Ragin' Cajuns host New Mexico State
If Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns keep winning, they'll have the momentum they need for next month's Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Denton.
If UL keeps winning, and Denver trips anywhere down the stretch, then the Cajuns will enter that tournament as the Western Division champions for a fourth straight year.
The Cajuns (15-8, 9-2 in the Sun Belt) host struggling New Mexico State (5-19, 1-10) tonight in the Cajundome, then wrap up their home schedule with North Texas on Saturday.
A win tonight would give Louisiana six straight seasons of double-digit victories in Sun Belt competition, something no other school has accomplished.
The Cajuns are currently tied at five straight such campaigns with Western Kentucky (1991-96) and New Orleans (1992-97). During its current stretch, UL has a sterling 67-21 conference record.
One reason for this year's success has been consistent free throw shooting, currently at 70.6 percent in Sun Belt games after the Cajuns got off to a rocky chart at the line.
"We stopped harping on it," said first-year coach Robert Lee. "We kind of let it go.
"Lately, we've been harsher on them in practice when they miss. Sometimes we put a little more pressure on them."
Louisiana hit an impressive 30-of-35 free throws in last Saturday's 80-68 win over New Orleans to help complete a season sweep of the Privateers.
A sweep of New Mexico State is the aim tonight, and it would seem the two teams are headed in different directions with UL tied for the division lead and NMSU on a six-game losing slide.
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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