The Book: 2007-08 Ragin' Cajuns Basketball

[CajunCherokee]

Dees needs to get better in a hurry. We will most definitely need him down the stretch and in the tournament, especially in close games.

[NewsCopy]

UL - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team missed a three-pointer with seven seconds to play and fell to the UALR Trojans, 61-58, Saturday night at the CAJUNDOME. The loss dropped the Cajuns to 13-14 on the season and 9-7 in Sun Belt Conference action, while the Trojans improved to 17-10 overall and into a tie with UL in the Sun Belt West at 9-7. The game was tightly contested with seven lead changes and eight ties. Neither team led by more than six points. Elijah Millsap and Chris Gradnigo were the only two Cajuns to score double-digit points on the night. Millsap finished with a game-high 13 points, while Gradnigo ended the game with 11. The Trojans scored the first four points of the second half to take a six-point edge. The Cajuns countered with a pair of free throws by Willie Lago and a triple from Chris Gradnigo to trim the visitors lead to one point. Baskets from Courtney Wallace and Gradnigo helped the Cajuns take a 38-37 lead at 13:57, their first since the 12:16 mark of the first half. UALR’s field goal drought hit 6:10 until Terrance Akins banked in a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Trojans back in front. Wallace then made four from the stripe over two possessions to give the Cajuns the lead, but UALR rallied with a 6-0 run to take the lead back. A steal by Elijah Millsap led to a three-point play that tied the game at 47-47 with 6:29 remaining. The game remained back-and-forth for the next three minutes until a three-point play by Steven Moore gave UALR the lead and the momentum. The two teams were knotted 54-54 with 3:43 remaining in the ballgame. UALR gained the lead and increased their advantage to four points with 2:35 remaining at 58-54. Millsap cut the deficit to just one point as he drained a triple from the top of the key with just 51 ticks remaining on the game clock. The two teams exchanged free throws over the next 30 seconds, and John Fowler’s free throw with 15 seconds to play gave the Trojans a 61-58 edge. Millsap’s three-point attempt with seven seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime rimmed out and UALR collected the defensive rebound securing the victory. The Cajuns found themselves trailing at the half in part to 32 percent shooting from the floor during the opening 20 minutes. UALR made 50 percent of their shots, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc. The Cajuns led for the first eight minutes of the game until a triple by Akins gave UALR their first lead, 14-12, at the 11:53 mark. UALR build a five-point lead until Travis Bureau converted a four-point play to draw the Cajuns within one point, 20-19, at 6:26. From there, the Trojans scored five unanswered points to grab their biggest lead of the first half, 25-19. Randell Daigle and Lago nailed triples to tie the game with 3:09 remaining. Tyren Johnson appeared to give the Cajuns the lead with a three-pointer, but it was waived off after an offensive foul was called on Lago. UALR held a two-point lead after 20 minutes. The Cajuns return to action on Thursday when they host North Texas at the Cajundome at 7:05pm. RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

UL - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team missed a three-pointer with seven seconds to play and fell to the UALR Trojans, 61-58, Saturday night at the CAJUNDOME. The loss dropped the Cajuns to 13-14 on the season and 9-7 in Sun Belt Conference action, while the Trojans improved to 17-10 overall and into a tie with UL in the Sun Belt West at 9-7. The game was tightly contested with seven lead changes and eight ties. Neither team led by more than six points. Elijah Millsap and Chris Gradnigo were the only two Cajuns to score double-digit points on the night. Millsap finished with a game-high 13 points, while Gradnigo ended the game with 11. The Trojans scored the first four points of the second half to take a six-point edge. The Cajuns countered with a pair of free throws by Willie Lago and a triple from Chris Gradnigo to trim the visitors lead to one point. Baskets from Courtney Wallace and Gradnigo helped the Cajuns take a 38-37 lead at 13:57, their first since the 12:16 mark of the first half. UALR’s field goal drought hit 6:10 until Terrance Akins banked in a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to put the Trojans back in front. Wallace then made four from the stripe over two possessions to give the Cajuns the lead, but UALR rallied with a 6-0 run to take the lead back. A steal by Elijah Millsap led to a three-point play that tied the game at 47-47 with 6:29 remaining. The game remained back-and-forth for the next three minutes until a three-point play by Steven Moore gave UALR the lead and the momentum. The two teams were knotted 54-54 with 3:43 remaining in the ballgame. UALR gained the lead and increased their advantage to four points with 2:35 remaining at 58-54. Millsap cut the deficit to just one point as he drained a triple from the top of the key with just 51 ticks remaining on the game clock. The two teams exchanged free throws over the next 30 seconds, and John Fowler’s free throw with 15 seconds to play gave the Trojans a 61-58 edge. Millsap’s three-point attempt with seven seconds on the clock to send the game into overtime rimmed out and UALR collected the defensive rebound securing the victory. The Cajuns found themselves trailing at the half in part to 32 percent shooting from the floor during the opening 20 minutes. UALR made 50 percent of their shots, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind the arc. The Cajuns led for the first eight minutes of the game until a triple by Akins gave UALR their first lead, 14-12, at the 11:53 mark. UALR build a five-point lead until Travis Bureau converted a four-point play to draw the Cajuns within one point, 20-19, at 6:26. From there, the Trojans scored five unanswered points to grab their biggest lead of the first half, 25-19. Randell Daigle and Lago nailed triples to tie the game with 3:09 remaining. Tyren Johnson appeared to give the Cajuns the lead with a three-pointer, but it was waived off after an offensive foul was called on Lago. UALR held a two-point lead after 20 minutes. The Cajuns return to action on Thursday when they host North Texas at the Cajundome at 7:05pm. RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

