Louisiana goes for back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-December when the Ragin’ Cajuns meet Middle Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 29 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., at the Murphy Center. Game time is set for 7 p.m.


● This week’s road swing to Middle Tennessee and Florida Atlantic wraps up January and concludes a stretch where the Cajuns will have played eight out of 11 games on the road since Dec. 29. UL is 3-6 thus far during the road-laden schedule.


● The Cajuns are currently seventh in the race for Sun Belt Tournament seeding. Louisiana trails North Texas (5-3) by one game for fifth place and Arkansas State (5-4) by one-half game for sixth.


● With the return of Jeremy Barr and Lamar Roberson the Ragin’ Cajuns now have all active players available at one time. Barr had missed five straight games for personal reasons, while Roberson was suspended following the Troy game.


● Chris Gradnigo enters the week needing 10 points to reach his 500th career point.


● The Cajuns are playing the third of five straight against Sun Belt East teams. Louisiana is 2-1 this season vs. the SBC East.


● The Cajuns’ perimeter game has heated up since the return of Randell Daigle. Louisiana has made 82 triples over nine games (9.1 per game). Prior to his return, the Cajuns had made 58 triples in the season’s first 10 games (5.8 per game).

LOOKING FOR TWO IN A ROW

● The Ragin’ Cajuns go for a second straight victory. Louisiana’s last back-to-back wins came in mid-December (Dec. 13 vs. Louisiana College then Dec. 15 vs. ULM).

SUN BELT SCHEDULE REACHES THE MIDPOINT

● Tonight’s game is Louisiana’s ninth Sun Belt contest of the 2008-09 season. UL has an opportunity to finish the first half of the league slate with a winning mark.

RIGHT WHERE WE WERE LAST SEASON

● Louisiana was 4-4 through eight Sun Belt Conference contests last season.

● The Cajuns then went on to finish 7-3 and claim the Sun Belt West division title.

AHEAD AT THE HALF IS KEY

● Of Louisiana’s seven wins this season, six have come when holding a halftime lead.

THREE IS BETTER THAN ONE

● Louisiana has had at least three players score in double figures in the last six games.

GRADNIGO IN A GROOVE

● In the last seven games Chris Gradnigo is shooting 45-of-87 (52 percent) and has made at least six field goals in five of the games. He is averaging 16.6 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).

● At WKU he topped his season-highs in points (23) and field goals made (10). Gradnigo scored 15 by halftime and ended the game 10-of-15 from the field.

THE TRIPLE THREAT

● The combination of Travis Bureau, Randell Daigle and Chris Gradnigo fuel the Louisiana offense.

● They combine to average 40.3 points of the Cajuns’ 66.6 average (61%).

● They combine for 94 three-point field goals made out of UL’s 140 (67%).

● Overall shooting percentages: Bureau (47.1%), Gradnigo (46.7%), Daigle (40.9%).

MAKING A MOVE IN FEBRUARY

● February is right around the corner, a month UL has excelled in the past three seasons.

● Since 2005-06, the Cajuns are 16-7 in the season’s final month.

SOUTH ALABAMA LEFTOVERS

● Louisiana became the first home team this season to defeat USA in Sun Belt play. The Cajuns also ended the Jags’ two-game win streak in the CAJUNDOME.

● Louisiana won the game despite shooting 34.5 percent (20-of-58). It marked the first time this season USA lost when holding an opponent below 40 percent.

● Travis Bureau returned to double figures, scoring 18 (held to single digits in UALR and WKU games).

● Jeremy Barr and Lamar Roberson returned to the court. Both subbed in late in the second half, Barr playing nine minutes and Roberson five minutes.

● Tyren Johnson extended his consecutive free throws made streak to eight. He’s on a string of four straight games going 2-of-2 at the line.

● Chris Gradnigo continued his hot first-half scoring streak. He poured in 12 points in the opening half – fifth straight SBC game with double figures by halftime.

● The lead changed 11 times, including five times in the final 6:16.

