BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns road woes continued, as UL was defeated by Western Kentucky 73-68 on Thursday night. UL (6-12, 3-4 Sun Belt) falls to 1-7 on the road, while WKU (13-6, 7-1 Sun Belt) improves to 9-0 at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The Cajuns took open shots all night, but couldn’t get the breaks they needed to pull off the road win. UL was 6-for-19 from behind the arc, while WKU was 8-for-18.
After trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half, UL stormed back to make it a one possession game with 2:55 to play. WKU then made seven free throws over the final two minutes to hold off the late charging Cajuns.
Chris Gradnigo had the hot hand for the Cajuns, scoring 23 points. Ryan McCoy and La’Ryan Gary each reached double figures, scoring 17 and 10 points, respectively.
After missing Monday’s game at UAB, Travis Bureau returned to the starting line-up, but missed his first six shots and was scoreless for the first 33 minutes of the game. He finished with six points.
AJ Slaughter led five Hilltoppers in double figures with 17 points.
A 9-2 run to open the second half gave WKU a 14-point edge just 2:15 into the final frame.
Two baskets from Gradnigo and a running jumper by Gary helped the Cajuns cut the WKU lead down to eight points, 54-46, at the 12:05 mark. The Hilltoppers answered with a 6-2 run to boost their lead to 12 points a few seconds past the midway point of the second half.
A triple from Bureau, two free throws by Gary and a jumper by McCoy dropped the hosts’ lead to five points, 63-58, with 4:59 to play.After the teams traded three-pointers, McCoy stole a WKU inbounds pass and dunked on the other end to make it a one possession game.
WKU was 15-of-22 from the free throw line, while UL went 8-for-8 from the stripe.
The Cajuns played well in the first half despite trailing by seven points. UL forced 10 turnovers but couldn’t get the shots to fall. The Cajuns shot just 37.5 percent in the first stanza, including 28.3 percent from three-point range. The team took smart shots and had good looks, but the ball wouldn’t cooperate.
UL took its first and only lead, 6-5, at the 17:24 mark on consecutive baskets by Gary and Gradnigo.
Two quick three’s from Slaughter and a dunk from DJ Magley energized the crowd and helped WKU take a 10-point lead, 18-8, at the 13:50 mark. The Cajuns countered with eight straight points, four each from Gradnigo and McCoy to pull within four, 20-16 near the midway point of the first half.
Gradnigo scored five straight points to inch UL within two, but the Hilltoppers responded with an 11-4 run to extend their lead to nine points with less than two minutes to play in the opening half.
A long jumper by McCoy with three seconds remaining helped cut the Cajuns deficit to seven points.
UL returns home to face South Alabama on Saturday at the Cajundome. The men will tip-off at 7:15 p.m., as the back end of a doubleheader with the women’s team.
RaginCajuns.com
Ragin' Cajuns Play Tough in Close Loss at WKU
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Re: Ragin' Cajuns Play Tough in Close Loss at WKU
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