LOUISIANA La. — Jessie Evans isn’t afraid to tinker with success.

Louisiana’s seventh-year basketball coach moved transfers Dwayne Mitchell and Orien Greene into the starting lineup during a just completed road trip, a move that elbowed out seniors Brad Boyd and Antoine Landry.

“We had a choice to make,” Evans said. “We were playing well as a team, and if it weren’t for the fact that it involved seniors it would have been harder.

“We debated as a staff making the move several games ago.”

Evans, whose Cajuns host Sun Belt Conference foe Arkansas State tonight at the Cajundome, said the move was made to send an aggressive impression.

“We wanted to make a tougher statement at the beginning,” Evans said. “We could easily go back, if I feel they’re doing the job defensively in practice.”

Indeed, Mitchell (34 steals) and Greene (28) kick up the volume on the Cajuns’ defense, but starting lineups can be tricky things if you’re shooting for a regular-season title in the Sun Belt.

Laurie Bridges is the only remaining senior starter, getting his 44th straight call tonight, heading into a weekend in which the squad’s four seniors (including Chris Williams) will be honored before Saturday’s game with Arkansas-Little Rock.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com