Cajun 2-step at home (Ragin Cajuns)
Ragin Cajuns lose 2nd half by 1 point. Wade lifts team with 20 points
LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun basketball squad may have taken an 18-point victory here Saturday night, but it would have been hard to tell from the reaction of head coach Robert Lee.
In fact, Lee was still fuming about his team’s performance when he left the locker room and headed to his postgame radio show.
“If things don’t change a lot,” Lee said to the radio audience, “there will probably be some players who don’t make the trip to Kansas next week.”
The Cajuns had just finished a 79-63 victory over NCAA Division II St. Mary’s University of Texas, one in which UL took an early lead and was never threatened after the game’s first 15 mintues.
But the hosts also did not put away their undermanned opponents as most fans — and Lee — expected.
St. Mary’s (5-3) shot 57.7 percent in the second half and outrebounded the Cajuns 18-14 after halftime, but could never get any closer than 15 points. The margin, though, was irrelevant to the first-year Cajun boss after road losses at Georgia State and Charlotte during the week.
“That’s the same way we defended at Charlotte and Georgia,” Lee said. “We’ll get beat 80 at Kansas if we don’t defend any better than tonight.”
The Cajuns (3-3) travel to face second-ranked Kansas next Saturday, continuing a murderous pre-conference road slate. Saturday’s game figured to be a break in that stretch, and a 15-5 run early in the first half looked like the first step toward an easy win.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com
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