The chic word for what's been unfolding in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference in men's basketball this season is "competitive." It's thrown around as much as "on any given night," which was the case Saturday following Arkansas-Little Rock's 61-58 win over UL at the Cajundome . And, really, that's all well and good. But in the end, the West teams are competitive in a relative sense to each other and can beat each other on any given night because they're average. There's plenty of margin for error if "average" is the measure. And that's why this loss, one that took destiny out of the hands of the Ragin' Cajuns, was so frustrating. Every time this team, the third-youngest in NCAA Division I basketball, gets a chance to stamp a new direction, it takes a step back. Saturday night was a step back. Don't kid yourself. "We went on the road and won two games, and you're supposed to feel comfortable at home," UL sophomore Elijah Millsap said. "For some reason we came out sluggish . and they made the plays to win at the end." The rest of the story Bob Heist bheist@theadvertiser.com

[Turbine]

The first time it happened I was on the other end of the court and all I could hear were the boos when the ref made his "Points Count - Charging" call.

The 2nd time I was close and saw the UALR player position himself WHILE Gradnigo was in the air.

[cajunfan96]

Freaking ridiculous

[Boomer]

Damn ----Everything is just SSSOOO negative --I hate this new crew at the DA for their coverage or lack of it and their negative slant----They need to see a MA aand the coverage LSU gets compared to UL--Then do the same ratio with the Lafayette paper--Was in LC for the weekend--They only report when the Cajuns lose!!!!!

[nutz]

I am not going to defend the DA, but I was at that game and there is absolutely nothing positive you can say about the Cajuns' effort. Well, maybe the FT shooting, which was unusally good.

[NewsCopy]

