Louisiana plays the first of five straight games against Sun Belt East Division teams on Thursday, Jan. 22, as they take on WKU in E.A. Diddle Arena. The Cajuns are 1-0 vs. the Sun Belt East, having defeated Troy 83-81 on Saturday, Jan. 10.

● The Ragin’ Cajuns and Hilltoppers meet for the 37th time, overall, and 19th time in Bowling Green at E.A. Diddle Arena. WKU has won the last four meetings, overall.
● Louisiana enters the game coming off the largest loss of the season, a 35-point defeat at UAB on Monday night. UL played without leading scorer Travis Bureau.
● The Cajuns are in search of their first win of the second half of the season. UL defeated Troy 83-81 at the season’s midpoint, but has dropped the last two games.
● Louisiana will look to reverse a recent rebounding trend which has hurt them the last two outings. UALR and UAB combined to outrebound UL 85-50 (+35). The Cajuns were outboarded 61-29 on the defensive end.
● In the last four games, Louisiana has had at least three players score double figures.
● Sun Belt’s top three-point shooting teams meet: WKU (39.2%) and UL (36.2%).
● The Cajuns’ perimeter game has heated up since the return of Randell Daigle. Louisiana has made 69 triples over seven games (9.9 per game). Prior to his return, the Cajuns had made 58 triples in the season’s first 10 games (5.8 per game).

GRADNIGO IN A GROOVE
● In the last five games Chris Gradnigo is shooting 30-of-60 (50 percent) and has made at six field goals in four games. He is averaging 16.0 points per game during the stretch.
● On the UNO-Troy road trip, he averaged 16 points per game in only 20.5 minutes played per game. Gradnigo shot 12-of-21 from the floor (57 percent) and 6-of-7 (86 percent) from three-point range.
● Against UALR, Gradnigo scored 16 in the first half en route to establishing his season-high of 20. He also made a season-high eight field goals (8-of-15).

THE TRIPLE THREAT
● The combination of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo fuel the Louisiana offense.
● They combine to average 42.0 points of the Cajuns’ 66.5 average (63%).
● They combine for 85 three-point field goals made out of UL’s 127 (67%).
● Overall shooting percentages: Bureau (48.7%), Daigle (45.5%), Gradnigo (45.0%)

“RADAR” DIALS ‘EM HOME
● Randell Daigle is shooting 23-of-51 from three-point range (45.1%) in seven games since returning from injury.
● Daigle is averaging 3.3 triples per game and has made at least four in four games.

EXTRA BASKETBALL
● UL played its third overtime affair of the season last Thursday vs. UALR.
● The last time the Cajuns had three OT games – 2005-06.
● The Cajuns have played 10 OT games under Robert Lee (5-5 record).
● When’s the last time a Cajuns team had four OT games in a season? 1991-92.

CLOSE CALLS...FANTASTIC FINISHES
● Prior to the UAB loss, the Cajuns were involved in close calls – four of the previous five games were decided by three points or less. The UALR game was a one-point contest for the final 3:15 of regulation.
● Each game went down to the wire as well. The Denver game was a double OT thriller. At UNO, the Cajuns cut the lead to one and had a chance to tie the game with 10 seconds left. At Troy, UL made four free throws in the final 36 seconds to seal the win. UL and UALR swapped the lead three times in the final 1:45 of regulation and the Cajuns had a chance to win the game at the free throw line with four seconds on the clock.
● The Cajuns were 2-3 during the stretch (wins: DU & Troy/losses: LSU, UNO & UALR).

