ORLANDO — You might say UL Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajuns came up dry.

The Cajuns, in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years, doomed any upset hopes against North Carolina State on Friday when they failed to hit a basket for the last 9:15 of the first half and the first 2:09 of the second.

Take 11-plus minutes out of a 40-minute contest, and you’re in trouble.

“That was a tremendous drought,” UL coach Jessie Evans said. “It was almost like being in the desert, wasn’t it?

“Give State credit. They tightened up their defense. We had a spell like that earlier in the year at Arizona.”

Because the Cajuns’ shooting abandoned them, they won’t have a chance to return to Phoenix — and the desert — in NCAA regional play.

Instead, the Wolfpack’s 61-52 victory earned a second-round game on Sunday against Vanderbilt for a Sweet 16 trip to Phoenix.

Brian Hamilton scored a second straight basket for a 16-13 lead at that 9:15 mark, then added a pair of free throws at 8:42 to complete an 8-0 run for an 18-13 Cajun lead.

But the Cajuns made only free throws until the break, falling behind 27-23, and NCSU was ahead 32-23 before Orien Greene drove the lane with 17:51 to play.

“I was really happy not to give them a field goal for 8 1/2 minutes,” Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. “This is a team that was averaging almost 80 points a game, and so much of their offense comes from their own defense.

“To hold them to 36.7 percent is a hell of a testament to our guys’ fortitude on defense.”

UL got two quick inside baskets from Chris Cameron to start the game, then went 4-of-22 the rest of the half.

“We found Chris early, and then we got a little impatient and tried to take some quick 3’s,” Evans said. “We got up by 1 or 2 and then tried to hit a home run. I don’t have a problem with that, as long as we’ve probed the defense first.

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Richard Burgess
rburgess@theadvertiser.com