LOUISIANA La. – University of Louisiana head basketball coach Jessie Evans probably put it best.

“We deserved to have this one under the win column,” Evans said after the Ragin’ Cajuns came within one shot of a potential upset win over fourth-ranked Arizona Tuesday night. “We didn’t win it, but it wasn’t like we didn’t deserve to win.”

The Cajuns held significant leads twice in the game, battled back from a double-figure deficit late in the first half and an eight-point deficit in the final six minutes, only to watch sophomore forward Andre Iguodala drain a 3-pointer with nine seconds left.

That snapped a 69-all tie and gave the fourth-ranked Wildcats a 72-69 win and the championship of their own Fiesta Bowl Classic Tournament.

The heavy-underdog Cajuns (4-4) had just tied the game at 69 with 44 seconds left on Dwayne Mitchell’s slam dunk off Brad Boyd’s ninth assist of the game. The Louisiana defense then came close to a defensive stop, knocking the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left on the game clock and two seconds left on the shot clock.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com