● Louisiana tied its season-high with 20 free throws made (20-of-27). Eight different players made at least one free throw.

LAST TIME VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE (Jan. 31, 2008 in CAJUNDOME – MT won 57-51)

● After hitting all three of its three-point attempts in the first half, the Cajuns went cold in the second stanza, connecting on just 1-of-15.

● Louisiana opened the game with as much as an 11-point cushion, 24-13. Middle Tennessee responded with a 17-0 tear.

● Middle Tennessee’s lead grew to 44-35 after Nigel Johnson drained a triple from the top of the key. Johnson later added another basket for an 11-point Blue Raiders edge.

● A Tyren Johnson triple brought the Cajuns’ deficit to five points, 46-41. Courtney Wallace extended the Cajuns’ run to 8-0 after drilling a 12-footer.

● Louisiana twice cut Middle Tennessee’s lead to one, but the Blue Raiders kept the Cajuns at bay for the remainder of the second half.

LAST TIME VS. MT IN MURFREESBORO
(Jan. 27, 2007 – MT won 71-59)

● Middle Tennessee shot 51 percent for the game, including 60 percent in the second half, to pick up their first home conference win of the 2006-07 season.

● The game started with a 5-5 tie in the first four minutes until MT’s Calvin O’Neil took over the game. O’Neil scored 10 points during a 12-3 Blue Raiders run that left the Cajuns trailing by nine points, 17-8, at the 13:39 mark.

● After letting their deficit slip to double figures, the Cajuns used a 12-3 run to cut the Blue Raiders lead down to a single point, 27-26.

● Kevin Kanaskie single handedly pushed MT back in front in the second half. His three-pointer, driving lay-up and pair of free throws sparked a 9-0 run which gave the hosts a 38-31 edge at 14:08.

● A pair of Kanaskie triples minutes later moved the Blue Raiders lead up to 15 points, 62-47, with 5:16 remaining.

SERIES HISTORY (Louisiana leads 7-6, overall; Middle Tennessee leads 3-1 in Murphy Center; Middle Tennessee leads 4-2 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.)

● Louisiana, which leads the all-time series 7-6, had won five straight against the Blue Raiders at one point, but MT has won the last three meetings.

● Louisiana appears at the Murphy Center for the third time in the past four seasons.

● Tonight’s game is the 5th meeting in the Murphy Center (UL is 1-3 vs. MT in the facility).

● Thursday’s contest will mark the ninth meeting between the schools in the month of January. The last non-January meeting took place in the 2000-01 season (Feb. 17, 2001).

● The loss to MT in the 2005-06 season (L, 59-73 on Jan. 28, 2006 in Murphy Center) ended the Cajuns’ five-game winning streak in the series and began the Blue Raiders’ current three-game win streak.

THE RACE FOR SUN BELT TOURNAMENT SEEDING

● Louisiana is currently holding seventh (7th) place in overall Sun Belt standings which determine seeding for the conference's postseason tournament.

● Seeds four through eight host first round games. As of today, Louisiana is still in position to host.

● The Cajuns trail North Texas (5-3 SBC) by one full game for fifth (5th) place and Arkansas State (5-4 SBC) by one-half game for sixth (6th) place.

● The No. 3 seed receives a bye from the first round. That belongs to Middle Tennessee (6-3 SBC) which the Cajuns trail by only one in the loss column.

UP NEXT FOR LOUISIANA

The Ragin' Cajuns close out the month of January in Boca Raton, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 31 meeting Florida Atlantic's Owls at 6 p.m. (CST) in FAU Arena. Louisiana makes just it's second appearance at FAU Arena, having last visited on Jan. 24, 2007 (FAU won 75-72). The Cajuns and Owls have met twice before, with the home team winning both games.


Following the FAU game, Louisiana wraps up a string of five straight against the Sun Belt East by hosting FIU on Thursday, Feb. 5 in the CAJUNDOME. Game time is 7:05 p.m.

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