Cajuns improve defensively
LOUISIANA La. — Someone asked Laurie Bridges to rate both his team’s defensive performance and his own individual defense following UL Lafayette’s easy men’s basketball win over Loyola-New Orleans Monday night.
“On a scale of 10? I give us about a seven,” Bridges said. “Myself, maybe an eight.”
Those judges’ marks came after the Ragin’ Cajuns held the outmanned Loyola squad to 34.6 percent shooting (27.3 in the second half) and were the beneficiaries of 30 turnovers, many leading directly to layups and baskets on the other end in the 89-57 win.
Those marks were also probably seven or eight points higher than the Cajuns deserved one week earlier when Georgia Tech blitzed its visitors 79-45 in the opening round of the Preseason NIT. In that game, the Yellow Jackets shot over 53 percent from the field and had a 16-rebound advantage while totally taking the Cajuns out of their offense.
“Tech was a lesson learned,” Bridges said after Monday’s easy win. “They were a lot more aggressive than we were, and we learned something from that.”
The Cajuns used a stifling man-to-man defense most of the night, filling passing lanes and otherwise making things miserable for the Wolfpack. It was a 360-degree turnaround from the previous week, a fact not lost on Loyola coach Jerry Hernandez.
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