Call it addition by subtraction.

LOUISIANA La. - When Louisiana lost the services of center Michael Southall for the 2003-2004 season, the Ragin’ Cajuns bid farewell to a 6-foot-9, 240-pounder who averaged 13 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on a team that won 20 games and reached the NIT a year ago.

But getting to the NIT is not what this program is about, despite the fact that one of the most enjoyable rides a Cajun team ever took was that NIT Final Four experience in 1984, and UL has been no better than an NIT participant the last two seasons.

The aim, of course, is to reach the NCAA Tournament, A.K.A. “The Big Dance,” and the only way to do that lately has been to win the Sun Belt Tournament as the Cajuns did in 2000.

This is a league not likely to get more than one NCAA team, which makes the upcoming tournament in Bowling Green a high stakes, three-game test to end a season like you should.

Coach Jessie Evans’ Cajuns may not have that dominant big man that so many teams crave, but in many ways they are better off.

They are far less likely to stand around on offense, trying to figure out a way to get Southall X-number of touches, or to rely on him clearing rebounds when things go awry.

Without Southall, more players have to find ways to score, and that makes opponents far less able to load up defensively on one or two targets.

The Cajuns don’t have the intimidating eraser in the middle, but at the same time they are quicker on defense and they hustle into position more swiftly. When they crank up their transition game these days, it can be breathtaking.

We say all that not to hammer Southall, who has his own issues to address, but to praise the Cajuns who have made the campaign a success so far.

That success has been built around UL’s seniors, three who play extensively and a fourth who has been a valuable asset in his own right, who have helped Evans mold a team in the true sense.

Antoine Landry leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game, is among the nation’s leaders in three-point shooting at 42.9 percent and has hit 83.3 percent of his free throws to lead a 70.4 percent team rate that is the best in the Evans Era.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com