Ragin' Cajuns issue warning

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Louisiana stands out like No. 1 seed should in opener.

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns decided to play a full 40 minutes on Saturday, and the result was an 84-58 thrashing of South Alabama in the Sun Belt Tournament quarterfinals at E.A. Diddle Arena.

It was precisely what the rest of the league didn’t want to see this weekend — the No. 1 seed playing with a sustained fury on both ends of the floor.

“We got outplayed and outcoached today,” said USA coach John Pelphrey, whose team had split with the Cajuns in the regular season.

“There certainly wasn’t any doubt who the best team was. It was as well as I’ve seen them play in five encounters with them.”

Coach Jessie Evans’ team raced to a 45-26 halftime lead and didn’t let up until he cleared the bench in the final minute of play.

“We knew coming in that we would have to compete very hard, and the team responded really well,” said Evans, whose 18-8 team advanced to a Monday semifinal against the winner of a semifinal today between Middle Tennessee and host Western Kentucky.

“We played for a full 40 minutes. We’ve had a problem turning the ball over and not closing it out. Tonight we were determined to start closing games out.

“Fortunately, they weren’t shooting the ball as well as they were capable of.”

The Cajuns had plenty to do with that, as their relentless, swarming defense rattled USA into 11 first-half turnovers.

“Coach tells us not to take any play off,” said Brian Hamilton, who had 14 points for UL. “That one play could be the play that decides a game.

“We played hard every play, and I guess that’s why they had trouble shooting the ball.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

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Cajuns’ defensive effort swallows up Jaguars

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — If anyone has seen South Alabama’s offense, place a call to Mobile and clear up its disappearance.

What really happened is that the Jaguars were swallowed up by the black hole known as Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns.

The Cajuns held USA to just two shots over a four-minute span in the first half here Saturday, sparking a 45-26 first half and an 84-58 victory in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.

“South Alabama was patient, trying to run their offense,” UL coach Jessie Evans said. “They were trying to make the most of their possessions, and that’s good.

“On defense, we try to make them play at least 20 seconds each time they have the ball.”

“They were just playing hard-nosed defense, and we couldn’t get our shots to fall through on offense,” said USA’s Richard Law, who led the Jaguars with 13 hard-earned points.

Forget getting shots to fall. Merely launching them was a major challenge against the feverish defense imposed by the Cajuns.

UL went from a 17-16 lead to a 41-21 bulge, and the Jaguars never really recovered.

“It was going along OK,” USA coach John Pelphrey said. “Then, very uncharacteristic of us, we started flinging it everywhere. Chris Young put one pass in the signage beside the court, and nobody touched it.

“They slapped a couple out of our hands. It was bizarre. You’ve got to credit UL. They were up in our face.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com