At 6:20 Friday morning, an airplane carrying the UL men's basketball team was scheduled to fly out of Lafayette for tonight's non-conference game at Utah Valley (2-0).

The traveling party was a little smaller than usual on the 1,800-mile trip to Orem, Utah. The Cajuns (0-2) took only nine players, leaving returning starters Randell Daigle (broken right hand) and Chris Gradnigo (staph infection in left elbow) and first-year starter Ryan McCoy (sprained ankle) at home with injuries.

"Since I've been here, I've never been part of something like this with injuries to so many key guys," said fifth-year UL coach Robert Lee, whose Cajuns beat Utah Valley, 67-59, last season in Lafayette. "But I guess if you live long enough you'll experience anything."

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • November 22, 2008