Minutes after losing a 61-58 heart-breaker Saturday night to Arkansas-Little Rock, UL men's basketball coach Robert Lee walked into the post-game press conference at the Cajundome. He immediately sat down and addressed assembled media members with a straight face and a serious tone. Lee knew the Cajuns needed the win. The loss dropped them into a three-way tie with UALR and North Texas atop the Sun Belt's West Division with two games remaining in the regular season. Instead of sweeping its last three games at home to seal up the program's first West title since the 2003-04 season, UL (13-14 overall, 9-7 SBC) faced the realization of an opportunity lost. Now, for the Cajuns to win the West they need to beat North Texas on Thursday and Denver on Saturday and have UALR lose one of its two remaining games. The Cajuns need to win the West to clinch a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. "The bottom line is we can't control anything else," Lee said. "We had our destiny in our hands. We could have controlled our fate, but we gave that away. The rest of the story Joshua Parrott jparrott@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana enters the final weekend of the regular season locked in a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt West Division as the Ragin’ Cajuns host the North Texas Mean Green Thursday night at the CAJUNDOME. With two games left to play, UL is still vying for the division crown and a first round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Championship. If the Ragin’ Cajuns can’t clinch the division, Louisiana can still host a first round game in the SBC Tournament on Wednesday, March 5. Saturday, the Cajuns saw their three-game winning streak snapped on their home floor as the UALR Trojans shocked Louisiana 61-58 at the ‘DOME. In their meeting earlier this season, sophomore Randell Daigle scored a career-high 17 points and the Cajuns led with 3:59 remaining in the game, but North Texas held Louisiana scoreless the rest of the way to win 72-65. Louisiana hasn’t had much success in the last two seasons against the Mean Green. Last season, the Cajuns lost all three meetings including two regular season contests by a combined three points. The Mean Green eliminated the Cajuns in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Denton, 93-78. Louisiana’s rematch with North Texas is the second of three straight contests with teams that have beaten the Cajuns on the road. A win by Louisiana would give the Cajuns’ their 10th Sun Belt victory on the season, signifying their 10th 10-win SBC season in program history and the first since 2002-03. A Cajuns victory would give head coach Robert Lee his 14th victory of the 2007-08 season - the most in a single-season in his four-year tenure.Saturday, UALR became the eighth team this season to hit at least 50 percent from the floor against the Ragin’ Cajuns. Louisiana is 1-7 in those contests. North Texas Preview. North Texas invades the CAJUNDOME on a four-game winning streak and locked in a three-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division with the Cajuns and UALR.Two weeks ago, North Texas appeared to be out of the running for the West Division lead as the Mean Green was 5-7 and in fourth place behind Louisiana, UALR and New Orleans.Since defeating the Cajuns 72-65 on Jan. 12, North Texas has scored 80 or more points five times, including a 90-point outburst vs. Troy on Feb. 16. In all, the Mean Green has scored 80 or more 11 different times.Five Mean Green players are averaging 8.0 or more points per game, as compared to just three for the Ragin’ Cajuns. After the North Texas game.Louisiana looks to continue its pursuit of the Sun Belt Conference West Division crown when it concludes the regular season against the Denver Pioneers on Saturday. A Win by Louisiana.would give the Ragin’ Cajuns their 10th Sun Belt Conference victory of the season - the first 10-win SBC season since 2002-03. It would also bring the Cajuns back to .500 overall. A Loss by Louisiana.would drop the Cajuns two games below .500 in the overall standings and to 9-8 in the Sun Belt. R-E-V-E-N-G-E. After successfully sweeping the season series with ULM, Arkansas State and New Orleans, the Cajuns return home to the ‘DOME to attempt to clinch the Sun Belt West Division crown.Thursday’s game with the North Texas Mean Green marks the second of three straight meetings at home with teams that defeated the Cajuns on their home floor. In January, North Texas defeated the Cajuns by seven in Denton. Select Company, No More. Louisiana is no longer without a player averaging double figures, as Elijah Millsap is now averaging 10.0 points per game. Entering the UALR game, Louisiana was one of only four schools in NCAA Division I (347 members) with no players averaging double figures in scoring, joining UALR, Cal Poly and Savannah State. Fountain of Youth. Nearly eighty-three (82.6) percent of Louisiana’s offense this season comes from freshman or sophomores - the most of any Division I school in the nation. Of the Cajuns’ 1,770 points this season, only 308 of those come from seniors (Dees, Milson and Barksdale). Bo Who? New Orleans senior guard Bo McCalebb, the Sun Belt Conference's career scoring leader and the nation's eighth-leading scorer, was held to no points on 0-of-8 shooting in the first half vs. the Cajuns on Wednesday night.McCalebb scored all 18 points in the second half on 7-of-12 shooting. Grand Gradnigo. Teams around the Sun Belt are quickly learning about one of Louisiana's young guns in freshman Chris Gradnigo. After a monster 19-point showing at South Alabama on Jan. 24, Gradnigo had been held to 26 points in his last six games.Wednesday night, that changed as Gradnigo fell one point shy of his previous six-game total, scoring a career-high 25 points in the 72-70 win at UNO. That was sixth double-digit outing in Sun Belt play and his third 20-point game this season. RaginCajuns.com Chris Yandle

[CajunKahouna]

What do you think? IMHO it's UL 68 - NT 64.

GEAUX CAJUNS!

[Hatch]

Does anyone know Dison's status, it would be nice to have him on Josh White

[nutz]

_ What do you think? IMHO it's UL 68 - NT 64.

GEAUX CAJUNS! _

I hope I'm wrong, but realistically we are playing a hot North Texas team who needs this win and we looked horrible last week.

NT 72
UL 63

[jllanclos]

Louisiana 141
North Texas 126
7 Overtimes
Cajuns win when all but 3 N.Texas players foul out. Game ends 5-on-3.

[cjr3888]

This is not the NBA all star game. There will actually be some defense played.