Louisiana continues its first Sun Belt Conference road trip of the season on Saturday, Jan. 10 in Troy, Ala., as the Ragin’ Cajuns battle Troy’s Trojans at 7:30 p.m., in Trojan Arena. The game is the second half of a doubleheader with the women’s teams.

● After starting SBC play with three straight at home, the Cajuns will now play seven of their next 10 league outings on the road. UL lost its SBC road opener on Thursday as UNO rallied for a 61-58 victory at Lakefront Arena.
● Saturday’s game with Troy is game No. 15 and represents the midpoint of Louisiana’s 2008-09 campaign. Through the first 14 games the Cajuns went 5-9.
● This is the first of two meetings this season between UL and Troy – the only Sun Belt East Division team the Cajuns face twice this season. Troy returns the trip on Thursday, Feb. 26.
● The Ragin’ Cajuns are still in search for their first road win of the season (0-5).
● The winner of Saturday’s game will take the lead in the young series (tied 3-3). This is the fourth season of competition between the two programs. It started when Troy joined the league in 2005-06.
● Chris Gradnigo has seen consistent success in two games this New Year. Gradnigo set a season-high with 14 points against Denver and tied that mark at New Orleans. He is shooting 12-of-25 (48 percent) during the streak.

BACK IN ALABAMA
● The Ragin’ Cajuns are in Alabama for the second time this season. Louisiana visited Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Dec. 7 for a meeting with the Crimson Tide (L, 44-61).
● Nine days from now, UL will be back in Alabama. On Monday, Jan. 19 the Cajuns visit Birmingham to play UAB in the final non-conference matchup of the season.

SOMEONE WILL GAIN A MEASURE OF REVENGE
● In last season’s meeting at Trojan Arena, the Ragin’ Cajuns handed Troy their first 20-plus point defeat (UL won 87-66) in the facility since Jan. 2, 1999.
● In the Sun Belt Conference Tournament first round game in the CAJUNDOME, the Trojans outscored UL 44-25 in the second half to stun the No. 5 seed 70-60 and keep Louisiana from advancing to the SBC Tournament for the second straight season.

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 12-of-25 from three-point range (48 percent) in four games since being cleared to play. Shot 9-of-14 from three-point land in UT and LSU games combined.
● 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 15.4 points per game.
● He seems to be finding his rhythm once again. Since returning from injury, he’s buried three treys in three straight games – a trick he’s already turned 10 times this season.

THE GENERAL WILL FIND A WAY
● 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.

LAST TIME IN TROJAN ARENA (Jan. 27, 2008 – UL won 87-66)
● A season-high-tying four Ragin’ Cajuns scored in double figures. Sophomore Elijah Millap led the way with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting.
● Louisiana shot 51.5 percent from the floor, while holding Troy to just 35.7 percent.
● The Cajuns opened the second period on a 15-5 run to take a commanding 56-45 lead with 15:18 left in the game.
● Baskets by Jarvis Acker and Mario Telfair trimmed the deficit to eight points, 60-52, before the Cajuns outscored the Trojans 17-9 to put the game away.

NEW ORLEANS LEFTOVERS
● The Ragin’ Cajuns had their seven-game winning streak over in-state Sun Belt foes halted. UNO won for just the second time in the last 10 meetings.
● It was the first meeting at Lakefront Arena since Jan. 15, 2005. The Cajuns fell to 10-14 all-time in the facility and 13-17 in the Crescent City against the Privateers.
● Defense stole the show in the opening stanza and the shooting numbers told the story. Both teams shot below 30 percent and were a combined 16-of-60 from the field (26.7 percent). The Cajuns were 9-of-35 (25.7 percent) while UNO turned in a 7-of-25 showing (28.0 percent).
● UNO thrived from the charity stripe making 26-of-37 attempts and outscoring the Cajuns (4-of-7) by 22 points from there.
● Travis Bureau (12 points) and Ryan McCoy (11 points) scored all of their points in the second half.
● The Cajuns outscored UNO 15-6 over a five-minute span in the second half to take a 51-43 lead. McCoy (9 points) and Daigle (6 points) took over during the stretch.

SERIES HISTOY (Tied at 3-3, overall; Tied at 1-1 at Trojan Arena)
● The series began with Troy’s entrance into the Sun Belt Conference during the 2005-06 season. Saturday’s contest is the 7th meeting overall and third at Trojan Arena.
● The teams have split six meetings. Troy evened the series and snapped a three-game win streak by Louisiana with a 70-60 win in the CAJUNDOME in last season’s Sun Belt Conference Tournament first round.
● During Troy’s first season in the league in 2005-06, Louisiana avenged two regular season losses with a 62-59 overtime win in the 2006 SBC Tournament quarterfinals.
● In last season’s meeting at Trojan Arena, the Ragin’ Cajuns handed the Trojans their first 20-point home loss since Jan. 2, 1999 (Louisiana won 87-66).

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA
It's back to the CAJUNDOME for one Sun Belt Conference game next week. The Cajuns will meet Sun Belt West Division leader UALR on Thursday, Jan. 15 with tipoff scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

The Cajuns will then enjoy the weekend off as it's Louisiana's day off from Sun Belt competition on Saturday, Jan. 17.

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