• Louisiana plays its first road contest of the 2008-09 season on Saturday, Nov. 22, in Orem, Utah. The Cajuns meet Utah Valley in an 8 p.m. (CST) contest.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns haven’t won a road opener since the 2002-03 season when UL upset No. 12 Mississippi State 79-76 in Starkville, Miss.
• The UVU contest is one of only two (2) road games for Louisiana before Christmas (other is Dec. 6 at Alabama). Following Saturday’s game, the Ragin’ Cajuns return home for six of the next seven games.
• Saturday’s game is the first meeting between the two schools in Orem. The Cajuns are returning UVU’s 2007-08 visit to the CAJUNDOME (UL won 67-59).
• Louisiana is 1-10 on the road during the month of November under Robert Lee. Louisiana’s only road win in the month was also Lee’s first win as a head coach - an 84-63 win over Louisiana Tech in 2004.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns are seeking to end a season-opening, two-game losing streak. UL fell to Lamar 78-68 on Tuesday after dropping the season opener to La. Tech 61-59.
• DID YOU KNOW? Louisiana has appeared in a men’s basketball game in the State of Utah before. The last visit was Jan. 5, 1985, when Bobby Paschal’s squad visited Ogden, Utah, for a meeting with Weber State. WSU won 89-80.

LAMAR LEFTOVERS
• Louisiana fell to 0-2 to start the ’08-09 season – first such start since ’05-06.
• Lamar reclaimed the lead in the all-time series, breaking a 39-all tie. It was the Cardinals first win in the CAJUNDOME since Jan. 6, 1993, ending Louisiana’s seven-game win streak over LU in the facility.
• The loss was the Cajuns’ third straight in the CAJUNDOME – dating back to last season’s SBC Tournament loss to Troy.
• All five of UL’s starters scored in double figures led by a career-high 24 points from Travis Bureau. Bureau shot 5-of-6 from three-point range in the second half.
• Tyren Johnson registered his first career double-double (12 pts, 10 rebs). Newcomers Jeremy Barr and Ryan McCoy each scored 10 – both their highest output on DI level.
• It was a game of scoring runs. The early first half saw the teams trade 9-0 runs and it was a 7-0 Lamar run toward the end which broke a 27-all tie. Cajuns started the second half on a 8-0 run for a 42-41 lead. A pair of 6-0 runs by Lamar, sandwiching a UL free throw make, was the difference as LU turned a 57-55 deficit into a 67-58 lead.
• Lamar held a 34-19 edge on free throw attempts. UL was whistled for 26 fouls.

UTAH VALLEY PREVIEW
• The Wolverines are off to a 2-0 start posting home victories over Northern Arizona (68-62) and Montana Western (90-80).
• UVU joined the Great West Conference on July 10, 2008. The Great West expanded from a football-only conference to include at least six schools and 14 sports.
• Senior guard Ryan Toolson was named the GWC Player of the Week. He scored 23 in the opener with NAU and followed up by setting the UVU Division I scoring record with 41 against Montana Western.
• Toolson is shooting 21-of-23 from the free throw line (91.3%) and UVU is shooting 40-of-45 (88.9%) as a team. Toolson averages 32 points, but no other UVU player is averaging double figures through two games.

LOUISIANA IN UTAH
• This is the fifth (5th) all-time trip for Louisiana to Utah for a men’s basketball game. The Cajuns have played at Weber State (Ogden) three times and Utah State (Logan) once.
• UL is 1-3 all-time in the State of Utah – lost all three at Weber State and defeated Utah State 94-92 on March 14, 1984 in the postseason NIT.

RaginCajuns.com



The rest of the story