Cajuns’ aggressive play impressees M. Tennessee coach Davis in defeat.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Count Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis among Louisiana’s admirers, now that his Blue Raiders have fallen 70-66 to the Ragin’ Cajuns in Monday’s Sun Belt Tournament semifinals.

In fact, Davis likes the Cajuns’ chances of representing the league in NCAA action if they win tonight’s title game.

“I’m awful proud of our team,” said Davis, whose squad shot 58 percent for the game but could not overtake UL.

“That’s a deep, athletic team. They have a high, high level of talent, and I think they can win a couple of games in the NCAA Tournament.”

Davis was perusing a final box score that showed the Cajuns getting 24 of their points in transition.

He also saw that his standout freshman point guard Bryan Smithson finished with three points, two assists and six turnovers against the imposing, physical UL defense.

“Lafayette played very, very hard,” Davis said. “They competed. They’re all similar size, and they can switch 1-through-5 or 1-through-4. Everybody’s 6-foot-6, and it’s difficult.”

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com