MBB Final G1: Louisiana 66, ULM 72

[UL_Cajuns]

Surely Maggard will fire little Bobby now?

[NewsCopy]

The short-handed UL Ragin’ Cajuns played catch-up for 40 minutes against ULM on Thursday night at the Cajundome, and never got to the top of the mountain.

With point guard Brayan Au not dressed with an injury and long-range shooter Devin Butts not dressed due to a team suspension, the Cajuns fell behind by 17 points in the first half and was never fully able to recover in a 72-66 defeat at the hands of the Warhawks.

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[ZoomZoom]

Surely Maggard will fire little Bobby now?

Nope, no money for buyout. Both MBB and WBB have gone past their shelf lives.

[NewsCopy]

Russell Harrison scored a game-high 17 points as ULM sank a combined 11 3-pointers and took advantage of a frigid start from the floor by the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns in a 72-66 victory on Thursday in a Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball game at the Cajundome.

Koreen Ozier added 15 points with Elijah Gonzales adding 12 points and Thomas Howell 11 as ULM (5-15, 3-10 Sun Belt) snapped a five-game losing streak at the Cajundome, picking up its first win in Lafayette since a 57-55 win on Jan. 19, 2015.

Louisiana (13-7, 7-6 Sun Belt), playing at home for the first time since Jan. 23, missed 20 of its first 24 attempts from the floor while missing starting guard Brayan Au (injury) and key reserve Devin Butts (suspension) from the lineup.

By the time freshman Ty Harper scored on a layup at the 5:04 mark of the first half to start a 10-0 run, the Ragin' Cajuns trailed 27-12 and closed to within 27-20 on a bucket by Mylik Wilson at the 2:27 mark.

Louisiana would close to 29-21 on Jacobi Gordon's free throw with 1:28 left in the half, but ULM would get a putback dunk by Marco Morency and a long-distance, buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Gonzales to give the Warhawks a 34-23 lead at the break.

The Ragin' Cajuns got the lead to under double digits on Dou Gueye's basket at the 17:16 mark of the second half, cutting the ULM lead to 36-28, and Louisiana would add baskets by Theo Akwuba and Gueye to close to within 36-32 before the Warhawks would counter with a bucket by Howell and a free throw by Harrison.

The Warhawks, who entered the game dropping six games by a combined 26 points during the 2020-21 season, would answer each Louisiana rally as the Ragin' Cajuns never got closer than three points the rest of the night.

Cedric Russell, who scored 13 points and moved past former Ragin' Cajuns teammate Bryce Washington on the school's all-time scoring list, cut the Warhawk lead to 54-51 with a baseline jumper at 8:12 left before ULM answered with a dunk by Howell and a floating baseline jumper from Josh Nicholas for a 58-51 lead.

After Louisiana again got to within three points on Russell's driving layup with 2:01 left, ULM would counter as Howell made one of two free throws for a 66-62 lead with 1:40 remaining before a pair of free throws by Gonzales with 37 seconds left gave the Warhawks a 68-63 advantage.

Wilson added 13 points, three assists and three blocked shots for Louisiana, which went 10-for-36 (27.8 percent) from the floor in the first half before rebounding to shoot 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) in the second half. Gueye added 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting for the Ragin' Cajuns while Akwuba notched his eighth double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

The final game of the two-game series shifts to Monroe with Louisiana and ULM facing off on Saturday in a 4 p.m. contest at Fant-Ewing Coliseum. The game will be on KPEL 96.5 FM and will be available on ESPN+.

After concluding the series against ULM, Louisiana will return home to close out the home portion of its schedule on Feb. 19-20 against UT Arlington.

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[axg8750]

Nope, no money for buyout. Both MBB and WBB have gone past their shelf lives.

I have to say if WBB can keep the winning streak up I do not think it would be time to pull the trigger on Broadhead.

In regards to MBB, yes, change is way overdue.

[RaginScotsman]

Wow. Really glad I couldn’t follow that last night. The last 3 games have been depressing.

[ZoomZoom]

I have to say if WBB can keep the winning streak up I do not think it would be time to pull the trigger on Broadhead.

In regards to MBB, yes, change is way overdue.

The conference as a whole in WBB has fallen back more than we’ve gotten better. We’re not much better than we’ve been the past few years. Trigger long overdue especially losing to Dillard twice. Visit thru a WBB game in person, tv doesn’t give you the full experience. MBB, you don’t get manhandled by the last place team in your building. Ever.

Reality is nobody is going anywhere, money isn’t there.

[Balanced_view]

The conference as a whole in WBB has fallen back more than we’ve gotten better. We’re not much better than we’ve been the past few years. Trigger long overdue especially losing to Dillard twice. Visit thru a WBB game in person, tv doesn’t give you the full experience. MBB, you don’t get manhandled by the last place team in your building. Ever.

Reality is nobody is going anywhere, money isn’t there.

Why does WBB coach get penalized because the conference is not as strong as it used to be. thats when you expect the team to win and guess what, they have been winning, I admit not pretty, but still winning. This is not the year to rail on WBB.

[Million$Mullet]

Why does WBB coach get penalized because the conference is not as strong as it used to be. thats when you expect the team to win and guess what, they have been winning, I admit not pretty, but still winning. This is not the year to rail on WBB.

Definitely not railing on the women’s team but it’s just very hard to watch. Glad they are winning cause the men’s team is hard to watch and are getting nut kicked by the bottom dwelling teams in the west.

[zephyr]

Where was Butts? Don't see him in the boxscore and didn't get a chance to watch or listen. Looks like another stellar shooting performance.

[Balanced_view]

Where was Butts? Don't see him in the boxscore and didn't get a chance to watch or listen. Looks like another stellar shooting performance.

suspended for awhile.

[cajuns80]

Where was Butts? Don't see him in the boxscore and didn't get a chance to watch or listen. Looks like another stellar shooting performance.

Suspended but he sure looked like he was enjoying his time on the bench.

[zephyr]

Surely Maggard will fire little Bobby now?

Not a chance. Bob has another built in excuse= Covid. With how crazy this past year has been and college basketball is no different, its almost going to be a wash year no matter what happens. I can't see Maggard firing him when across the board, you may see the first year ever where UNC, Duke, Michigan State, Kentucky do not even make the NCAA tournament.

[Duggie35]

I began attending UL basketball games while in high school back in the early 1970's during the glory days of USL Basketball. After continuing my education at UL, and getting into the workforce, I soon began purchasing Football and Basketball season tickets. I have continued holding season tickets in those two sports since then and added baseball tickets to my portfolio in the late 90's. I bought my basketball season tickets once again this season, even knowing the rediculous COVID restrictions that would be put in place, in an attempt to continue supporting the program. However, last night was only the 3rd game I have attended in person this season. Not because I couldn't attend more games, but because attending UL basketball is no longer fun! As much as I want to support the basketball program, it is getting very hard for me to justify my continued support. I'm starting to think the money I spend on basketball could be better spent on the other sports that provide more entertainment for the money I spend. I could then just buy individual game tickets any basketball game I may decide to attend. I will have a decision to make when my renewal notice arrives next year!

[ZoomZoom]

Not a chance. Bob has another built in excuse= Covid.

It’s not just Bob. Almost every coach across the country in any sport has a free pass this year. Not an excuse supporting him, already stated he’s past his shelf life.