Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns (8-10, 4-3) continue their toughest stretch of the Sun Belt Conference slate when they travel to Mobile, Ala., to take on this year’s hottest team, the South Alabama Jaguars (15-3, 7-0). South Alabama has yet to lose in the New Year, having won 11 straight games dating back to November...
Louisiana has won each of its last three trips and five of its last six to the Mitchell Center on the South Alabama campus...South Alabama has won all seven Sun Belt contests in decisive fashion - five of those wins have come by a margin of nine points or more. Perhaps even more impressive is South Alabama’s 10-0 record at the Mitchell Center this season. The Jaguars have not lost at home since Feb. 28, 2007 vs. Troy...
After racing out to a 4-0 start in SBC play, Louisiana has stumbled of late, losing its last three conference contests and three of its last four overall...After trailing WKU by as many as 12 points Saturday night, Louisiana has trailed by 10 or more points in six of its seven Sun Belt Conference games this season. Conversely, the Cajuns have led by 10 or more points in four of their seven league games as well...Saturday, Randell Daigle didn’t have much luck from three-point range as two of his triple attempts rimmed out as he finished with four points, snapping his streak of 15 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal made...Louisiana shot a season-high 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line in Saturday’s 69-66 loss to Western Kentucky. It marked the Cajuns’ best free throw shooting night against a Sun Belt Conference foe since Jan. 28, 2006, when UL shot 88.9 percent (16-of-18) at Middle Tennessee...
With his 11-point performance vs. WKU, freshman Travis Bureau has now scored 10 or more points in three Sun Belt Conference games this season.
South Alabama Preview. South Alabama used a 12-2 run during a five-minute span of the second half to break open a close game, then hit enough free throws down the stretch to defeat Sun Belt Conference West Division co-leader UALR, 72-65, Saturday night at the Jack Stephens Center. The win was the 11th straight for the Jaguars, who improved to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in league play...
Daniel Hayles hit three key three-pointers during the contest to finish with a USA career-high 13 points. Four other players reached double figures for the Jags -- Demetric Bennett had 12, Daon Merritt and Domonic Tilford each added 11, while Brandon Davis had 10. Brandon Patterson led UALR (12-6, 4-3) with 14 points...
South Alabama was ahead by two, 51-49, with 9:20 to play after five straight Trojan points, but Hayles hit a three from the right baseline and Tilford knocked down a pair of free throws to stretch the lead back to seven, 56-49, with 8:09 left. After a UALR layup, the Jaguars scored seven in a row to open their biggest advantage of the game, 12 points at 63-51 with 4:21 to play. South Alabama hit nine of 12 freet throws in the final 2:02, keeping no less than six-point spread at all times...South Alabama opened a 23-13 lead midway through the first half, but saw the Trojans storm back with nine straight points to trail just by just one, 23-22 with 5:58 left. UALR took its first lead of the game at the 3:02 mark on a basket by Derrick Bales. Their advantage was four, 30-26, with 1:38 remaining when the Jags came to life. They scored nine straight points on three three-pointers for a 35-30 advantage at the break. Tilford brought USA within one at the 1:26 mark, then Hayles hit treys with 49 and 0.8 seconds left to send the Jags into the locker room with the lead.
After the South Alabama game...Louisiana travels to Troy, Ala., to face Sun Belt East Division foe Troy Sunday at 1 p.m.
A Win by Louisiana...would snap the Cajuns three-game Sun Belt losing streak, while also snapping South Alabama’s 11-game winning streak.
A Loss by Louisiana...would drop the Cajuns to 8-11 overall and extend their Sun Belt losing streak to four games.
Double-Digit Turnaround. Saturday, Louisiana trailed Western Kentucky by as many as 12 points, 64-52, with 4:00 left to play. It marked the sixth time in seven Sun Belt Conference games this season that the Cajuns trailed by 10 or more points. Conversely, the Cajuns have led by 10 or more points in four of their seven league games this season.
Daigle Kept Quiet From Three. Randell Daigle didn’t have much success from three-point range Saturday night at WKU as two of his triple attempts rimmed out and a third one - which he made - was waved off because of a foul before the shot. Daigle finished the night with four points on 1-of-6 shooting, snapping his streak of 15 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal made.
High-Percentage Shooting. Louisiana shot a season-high 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the free throw line in Saturday’s 69-66 loss to Western Kentucky. It marked the Cajuns’ best free throw shooting night against a SBC foe since Jan. 28, 2006, when they shot 88.9 percent (16-of-18) at Middle Tennessee.
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