Ragin' Cajuns' Rally Falls Short at LSU

[NewsCopy]

  BATON ROUGE - After limping for two months at less than full strength, UL finally got Travis Bureau, Chris Gradnigo and Randell Daigle together on the basketball court for the first time this season.

That combination, notably Daigle, nearly helped the Cajuns shock LSU on the road Wednesday afternoon.

In its first game on New Year's Eve in 44 years, UL nearly overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half but fell short in an 81-79 loss before a crowd of 9,030 at the Maravich Center.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • January 1, 2009

[DestinCajun]

"After limping for two months at less than full strength, UL finally got Travis Bureau, Chris Gradnigo and Randell Daigle together on the basketball court for the first time this season."

Good point. Now that the real basketball season is beginning, it's good to have these 3 "veterans" available. I thought Courtney Wallace was hurting too and I was surpised to see him play yesterday. Maybe it's just me but it seemed like some good things began to happen when Courtney got in.

[Turbine]

_ Good point. Now that the real basketball season is beginning, it's good to have these 3 "veterans" available. I thought Courtney Wallace was hurting too and I was surprised to see him play yesterday. Maybe it's just me but it seemed like some good things began to happen when Courtney got in. _

If someone had asked me IF they had played together I would have said no, but I hadn't thought of it on my own.

Having them together makes 2009 look a whole lot better.

[chauncey]

Now that we are close to 100% healthy. Someone bring the shovels, so we can dig the team out of this 4-8 start. Does anyone believe this team can go 14-4 or 16-2 to close out the season?? That would be an improvement from last year to finish 20-10 or 18-12!

[BayouBaller]

Great TEAMS win close games. This makes three that got away in the end. LATech, SHS, and now LSU. Before we can close out as you suggest, we need to win ONE, then 2, 3, 4, etc. Don't forget, we have now lost four in a row. Got to stop the bleeding - NO EXCUSES!

[Cajunsmike]

Great TEAMS win close games. This makes three that got away in the end. LATech, SHS, and now LSU. Before we can close out as you suggest, we need to win ONE, then 2, 3, 4, etc. Don't forget, we have now lost four in a row. Got to stop the bleeding - NO EXCUSES!

We won close ones against Oral Roberts and McNeese. We really have only played one close game with our true team and that was yesterday. I say that because yesterday was the first time all year we had Gradnigo, Bureau, and Daigle available. I still don't think any of those three are at 100%. They could be in a couple of weeks. We'll have to see how they do in other close games to make a judgment. That may start Saturday as Denver will give us trouble with their patient offense. They are also 2 and 0 in league play right now.

[BayouBaller]

_ We won close ones against Oral Roberts (3-11) and McNeese (5-6)._

2 out of 5 ain't bad but certainly not the things great seasons are defined by.

[Cajunsmike]

2 out of 5 ain't bad but certainly not the things great seasons are defined by.

2 out of 5 is below average. However we are 0 for 1 as yesterday was the first game that we had all the key parts of the team. By the way, I agree that our half court offense needs to be crisper. I would like to see more passing and less dribbling. I know we want see that however. Therefore things like more effort on the boards, better free throw shooting, and less turnovers will go a long way towards improved play.