Louisiana takes to the road for the first time in Sun Belt play this season as the squad travels two hours east on Interstate 10 to meet rival New Orleans at Lakefront Arena on Thursday, Jan. 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns and Privateers meet in New Orleans for the 30th time. UNO holds a 16-13 edge in the city and 13-10 advantage at Lakefront Arena.
● The Cajuns ended their four-game losing streak with last Saturday’s double-overtime win over Denver. Now, Louisiana seeks to end its road losing streak – four games – and collect their first road win of the season.
● The Cajuns are currently tied for first in the Sun Belt West Division. Dependent upon the outcome of games involving UALR and Arkansas State, Louisiana has a chance to take an early lead in the division with a victory and losses by UALR & ASU.
● After starting SBC play with three straight at home, the Cajuns now play seven of their next 10 league outings on the road.
● The Cajuns and Privateers meet for the 67th time – the oldest series Louisiana has with any Sun Belt opponent. The schools have met each season since 1980-81.
● Louisiana is 2-1 so far in the first round of play against the Sun Belt West Division.
● The Denver win was the Cajuns’ first this season when scoring below 70 (1-7).
TOPS IN LOUISIANA
● Louisiana owns a seven-game winning streak, combined, over its in-state Sun Belt foes New Orleans (W3) and ULM (W4) dating back to the 2006-07 season.
● The Cajuns swept both ULM and UNO last season – the first time they swept both in the same season.
● Louisiana defeated ULM 86-58 in this season’s Sun Belt opener on Dec. 15.
BACK TO THE LAKEFRONT
● Louisiana makes its first appearance in Lakefront Arena since the 2004-05 season. The arena was closed the past three seasons to repair damages suffered during Hurricane Katrina.
● The last UL-UNO meeting in Lakefront Arena was held Jan. 15, 2005.
WELCOME BACK “RADAR”
● Randell Daigle, referred to as “Radar” by the coaching staff, took the court for the first time this season last Monday at Tennessee. He scored a team-best 16 points in 20 minutes and dialed in four triples (4-of-6).
● Daigle missed the season’s first 10 games while he recovered from a hand injury.
● He is shooting 10-of-18 from three-point range (56 percent) in only three games since being cleared to play.
● At LSU, he scored 22 in the second half and made five treys in the final nine minutes.
BUREAU’S BACK
● Travis Bureau returned to game action last Wednesday at LSU. He had missed the previous two games with a groin injury.
● Bureau scored in double figures in the first 10 games he played.
● He ranks 6th in the Sun Belt, averaging 15.7 points per game.
SEEKING CONSISTENCY
● Now that Randell Daigle and Travis Bureau are back from injury the Cajuns have their top scorer and top three-point threat on the court at the same time for the first time this season.
● Now Louisiana can start to string together games with a consistent lineup.
● Fans caught a glimpse of how potent Louisiana can be with the duo on the court at the same time in the LSU game. Combined together they, shot 13-of-22 (8-of-15 from three-point range) and accounted for 37 points (47 percent of UL’s point total).
McCOY FREEING UP DAIGLE
● Junior point guard Ryan McCoy’s stability at point guard has allowed Louisiana to play Randell Daigle at shooting guard, a slot head coach Robert Lee feels Daigle needs to be.
● Daigle hasn’t let his coach down. At his new slot (was point guard last season) he’s buried 10 three-pointers in three games and is shooting 10-of-18 from downtown.
● Another plus is Daigle has experience at point guard (last year’s starter), so in essence at times the Cajuns have two point guards running the show.
TURNAROUNDS UNDER ROBERT LEE
● The Cajuns got off to a slow start at 4-8 before New Year’s Day, but Robert Lee’s determination to see his program succeed has seen him create several turnarounds during his tenure.
● In his second season, UL was 5-14 at the end of January. His team ended the regular season 7-1 in February and advanced to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament.
● Just last season, UL began 1-6 and rebounded to win 14 of the final 22 games to end the regular season 15-14 and claim the Sun Belt West Division championship.
DENVER LEFTOVERS
● It was the Cajuns’ second overtime contest of the season (other was Oral Roberts) and first double OT game since a meeting at Troy on Feb. 11, 2006.
● The Cajuns and Pioneers went into overtime for just the second time in 21 meetings and first time since Feb. 11, 2003 (UL won 72-69 in OT).
● UL shot 25 percent in the first half (7-of-28), then bounced back to shoot 52 percent (11-of-21) in the second half to force OT. In the extra frames the Cajuns shot 50 percent (4-of-8).
● La’Ryan Gary (15 points) and Chris Gradnigo (14 points) both registered season-high point totals.
● The Cajuns forced DU into an opponent season-high 22 turnovers.
● Randell Daigle made a triple at 10:49 of the second half to trigger a 7-0 UL run which cut DU’s lead to 38-35. After Daigle’s trey, UL outscored DU 23-13 to force OT.
LAST TIME VS. NEW ORLEANS (Feb. 20, 2008 in New Orleans – UL won 72-70)
● UNO started 2-for-23 from the floor, helping the Cajuns to a 28-9 edge with 6:46 to play in the first half.
● UL held a 16-point lead at halftime and that was still the margin with 5:34 remaining.
● A triple by James Parlow cut the UL edge to 13 points, 67-54, with 5:23 remaining and ignited a 13-0 run. The Privateers were within just three points with 2:30 on the clock.
● Elijah Millsap made a pair from the stripe to stop New Orleans’ run and end a Cajuns scoreless streak with 2:14 remaining.
● Two minutes later, Millsap’s offensive rebound put the sophomore at the line, where he would make both shots, giving the Cajuns a 72-68 edge with 13.8 seconds remaining.
SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads 35-31, overall; UNO leads 16-13 in New Orleans; UNO leads 13-10 in Lakefront Arena)
● UL has dominated the series since the 1997-98 season. The Cajuns have won 20 of the last 25 meetings between the storied rivals. That has helped Louisiana close the gap in a series that UNO once led 26-15 and take a 35-31 lead.
● UL has won six of nine meetings in New Orleans since the turn of the century.
● When UL won 60-53 on Jan. 23, 2006 it gave the Cajuns a 31-30 series lead – the first lead for the Cajuns in the series since Feb. 18, 1988, when the Cajuns lead 9-8.
● The series began on March 2, 1971, with a 113-107 Cajuns victory in the NCAA College Division South Regional. It resumed in 1981 and has continued each year since.
● Louisiana has played six overtime contests with UNO - the most against any SBC school.
UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
It's a Friday morning bus ride to Troy, Ala., for a meeting with Troy's Trojans on Saturday, Jan. 10. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m., at Trojan Arena. It's the second half of a doubleheader with the UL-Troy women's teams.
Saturday's meeting is the first of two between the Cajuns and Trojans this season - the only Sun Belt East Division team Louisiana will meet twice this season. Troy returns UL's visit on Thursday, Feb. 26.
RaginCajuns.com
UL vs UNO at the LakeFront Arena
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Re: UNO Game Thread!!!
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