen. The Cajuns were on the wrong end of 17-2 and 11-2 runs in the first half at Fullerton and trailed 44-23 at halftime, and then didn't score for nearly six minutes in a second-half cold streak.
Ross Mouton (19.1) had exactly his average against the Titans but was the only double-figure scorer. David Dees (18.9), who entered the game leading UL with a 21.1 average, was held to four points.
"We didn't handle the pressure they put on us," Lee said. "It was tough, but the only way this team can be successful is if we stick together and just work hard every day."
McNeese second-year coach Dave Simmons knows that story. The Cowboys shot 20.7 percent (6-of-29) in the second half at Mississippi Valley and was outscored 43-21, with the Delta Devils getting twice as many field goals (28 to 14) on fewer shots.
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