Long-range shooters to face off

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Louisiana battles UNO in key SBC game

LOUISIANA La. -- The perimeter shooting at the New Orleans' Lakefront Arena could be often and accurate here tonight.

Two of the Sun Belt Coference's leading backcourt scorers match up for the first time at 7:05 p.m. today when the University of Louisiana and the University of New Orleans meet in a key conference game.

ULL's Lady Cajuns and South Alabama play at the Mitchell Center beginning at 5 p.m. in Mobile, Ala., in another important league contest.

South Alabama and ULL (12-3) are both 2-0 in the SBC and have won 11 of their combined last 13 games.

In the UNO-ULL men's matchup, Privateers guard Bo McCalebb and the Cajuns' Tiras Wade average a combined 42 points while consistently leading their teams in scoring.

McCalebb has averaged 28.5 in the SBC as UNO (7-8) is 2-0 in conference play.

In UNO's 74-71 win over New Mexico State on Thursday night at Lakefront Arena, McCalebb scored 23 and made six straight free throws during the final 15 seconds.

Wade scored 28 and sank four 3-pointers during the last five minutes in ULL's 59-56 conference win ovr South Alabama on Thursday.

For the season Wade averages 19.6 along with 6.3 rebounds.

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By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball squad has proven to itself that it can win on the road. Now they'll see if Bo really knows Sun Belt Conference wins.

The Cajuns, coming off a 59-56 win at South Alabama Thursday, play their second of three straight league road games tonight against high-scoring Bo McCalebb and the University of New Orleans Privateers.

UNO (7-8, 2-0) has posted two wins at home to start the conference season, a 71-51 pounding of USA and a comeback 74-71 victory over New Mexico State Thursday night. They'll play their third straight home game when the longtime rival Cajuns visit Lakefront Arena for the 7 p.m. contest.

McCalebb has been the biggest factor in both of those wins, scoring 34 against USA and adding 23 including four free throws down the stretch in Thursday's win. The preseason league Player of the Year leads the Sun Belt with a 22.5 average (No. 7 nationally) and is averaging over 28 points in conference games.

But 28 was also a magical figure for the Cajuns (7-7, 1-1) on Thursday. That's how many points Tiras Wade totaled in the win over USA, with 12 of them coming in a late-game three-minute streak when the junior swingman made four straight three-pointers to help UL rally from a six-point deficit.

"We really needed this win," Wade said after Thursday's game. "We let one slip away last week (a 72-66 home loss to 2-0 Denver), and that was probably my fault. I wasn't being aggressive. We needed to win one on the road, and now we need to keep winning."

That won't be easy on a Privateer home court where UNO has won 80 percent of its games under head coach Monte Towe. UNO also gave the Cajuns one of their two road losses in league play last year, winning 68-54 before UL beat the Privateers 67-58 in the Sun Belt Tournament finals to earn the league's automatic NCAA berth.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com