LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana shot 55 percent for the game and the quartet of Chris Cameron, Brian Hamilton, Dwayne Mitchell and Tiras Wade combined for 78 points as the Ragin' Cajuns raced past visiting Western Kentucky 91-76 here Thursday evening at the Cajundome.
The win extended Louisiana's season-high and Robert Lee-era high winning streak to five games and kept the Ragin' Cajuns one game behind Sun Belt West Division leader-Denver, who was victorious at South Alabama, in the race for the division championship.
Louisiana made eight 3-point field goals with two crucial ones coming from Cameron after WKU closed the gap to 61-59 with 6:43 left to play in the game. Cameron made four triples for the contest en route to a season-best 19 points.
Louisiana had built a 51-41 advantage two minutes into the second stanza before the Hilltoppers stormed back with a 18-10 run that closed the gap to two points.
A pair of free throws by Mitchell at 6:13 pushed the Cajuns lead to 63-59. WKU came back the other way, but Danny Rumph missed a layup at 5:56. Cameron nailed his first triple of second half on the ensuing possession when Hamilton found him wide open to give the Cajuns a 66-59 lead.
A turnover by Antonio Haynes on the Toppers next possession led to a three-pointer by Greene at the top of the key that began the Cajuns march to victory by creating a 69-59 lead at 4:38.
It was Cameron once more at 3:51 that put the final dagger in the Hilltoppers hopes of a late rally. WKU had cut the deficit to eight points, 69-61, on a pair of free throws by Anthony Winchester. Cameron's fourth and final triple extended the Cajuns lead back into double digits for the rest of the game and gave UL a 72-61 lead.
The Cajuns would extend the lead to as many as 15 points when Mitchell rebounded a missed dunk attempt by Wade at 1:51 and converted the three-point play to give the hosts an 80-65 lead.
A pair of turnovers, one by Cameron and another from Mitchell, between the 1:40 mark and 1:27 mark allowed the Hilltoppers to slip back within 10 points at 80-70 with 1:27 left to play. Louisiana iced the victory with four free throws over the next 30 seconds that pushed the lead back to 14 points.
Wade led the Cajuns with 22 points and was followed by Cameron and Mitchell with 19 apiece and Hamilton with 18.
Hamilton led the Cajuns with nine rebounds and collected a career-high five blocked shots. Hamilton's basket with 9:02 left in the game moved him over the 1,000-point total in his collegiate career.
Greene piled up a season-high 10 assists leading the charge for the Ragin' Cajuns who ended the game with a team, season-best 22 assists - the first 20-plus assists total since Feb. 26, 2004, against Arkansas State at the Cajundome.
WKU was led in scoring by Winchester who ended the game with 23 points, but played with foul trouble most of the second half before fouling out with 56 seconds left and the Hilltoppers trailing by 12 points.
WKU outrebounded the Cajuns 39-33 including a 19-10 edge on the offensive glass, but couldn't make up for the fact that Louisiana shot above 50 percent in both halves.
The Cajuns made 17-of-30 (56.7 percent) shots in the opening half and then followed that up with a 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) performance in the second frame. WKU shot just 12-of-34 (35.3 percent) in the decisive second half.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to an early 6-2 lead just two minutes into the contest after a pair of stuffs off dominant inside play from Elgrace Wilborn.
The Cajuns rallied getting inside buckets over the next 36 seconds from Cameron and Mitchell to take a 7-6 lead. WKU regained the lead at 17:09 when Winchester buried one of his five 3-pointers on the night.
The Hilltoppers still led 14-12 with 14:41 left to play in the opening half, before a Hamilton worked his way around Winchester, made the basket and drew the foul. Hamilton's three-point play gave the Cajuns a 15-14 lead and jumpstarted a 10-0 run that propelled the hosts to a 22-14 lead.
After Louisiana stretched the lead to 28-19 at 8:30, the Hilltoppers reeled off eight unanswered points to trim the lead to 28-27 with still seven minutes remaining before the half.
The Toppers forced a turnover from Cameron at 6:53, but were unable to take advantage as Courtney Lee missed a jumper on the return trip down the floor. Greene had an answer, connecting on a three-point basket that gave Louisiana a 31-27 lead.
Winchester connected on another triple, this time at 4:24 to close the Cajuns lead to 33-30. An inside basket from Hamilton 15 seconds later then a three-pointer from Ross Mouton following the media timeout pushed the lead to 38-30.
Wade's lone three-point basket of the contest, coming with 2:34 left in the first half, put the Cajuns up by nine points at 41-32. WKU never got any closer than seven points when a Wilborn stuff of a Rumph miss created the 45-38 haftime lead.
Louisiana returns to action on Saturday as the Cajuns host Middle Tennessee at 7:05 p.m. in the Cajundome. The Cajuns will be looking to make it a clean sweep of the current three-game homestand in a matchup of the two favorites to win their respective divisions in the Sun Belt Conference.
Box Score
Western Kentucky at Louisiana
01/27/05 7:05 p.m. at LOUISIANA La. (Cajundome)
WESTERN KENTUCKY (12-5, 2-3 SBC) Winchester, Anthony 8-17 2-3 23; Lee, Courtney 9-21 2-2 22; Rumph, Danny 3-8 4-7 10; Wilborn, Elgrace 5-8 0-2 10; Haynes, Antonio 0-7 5-5 5; Rogers, Ty 1-3 1-2 4; Siakam, Boris 1-3 0-0 2; Higgins, Josh 0-0 0-0 0; Stonebraker, Jason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 14-21 76.
LOUISIANA (11-7, 5-1 SBC) Wade, Tiras 8-15 5-6 22; Mitchell, Dwayne 5-5 9-13 19; Cameron, Chris 7-11 1-1 19; Hamilton, Brian 8-12 2-4 18; Greene, Orien 2-7 2-3 8; Mouton, Ross 2-5 0-0 5; James, Adam 0-0 0-0 0; Gray, Derek 0-1 0-0 0; Fobbs, Cletis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 32-58 19-27 91.
Halftime Score: UL 45, WKU 38.
3-point goals - WKU 8-22 (Winchester 5-8;
Lee 2-7; Rogers 1-1; Haynes 0-4; Rumph 0-2),
UL 8-19 (Cameron 4-6; Greene 2-4; Mouton 1-3; Wade 1-5; Gray 0-1).
Fouled out - WKU-Winchester, UL-None.
Rebounds-WKU 39 (Lee 15), UL 33 (Hamilton 9).
Assists - WKU 11 (Haynes 4; Rumph 4), UL 22 (Greene 10).
Total fouls - WKU 23, UL 16. A - 5,011
LOUISIANA SI
Some outside help from Cameron
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