It was understandable to find Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns lulled into a sense of security here Saturday against Florida International.

Coach Jessie Evans’ squad was playing before a sparse crowd of 1,146 in 5,000-seat Golden Panther Arena, and had a robust 52-36 lead in the second half.

Six minutes later, the Ragin’ Cajuns looked at the scoreboard and saw a 57-50 lead after the Panthers had gone on a 14-5 surge capped by Taurence Johnson’s basket underneath.

But senior guard Brad Boyd nailed a 3-point basket from the left corner to restore order and the Cajuns rolled to a 78-58 win.

The win improved UL to 9-5 on the season and 4-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, while FIU dropped to 3-14 and 0-5 with its seventh straight setback.

Louisian held the Panthers in check with solid defense in a 39-24 first half, then hit a torrid 16-of-22 shots (72.7 percent) to pull away in the second half.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com