Thursday night, Louisiana squandered an 11-point first-half lead, while UALR forced 21 turnovers as the Trojans snapped the Ragin’ Cajuns’ four-game winning streak, 74-63, at the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock...
Leading 31-20 with 3:48 remaining the first half, the Trojans went on a 13-0 run to close the first half and finished with a 20-2 run. That stretch seemed to bury the Cajuns which had made huge momentum-changing runs in the second half in their previous two Sun Belt contests...
For just the second time this season, Louisiana’s reserves were out-scored by the opponent. UALR’s bench out-scored Louisiana’s 25-17 to help preserve the victory...
While Louisiana enters Saturday’s contest after suffering its first SBC loss of the season, North Texas has won two straight Sun Belt games after starting its league slate 0-2...
Louisiana will have revenge on its mind as the Ragin’ Cajuns lost all three meetings with the Mean Green last season, including two at The Super Pit. In the first meeting with Louisiana trailing 73-72 in overtime, David Dees hit an apparent game-winning half-court shot to lift the Cajuns to victory. However, upon further review, the shot was waved off after a replay showed the ball leaving Dees’ hand after the buzzer sounded...
One month later in the regular season finale, the Cajuns were one shot away from pulling out a victory in front of the CAJUNDOME crowd, but Louisiana fell to North Texas once again, 72-70...
Then, in the first round of the SBC Championship, the Cajuns made a return trip to Denton where the third time wasn’t the charm for Louisiana. North Texas held as much as a 19-point lead, eventually holding on for the 93-78 win, eliminating the Cajuns. The Mean Green would go on to win the SBC Championship and earn the league’s NCAA Tournament automatic bid.
North Texas Preview. After two surprising losses to open its Sun Belt Conference slate, the North Texas Mean Green has won its last two games, including a 74-63 win over Arkansas State Thursday in a rematch of last season’s SBC Championship game...
Junior Collin Dennis blistered the A-State Indians for a career-high 30 points, the most by a UNT player since Chris Davis’ 30 on Feb. 8, 2003, to help the Mean Green to an 11-point triumph...
North Texas led wire-to-wire in the game, never trailing the Indians. The game started with a defensive stalemate, but a quick 13-2 run by North Texas with six minutes left in the first half led to a 32-17 lead...
A-State closed the half with a 7-0 run to make it 32-24 at the break. The second half started like the first with a Mean Green run of 18-8 to extend its lead to 50-32.
After the North Texas game Louisiana returns home for its final non-conference game of the season when the Ragin’ Cajuns welcome the Utah Valley State Wolverines to the CAJUNDOME Tuesday night. It will also serve as a reunion for UL senior center Abray Milson, who spent his freshman season at UVSC during the 2003-04 season.
A Win by Louisiana would improve the Ragin’ Cajuns’ record to 5-1 in league play, keeping them atop the Western Division standings while moving them back to .500 overall.
A Loss by Louisiana would drop the Cajuns to 4-2 in the Sun Belt West Division and extend Louisiana’s league streak to two losses.
First-Half Meltdown. Nearly 17 minutes into the first half Thursday night at UALR, Louisiana opened up the Sun Belt contest with an 11-point lead, 31-20, and appeared to be well on its way to its fifth straight win in league play. However, the Trojans made a furious rally, rattling off 13 straight points, as the Cajuns committed five turnovers down the stretch. UALR entered the break with a 33-31 lead - its first lead of the first half...
Thursday’s 11-point lead was the second-largest lead Louisiana has blown this season. Last month, the Cajuns blew a 15-point lead to East Tennessee State at the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. UL would eventually tie the game late to force overtime, ultimately winning 82-80.
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