UAB LEFTOVERS
● It was the Cajuns’ final non-conference game of the season. With the loss, Louisiana finishes 3-8 in non-conference play.
● Corey Bloom scored 10 points, the most he’s scored in a UL uniform. He also tied his career-high with four field goals made.
● Chris Gradnigo scored 14 points, marking his 12th double-digit scoring output of the season (13 games played).
● Willie Lago subbed in at 17:34 of the first half and dished out three assists by 14:35.
● The Blazers jumped out to a huge lead by shooting 22-of-33 (66.7%) and outscoring Louisiana 34-8 in the paint in the first 20 minutes. UL shot 7-of-28 (25%) and committed 11 turnovers which led to 21 UAB points.
● The Cajuns did rebound to shoot 15-of-32 (47%) and score 42 points in the second half. It marked the most second-half points since pouring in 48 on LSU on New Year’s Eve.
● UL was 9-of-27 from three-point range – third straight game with at least nine triples.
● La’Ryan Gary set his career-high in steals with four. Gary has posted seven steals in the last two games (3 vs. UALR).

LAST TIME VS. WKU
(Jan. 19, 2008 in CAJUNDOME – WKU won 69-66)
● After WKU knotted the game at five each, Louisiana embarked on a 9-3 run to take its largest lead of the game, 14-8, by the 11:46 mark.
● UL led for all but 28 seconds of the first half – WKU went up 26-25 at 1:58, then Cajuns reclaimed the lead 27-26 on a La’Ryan Gary dunk at 1:30. Louisiana went ahead of the Toppers only four times in the second half.
● WKU went on a quick 5-0 run to take a 41-37 edge at the 13:36 mark of the second half. The Cajuns later tied the game at 41-all, but the Toppers responded with a torrid run, taking a 57-49 lead with 8:14 left to play.
● Tyren Johnson pulled UL within two, 65-63, on a triple from the corner in front of the UL bench. WKU extended its lead to four points, 67-63, after Courtney Lee sank two free throws. That four-point lead quickly diminished to just one, 67-66, on a Travis Bureau trey from the left wing.
● WKU then went up by three, 69-66, but missed two crucial free throws which allowed Louisiana to hold for the final shot in regulation.

LAST TIME IN DIDDLE ARENA
(Jan. 13, 2007 – WKU won 82-72)
● WKU made 14 free throws in the final 2:17, while UL managed four from the stripe in the entire second half on 15 attempts (26.7 percent).
● The Cajuns lead hit 10 points in the first half, 25-15, thanks to a pair of baskets in the paint by Willie Lago, but WKU came back with a 7-0 run to trim the Cajuns lead to three points, 25-22, with 2:57 left.
● A Ross Mouton triple stopped the Cajuns scoring drought and gave UL a six point lead. The Cajuns would hold a 33-27 lead at halftime.
● WKU opened the second half with a 13-7 jaunt to tie the game at 40-40 at 16:02. The Cajuns came back to tie the game at 50-50 with a lay-in by Elijah Millsap and a David Dees’ dunk. WKU then scored seven unanswered points to spike their lead.
● The Cajuns had their chances to get back into the game, but missed eight consecutive free throws. Coincidently, UL trailed by eight points, 66-58, with 3:26 on the clock.

SERIES HISTORY (WKU leads 22-14, overall; WKU leads 12-6 in Bowling Green, Ky.)
● Twenty-one (21) of the previous 36 series meetings have been decided by 10 points or less.
● WKU has had the upper hand lately, winning the last four meetings and nine of the past 11.
● WKU gained a 12-11 advantage in Sun Belt regular season contests with a 94-81 victory on Jan. 26, 2006. The Toppers now lead 14-11 in SBC regular season meetings.
● The Cajuns’ last on-court victory over WKU in Diddle Arena came on Jan. 29, 2004. UL won 110-102 which is the last time a Cajuns team scored 100-plus.
● The two programs have met seven times in the SBC Tournament. In 1994, UL downed WKU 78-72 at Diddle Arena in the SBC Tournament title game.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA

The Ragin' Cajuns face South Alabama on Saturday, Jan. 24 in the CAJUNDOME in the second half of a doubleheader with the UL-USA women's teams. Game time is 7:15 p.m., or approximately 30 minutes following the completion of the women's game.

The USA game is a brief stop at home for Louisiana. Next week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1) the Cajuns are back on the road with games at Middle Tennessee (Jan. 29) and Florida Atlantic (Jan. 31).


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