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TROY, Ala. – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns tied a school record with 15 three-pointers which carried the team to an 83-81 victory over Troy here Saturday evening at Trojan Arena. It was Louisiana’s first road victory of the season and helped the squad bounce back from a stunning three-point loss at New Orleans two nights before.
It was the final two treys for Louisiana (6-9, 3-2 Sun Belt) which made the difference. Troy had rolled off a 10-2 run to cut the Cajuns lead to 68-66 with 6:56 remaining in the game.
Travis Bureau fired home a trey at the 5:06 mark to make it 71-66. Troy answered with a three-point make by Kenny Ware nine seconds later.
Randell Daigle then made the Cajuns’ the record tying 15th triple at 4:33 to answer Ware’s bucket and increase the lead to 74-69. Two possessions later it was Bureau being fouled by Michael Vogler on a three-point attempt with 3:14 left on the clock. He made all three free throws and the Cajuns lead grew to six points, 77-71.
That proved to be enough cushion for the Ragin’ Cajuns to hold off the Trojans (7-10, 2-3 Sun Belt) who outscored the Cajuns 8-2 to drop the deficit to 79-78 with just over 1:23 remaining.
Louisiana then sealed off the road win at the free throw line.
Tyren Johnson made two with 36 seconds remaining to make it 81-78. On the ensuing possession Emmnauel Adeife grabbed a defensive rebound off a missed jumper by Brandon Hazzard. After being fouled, a 36 percent free throw shooter, Adeife created a two possession game with two free throw makes which pushed the lead to 83-78.
For the second straight outing Louisiana placed four scorers in double figures. Headlining the group was Bureau – the team’s leading scorer – with 21 points. Bureau locked down three 3-poiners for the fourth straight game and 11th time this season. He also shot 10-of-11 from the free throw line.
Chris Gradnigo scored 18 points and was 4-of-4 from three-point range. Daigle scored 17 points and tied his career-high with five three-point makes.
Troy received a game-high 22 points off the hands of Hazzard.
Louisiana won its second straight at Trojan Arena and third straight in the regular season over the Trojans. UL now holds a 4-3 lead in the all-time series. The two teams will have a rematch at the CAJUNDOME on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The Ragin’ Cajuns came out shaky with turnovers on their first three possessions. Troy wasn’t any better, shooting 1-of-7 during the same stretch.
On the first possession out of the 15-minute media timeout it was Gradnigo out on the right wing making a trey which put Louisiana in the lead for the first time at 9-7. That was the start of a 14-0 run which vaulted the Cajuns into a 13-point lead by the 13:16 mark.
The key series in the run came after a Johnson block. UL saved the ball from going out-of-bounds and it began a series of three-point makes. First was Gradnigo at 14:26 which increased the lead to 14-7. Then on the Cajuns next two touches Corey Bloom made triples at 13:52 and 13:16 which capped off the run and moved the lead to 20-7.
The Cajuns’ hot hand continued with field goal makes on the next two possessions. Johnson tapped home a putback at 11:40 to give UL a 25-13 lead. The Trojans dropped the lead down into single digits with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes.
Troy crept within three points at the 8:35 mark when Kenny Ware dialed home a trey that lowered the UL lead to 27-24. When Troy got within three and four points on their next two possessions it was Bureau nailing three-pointers each time with his second make giving the Cajuns a 35-28 lead with 7:23 left in the first half.
Hazzard hit a triple for the Trojans 7:04 to jumpstart a 7-0 run for the hosts which forged a 35-all tie at 5:39. The Cajuns hot three-point shooting kept them from relinquishing the lead. Louisiana’s next two field goal makes were from downtown and in less than one minute the lead was stretched to 41-35.
The Ragin’ Cajuns extended the lead to nine points, 46-37, after Bureau was fouled on a three-point attempt with 3:07 on the scoreboard. Bureau’s freebies allowed Louisiana to equal the team’s season-high for points in the first half this season. Then a Corey Bloom layup at 1:54 upped the lead to 48-42 and set the Cajuns’ season-high for first half points.
Bloom’s basket was the last of a run-and-gun first half between the two teams. Both squads dropped home 17 field goal makes and were a combined 34-of-65 (52.3 percent). Entering Saturday’s game, UL was averaging 23 points in the first half the past three outings.
Louisiana turned in a 9-of-15 showing from three-point range with three from Gradnigo and two apiece from Bloom and Bureau.
Hazzard scored baskets for Troy in the first 1:17 of the second half with each one pulling the hosts within three points. Gradnigo upped his season-high in triples to four at 17:52 and UL’s lead was 53-47.
The Ragin’ Cajuns re-opened a double figure lead following the 15-minute media timeout. Daigle dialed home a trey at 14:33 and it was 59-52. Troy was unable to answer on the ensuing possession and UL swung the ball around to Daigle again and he was good once more from three-point range at 13:59.
Bureau drew a foul on a shot in the lane and made both free throws to move the lead back to double figures, 66-56. The Trojans then got their first field goal make in three minutes at 8:33 when Tom Jervis scored inside while drawing a foul on Adeife. He made the freebie at the Cajuns lead was down to 66-59.
Back-to-back turnovers by Louisiana led to five more points for the Trojans before the 7:42 mark. Vogler buried a three-pointer in the right corner at 8:13 and then stole the ball from Ryan McCoy and went coast-to-coast for a layup which made it 66-64 and forced a UL timeout.
McCoy ended Troy’s run at 7:10 with a stop-and-pop jumper near the free throw line. Troy had a quick answer at 6:56 when Hazzard got a floater to bounce around the rim and go in.
After a scoreless minute of basketball the Ragin’ Cajuns received three-point makes from Bureau and Daigle which turned out to be the biggest of the school-record tying 15 the Cajuns made.
The Ragin’ Cajuns next outing comes on Thursday, Jan. 15 at the CAJUNDOME as Louisiana welcomes Sun Belt West Division leader UALR. The game begins at 7:05 p.m., and is UL’s lone game of the week as Saturday, Jan. 17 is the Cajuns’ day off from Sun Belt competition.
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