UL Welcomes Isiah Thomas and FIU to Acadiana

[NewsCopy]

  Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns kick off the final month of the 2009-10 regular season Thursday at 7:05 p.m. as they host FIU at the Cajundome.

● Louisiana is 5-0 at the Cajundome in Sun Belt Conference play.

● The second half of Sun Belt play began last Saturday in Monroe. There are only eight league games left (4 home, 4 away).

● The Cajuns seek to keep their hold on sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt West. Division-leader Arkansas State is at UALR tonight.

● FIU is led by 12-time NBA All-Star, Isiah Thomas, who was selected one of the league's best 50 players of All-Time, is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and had his No. 11 jersey retired by the Detroit Pistons.

● Tyren Johnson has scored double figures in 10 straight games. He's hit 20 points in three of the last four games at the Cajundome.

● FIU is allowing opponents to shoot 48.7 percent. UL is shooting 46.7 percent at the Cajundome this season, having gone above 47 percent the last four games.

● The Cajuns' defense appears to have hit its stride. UL limited six of its eight January opponents below 70 points (three under 60). UL held opponents to 62.6 points per game in January.

● Chris Gradnigo has reached 900 career points and enters tonight's game with 945. If he sustains his 14.7 points per game average he would register career point No. 1,000 on Feb. 13 at South Alabama.

ENJOYING THE COMFORTS OF HOME

● UL is 5-0 at the Cajundome in Sun Belt play this season.

● Cajuns are averaging 69.8 points (allowing 60.4) and shooting 48.4% (125-of-258).

● Since 2000-01, the Cajuns' on-court SBC record at the Cajundome is 60-17 (.779)

A SOLID, ONE-TWO PUNCH

● In seven of the last eight games, Chris Gradnigo and Tyren Johnson have each scored double figures.

● Johnson's string of double-figure games is 10 (dates back to Dec. 28 vs. Centenary).



BY THE NUMBERS
1: Chris Gradnigo is only one triple shy of reaching 100 in his career

5-0: Record when opponent shoots below 40%

10: Raymone Andrews has committed only 10 turnovers in 291 minutes

17.7: Tyren Johnson's scoring average in Sun Belt play

28.0: Louisiana is averaging 28.0 points in the paint. The Cajuns have reached 30-plus, nine times

31: In the last regular season meeting with FIU, Chris Gradnigo scored a career-high 31 points

40%: All wins have come when shooting above 40%

47%: UL has shot above 47 percent each of the last four games at the Cajundome. In Sun Belt play, the Cajuns are shooting 48.4% in the facility

55: The countdown to 1,000 career points in underway for Chris Gradnigo; currently needs 55

60-below: In the last three games at the Cajundome, UL has held opponents below 60 points. Opponents scoring average during the streak is 52.0 ppg

62.6: Opponents scoring average in January (8 games)

70-below: Louisiana has held six of its last eight Sun Belt foes below 70 points (three below 60)

UL SI

[Civil Cajun]

I'm gonna make this my first game of the year. I would like to see Isiah Thomas in person. I would like to hear our rabid fans mock the crazy names of the FIU players too! That was some funny stuff last year. See ya'll there!

[ULtimateCajun]

I wouldn't say we are "welcoming" Isaiah.

[Turbine]

40%: All wins have come when shooting above 40%

Let's shoot over 40%

[BirdofParadise]

_ Let's shoot over 40% _

55% good enough??

[LFTCajun]

_ 55% good enough?? _

Hope we can do something similar the rest of the way.

Great game!

[Cajunsmike]

_ 55% good enough?? _

I see UALR (our next opponent) beat ASU. That must have been due to a couple of late threes as the Trojans were down five with about a minute to go. Same thing happened in Monroe as WKU fell there. I guess the Trojans will have confidence from the win tonight when they come to the Dome on Saturday. If the Cajuns shoot 55 per cent again, they have a good chance. Of course tonight that was due to getting steals and resulting layups. Having Daigle get out of his slump also helped. Tyren Johnson continues to impress me with his stellar all around play. He may actually win POY in the league. No one else has the all around game he does. He contributes in almost every category. Moving on, UALR has good perimeter shooters so the zone we played tonight may not be as effective.

[Civil Cajun]

_ I'm gonna make this my first game of the year. I would like to see Isiah Thomas in person. I would like to hear our rabid fans mock the crazy names of the FIU players too! That was some funny stuff last year. See ya'll there! _

FIU got hammered last night...That was a great game to attend! We got a free raising Canes meal because the team scored 65 points.

[Civil Cajun]

_ FIU got hammered last night...That was a great game to attend! We got a free raising Canes meal because the team scored 65 points. _

Belay my last.....It was buy one get one free. Those sheisters! I wouldn't have made the trip had I known that. They clearly announced FREE MEAL at the game. I guess the economics guys were right when they said "There is no such thing as a free lunch"

[zephyr]

We are averaging 28 points in the paint! The reduction in importance on relying on the 3 ball is a big reason we have been more efficient this year in scoring. Last year, we had arguably more inside help but we were just way too inefficient and played way too many guys to create a cohesive group. Considering we have a freshman and a big guy who can't make a layup inside playing significant minutes, that's pretty impressive to see that scoring average inside. It shows that guys like Gradnigo are scoring inside and taking the ball to finish.